• France Guide

  • Introduction to France
  • Weather
  • Things not to miss
  • Getting around
  • Entry requirements
  • Money
  • Public holidays

• Explore France

  • The north
  • Alsace and Lorraine
  • Normandy
  • Brittany
  • The Loire
  • Burgundy
  • Poitou-Charentes and the Atlantic coast
  • The Limousin, Dordogne and Lot
  • The Pyrenees
  • Languedoc
  • The Massif Central
  • The Alps and Franche-Comté
  • The Rhône valley
  • Provence
  • The Côte d'Azur
  • Corsica

• Cities

  • Aix-en-Provence
    
  • Ajaccio (Aiacciu)
    
  • Angoulême
    
  • Avignon
    
  • Bayonne (Baïona)
    
  • Bordeaux
    
  • Caen
    
  • Cannes
    
  • Clermont-Ferrand
    
  • Dijon
    
  • Grenoble
    
  • Lille
    
  • Limoges
    
  • Lyon
    
  • Marseille
    
  • Montpellier
    
  • Mulhouse
    
  • Nîmes
    
  • Nancy
    
  • Nantes
    
  • Nice
    
  • Orléans
    
  • Paris
    
  • Perpignan
    
  • Rennes
    
  • Rouen
    
  • Strasbourg
    
  • Toulouse
    
  • Tours
    

France Guide

The Côte d'Azur

Monaco

• Eating and drinking
• Budget hotels

Though it may have lost its looks, the tiny state of MONACO, no bigger than London's Hyde Park, retains its comic opera independence. It has been in the hands of the autocratic Grimaldi family since the thirteenth century, and in theory Monaco would become part of France were the royal line to die out. One time to avoid Monaco – unless you're a motor-racing enthusiast – is the end of May, time of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. Every space in sight of the circuit is inaccessible without a ticket, making sightseeing or sneaky free views of the race impossible.