maryiahoehrmann

Hi guys, at the beginning of August we are planning a 3 week trip to Monaco and also the French Cote d'Azur. We have a 12 year old daughter and a pug. I would be glad to hear from you about a good time, where to go to make it interesting for everyone. I would love to hear from you about the beaches around Monaco and Cap d'or.
I'm also looking for some great inexpensive restaurants in the area. Thank you very much.

bilboburgler

3 weeks seems about 2 1/2 weeks too many to me.

When you say inexpensive and you put them next to the word Monaco, what exactly are you looking for? E20 for a main course or E50 for a main course?

maryiahoehrmann

not expensive, i mean not 500 euro for a bootle of wein

bilboburgler

hi Mary, welcome to Fodors. We may have got off on the wrong foot. If so I'm sorry. Seriously I'm trying to find out what you mean as inexpensive as to everyone that means a different thing and especially in Monaco. Wine in Monaco is going to range from E30 to E100 in many restauratants but E500 is certainly possible. The best food I've had was in the tiny fruit and veg market by the bus station and that was E20 for a sandwich

HappyTrvlr

Have you considered spending time west of Monaco in Cap Ferrat, Villefranche, Nice, Antibes? We much preferred them to Monaco.

maryiahoehrmann

yes , we plan also to spend the time in the west of Monaco. Our appartement is very close to Monaco because our dauther have a tennis camp there. but we are going to Monaco with a car and flexible to visit close places.

hetismij2

No suggestions on where to go but please make sure your Pug is kept cool. If it is hot, and it is likely to be, the poor thing will struggle. With a short nose it cannot pant enough to eliminate heat fast enough. You know of course never to leave it in the car, no matter what the temperature, but be careful taking it out during the heat of the day. Watch it's feet too as they can burn on hot pavements.

kerouac

The visit of Monaco is good for about half a day at most. Okay, a full day if you visit the aquarium and the cactus garden.

Michael

I do not find Monaco particularly attractive, at least from a distance:

kerouac

Well, it is becoming just like Hong Kong (miniature version) and other places that have nowhere to expand but UP. This can be interesting in itself, but not for long.

Rubicund

If you are a motorsport fan, it's interesting to see the course for the Grand Prix. That all takes about an hour and will include the places worth seeing except the Palace and the Cathedral where Grace Kelly is interred. At most Monaco is a half day. The villages up in the hills are far more interesting.

gooster

If you are on the edge of Monaco, you can also take some easy trips, even for dinner.

Cafe de la Fontaine is a nice stop after going to the Trophee des Alpes. Cute little Peillon has Les Plaisirs -- there is a back route to get there from Eze/La Turbie. Le Restaurant des Rois in Beaulieu-sur-Mer.

If you make it into Nice, you can try le Plonteoir for a nice lunch above the water (around the cap from Villefranche-sur-Mer) or Bar des OIseuex or Comptoir du Marche/Bistrot d'Antoine in the old town.

Beaches: Villefranche-sur-Mer, St. Jean de Cap Ferrat Paloma Beach, Plage Mala in Cap d'Ail

TDudette

Welcome, maryiahoehrmann! My late hub and I based in both Nice and Menton on two different trips. From Nice, we took a van tour that included Monaco where we very much enjoyed watching the changing of the guard in Monte Carlo. Our tour took us to the area around the Casino. You can find that expensive bottle of wine at the Café de Paris Monte-Carlo à la Salle Empire de l'Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo there! We returned by train later for the Casino. We had to show our passports and were limited to rooms for the informally dressed!? Our tour took us to a perfume factory...very interesting. We were also taken to Cannes and St Paul de Vence.

When we were in Menton, we took a bus from the Nice Airport to there. Out hotel took a van of us to the monthly big sale in Ventimiglia. We went back to Nice by local bus and thought it would be crazy busy and hot in the summer.

This was all pre-covid so double check things. For meals we usually just stopped at what we happened upon when we got hungry. Please share about your trip when you return.

TDudette

Here's a link to our Menton experience to give you some ideas. Again, Pre-covid so check first:

Trip Report from Menton and Lyon

kerouac

Juxt to add to TDudette's mention of the casino, you have to show official ID to enter any casino in France (or Monaco) to see if you are on the blacklist (which is mostly voluntary and full of people who registered themselves not to be admitted).