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Monaco Grand Prix

Hi everyone. My husband and son have really gotten into F1 racing over the last year or so. I was thinking of surprising them with a trip to the Monaco Grand Prix for Christmas. Have any of you ever been? Tips/tricks? From my preliminary research, it looks like hotels will be much easier ( and cheaper) to find in Nice and it looks like it is only a 20 minute train ride over. Is that the way to go? Any help is appreciated!

Posted by
32523 posts

yes that is a good decision.

The whole area will be very busy for the weekend, so you will have great opportunities to practice patience.

Do you know which corner you will be at for the race?

Do you know that the current plan is to shorten the Monaco weekend to match the other races, down from 4 days to 3?

You're in a tough place because the covid changes have been so many and so frequent as things peak and wane and peak again that races have been moved a lot. You'd hope it would be signed sealed and delivered but you need to remain flexible and prepared to cancel but also if you don't book your hotels (or go with a package) you find yourself priced out or with no room at all...

Good luck with it and let us know how it pans out...

Posted by
4026 posts

Nice is a good location, but book hotels soon because thousands of others will have the same idea.

Posted by
1172 posts

Thank you so much for the quick responses. Seat wise, it looks like grandstand k is the one that seems to be recommended the most... Should I get the 3 days ticket or would a Saturday/Sunday be enough? As you can tell, I am not part of this new found interest :)

Posted by
10 posts

I've been searching for rooms in Monaco for a couple nights next summer. Outside of 7 larger hotels, it seems all small and medium hotels have booking for next summer completely blocked out. This seems extremely odd to me, and I'm curious why that might be? The average price per night for the only 7 hotels that are actively accepting bookings is over $1400. Even for Monaco that seems artificially high. I did check if my dates (end of June/early July) coincide with the race and they do not.

Posted by
11056 posts

We were in Nice during the Monaco Grand Prix and the Cannes Film Festival. Nice was packed, hotels and restaurants were full, so book everything far in advance. We had no idea this all was happening; we were just going to stay in Nice for two weeks in an apartment. I would advise anyone not going to Monaco Grand Prix or Cannes Film Festival to choose different dates to visit Nice.
There were tours set up taking people to Monaco for the day and returning them to Nice which would be something to check out. People were there from all over the world.

Posted by
3150 posts

Wow! What a gift. I’d also look for lodgings in Nice or Ville Franche sur Mer. Be aware that hotel rates will spike for the event. I attend F1 races when I can and follow the sport closely. Friday has two practice sessions and no competition except for possible support races. I would only purchase Saturday & Sunday tickets. In the past when I had to purchase 3 day tickets because 2 day were not offered, I always sold the practice tickets on eBay.

As hyped as the Monaco race is, it can be quite boring. You also might consider the races in Montreal, Miami or Austin. Montreal is a great track with interesting races, reasonably priced tickets, a nice city to visit, and easy public transportation to the track. If you consider that, seats in the hairpin turn - where I always sit - provide a lot of action and the turn is an excellent passing zone. The best seats are in the Lance Stroll Grandstand. And Montreal is sort of Paris-Lite!

Posted by
26841 posts

The trains running along the coast are regionals with no assigned seats and fixed fares, so there's no need to buy tickets in advance as is suggested for long trips on TGVs. However, it is possible to arrive at the Nice Ville train station and see people queued up to use each of the ticket machines, leading to a bit of a delay. Therefore, I recommend allowing extra time in the morning or buying tickets the evening before. The ticket machines have an English-language option and I found them easy to use.

Be careful of your belongings; the trains are popular with pickpockets.

Posted by
32523 posts

Tabac (K) is a decent viewpoint.

I think the Fairmont hairpin is good too - although the cars go very slowly there, and sometimes it has been known for a driver to consider it a parking space.

Posted by
32523 posts

I do agree that Monaco is often a bit of a procession, but goodness it has the history.

Posted by
1172 posts

Would Grandstand L be better? Much of our family lives in Montreal and we go yearly ( although have never been for racing) so I am just not sure that it would be a exciting.

I so appreciate everyone's feedback. Love this group!

Posted by
32523 posts

I know the track well having walked it (and some parts many times) and watched the races for many years on TV. But I haven't stayed in the stands.

The Swimming Pool is a highly respected viewing area.

If I were choosing I'd want to have a good view of a big screen as well as a good view of corners.