Grandstands, a VIP box, a private terrace, a yacht on the harbour or a room facing the circuit: how I place my clients at the Grand Prix, and what it really costs.
The Grand Prix is the one weekend of the year when Monaco stops being a city and becomes a circuit. The 2027 edition runs from 3 to 6 June, with the race scheduled for Sunday 6 June at 3:00pm. Everyone wants to be there, and almost nobody prepares it properly. Every April someone calls asking for ‘something good for the Grand Prix’, and every year I have to explain that the good spots are decided far earlier. So here, in order, is everything I can offer you and what each option really means.
Where to watch the race: every option
I offer the full range, and each has its own logic. The right choice depends less on your budget than on what you’ve come for, the race itself, or the weekend around it.
- Grandstand seats, the simplest and clearest option. You see the track, you hear the cars, you experience the race as a race. The price depends on the grandstand and where it sits on the circuit.
- A VIP box: comfort, service, catering, and shelter on the day it rains (in Monaco in late May, that happens more often than people think). It’s my favourite compromise for a small group.
- A private terrace, an apartment or rooftop with a direct view over the circuit. The most elegant experience: you’re at home, you host whoever you like, you come and go as you please.
- A yacht on the harbour, the most spectacular option, and by far the most expensive. I come back to it below, with figures.
- A hotel with a view of the circuit, the Fairmont is the obvious address, with the corner that carries its name. You follow the race from your room or the hotel terraces, without ever going out.
- A villa, to host a large group, throw your own party and keep everyone together from Friday to Sunday.
Do not rent a car. Ever.
This is the advice I repeat most, and the one people most often ignore, once. During the Grand Prix, forget about renting a car. I book a chauffeur, every single time.
The reason is simple: Monaco fits in the palm of your hand, and half its streets have been closed to make a circuit. Parking is impossible, moving around properly is just as impossible, and what road space remains is saturated. A rental car, that weekend, is an expensive object you will spend three days unable to move. With a chauffeur, you’re dropped off, he leaves, he comes back. That’s it, and it’s the only way to move around calmly.
Where to stay: three options, and their real advantages
Every option has its case, they simply don’t answer the same desire, or suit the same group.
- Hotel, comfort and proximity. You’re looked after, everything is on foot, you manage nothing. The simplest formula for a couple or a small group.
- Villa, the best option for hosting: a large group, your own party, everyone under one roof from Friday to Sunday night. And booked early enough, the price stays entirely reasonable.
- Yacht on the harbour, the most premium experience there is, and also the most expensive. It’s where the best parties happen, too: after the race, the real ones are on the yachts moored in the harbour. If that’s what you came for, there is no equivalent.
A yacht on the harbour: what it actually costs
Since it’s the first question I’m asked, let’s give figures rather than promises. The price of a berth depends on the size of the boat and above all on its position: the closer you are to the track, the more you pay. For the weekend:
- Small units (under 19.50 m): from €5,500 in Zone 4 to more than €15,600 incl. tax trackside.
- Units from 19.50 m to 24.49 m: from €8,170 in Zone 4 up to nearly €22,800 incl. tax trackside.
- Superyachts (40 m and above): prices easily exceed €35,000 and climb to €150,000 for the weekend, depending on immediate proximity to the race and the services included.
Those figures are for the berth itself. The boat is chartered separately: you can bring your own or charter one, our yacht catalogue, linked at the foot of this page, is the right starting point. I then steer you towards the unit that suits your group and the zone you’re aiming for, because the two are decided together and never separately.
What to know before booking
- The weekend runs over several days, and the practice days are often the most enjoyable: the track is alive and the city can still breathe.
- Late-May weather is capricious. A downpour in Monaco changes both the race and your comfort: a covered option (box, sheltered terrace, yacht interior) is worth its weight in gold that day.
- Tables are booked at the same time as everything else. On Grand Prix Saturday, a restaurant without a reservation does not exist.
- Allow generously for getting around on foot: what normally takes five minutes takes thirty with the barriers and the crowd flows.
