What's on in Monaco (Monte Carlo), Monaco through the year

Busy — Monte-Carlo Rally, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Monte-Carlo Rally

  18 Jan – 1 Feb · usuallyMotorsport weekendCrowded

  The world championship opens here in January, but the stages are on ice in the mountains behind rather than in the principality. The start and finish ramps are on the harbour. Source ↗

• Festival

  Sainte Devote

  26–27 JanMajor festival

  The patron saint's night on 26 January, when a boat is burned in front of her chapel by the corner the racing drivers are named after, and the Grimaldis turn out for it. Source ↗

Still on: Christmas village on the port (28 Nov – 5 Jan (usually))

Busy — Monte-Carlo Rally, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Monte-Carlo Rally (18 Jan – 1 Feb (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Peak crowds — Coaches for the guard change, Monte-Carlo Masters

• Season

  Coaches for the guard change

  1 Apr – 31 Oct · usuallyDay-tripper crushCrowded

  Coaches from Nice and the cruise ports empty onto the Rock before the guard change just before noon, and the palace square, the cathedral and the aquarium queue with them until mid-afternoon. Before ten it is another place. Source ↗

• Festival

  Monte-Carlo Masters

  4–20 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  A week of clay-court tennis in April on courts cut into the cliff at Roquebrune, which is technically over the French border. Rooms on both sides of it go with the draw. Source ↗

Busy — Coaches for the guard change, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Monaco Grand Prix

  5–7 JunMotorsport weekendCrowdedClosuresBook early

  In 2026 the race moves out of its usual late-May slot to the first weekend of June. Grandstands and barriers go up weeks ahead, the harbour roads close, and every rate in and around the principality is set by it. Source ↗

Still on: Coaches for the guard change (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Coaches for the guard change, Monaco Grand Prix

• Season

  Sea warm enough to swim

  25 Jun – 10 Oct · usually

  Larvotto is the only public beach and it is small, so it fills by mid-morning through the summer. The water stays comfortable well into October, when it empties again.

Still on: Coaches for the guard change (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Monaco Grand Prix (5–7 Jun)

Peak crowds — Coaches for the guard change, Herculis athletics

• Festival

  Herculis athletics

  5–25 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The Diamond League meeting at the Stade Louis II on a July evening, on one of the fastest tracks in the world and regularly good for a record. Tickets are cheap by the standards of this place. Source ↗

• Festival

  Fireworks competition

  10 Jul – 20 Aug · usuallyMajor festival

  Several evenings across July and August when competing teams fire from a barge in Port Hercule and the whole waterfront and the Rock turn out for it. Free, and the quays fill an hour ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Coaches for the guard change (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (25 Jun – 10 Oct (usually))

Busy — Coaches for the guard change, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Coaches for the guard change (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (25 Jun – 10 Oct (usually)), Fireworks competition (10 Jul – 20 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — Coaches for the guard change, Monaco Yacht Show

• Festival

  Monaco Yacht Show

  20 Sep – 1 Oct · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Port Hercule is closed off and filled bow-to-stern for four days in late September. Hotel rates match Grand Prix week and the quayside walk disappears behind hoarding. Source ↗

Still on: Coaches for the guard change (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (25 Jun – 10 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Coaches for the guard change, Monaco Yacht Show

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Coaches for the guard change (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (25 Jun – 10 Oct (usually)), Monaco Yacht Show (20 Sep – 1 Oct (usually))

Busy — Fete du Prince, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Fete du Prince

  19 NovMajor festivalClosures

  The national day on 19 November: mass at the cathedral, a parade on the palace square and fireworks over the port, in the quietest month of the year here. Source ↗

• Festival

  Christmas village on the port

  28 Nov – 5 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New Year

  Chalets, a rink and a small fairground on Port Hercule from the end of November into the first week of January, run by the town hall. The one time of year the quayside is simply free to wander. Source ↗

Quiet — school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Christmas village on the port (28 Nov – 5 Jan (usually))