3 Best Sights in Monaco

Probably the best known of the private beaches, La Note Bleue is one of several strands at the newly revamped Larvotto Beach. It has live music every Wednesday year-round, a restaurant serving breakfast and Mediterranean-Asian food from noon to night, and—most essential—loungers to rent (€30 per day) from mid-April to mid-October. It's also a jellyfish-free zone, with nets that keep their tentacles at bay. Amenities: food and drink; showers; toilets. Best for: sunrise; swimming.

Just off Avenue Princess Grace, one of the world's most costly streets on which to own property, is the only free public beach in Monaco. After two years of extensive renovations, it now has a pristine beachfront (protected by jellyfish nets) along with a promenade, bike lanes, and shops. Restaurants vary from Italian (Giacomo) to Mexican (Sexy Tacos), and across the street you'll find mind-blowing Japanese at the Niwaki, which is owned by the Sass Café family. Although the beach's €50 million face-lift is impressive, some complain it's too contemporary, and you'll have to put up with construction noise next door where the €2 billion, land-extension Portier Cove project is underway. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: sunrise; sunset.

This stretch of sandy, shaded land is easily one of the most idyllic and stylish of the Riviera beaches—one where impressive cliffs tower above coves that are fantastic places to snorkel. Nearby are private beach restaurants where you can rent loungers; note, though, that in high season they can cost a whopping €100 per day. The 3½-km (2-mile) Mala footpath runs to Plage Marquet in Fontvieille in Monaco—a 20- or 30-minute walk where the only challenging leg is the 100-plus-step access to Mala beach itself. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguard; showers. Best for: snorkeling; swimming; walking.