Palais Princier de Monaco

Monaco


Built as a fortress atop Le Rocher in the 13th century, this palace is the private residence of the Grimaldi family. It is protected by the blue-helmeted, white-socked Carabiniers du Prince; changing of the guard takes place daily at 11.55am, when crowds gather outside the gates to watch.

Most of the palace is off limits, but you can get a glimpse of royal life on a tour of the glittering state apartments, where you can see some of the lavish furniture and priceless artworks collected by the family over the centuries. It's a good idea to buy tickets online in advance to avoid queuing.

Combined tickets including Monaco's oceanographic museum or the Prince's classic car collection are also available.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Monaco attractions

1. Le Rocher

0.06 MILES

Monaco Ville, also called Le Rocher, is the only part of Monaco to have retained its original old town, complete with small, windy medieval lanes. The old…

2. Cathédrale de Monaco

0.13 MILES

An adoring crowd continually shuffles past Prince Rainier’s and Princess Grace’s flower-adorned graves, located inside the cathedral choir of Monaco's…

4. Musée des Timbres et des Monnaies

0.19 MILES

This one-room museum traces the history of stamps and coins minted in Monaco. The stamp collection, spanning many decades, is especially fun, with images…

5. Jardins St-Martin

0.19 MILES

The steep-sided, statue-studded Jardins St-Martin runs round the coast outside the Musée Océanographique.

6. Collection de Voitures Anciennes

0.21 MILES

Starting in the early 1950s, car-mad Prince Rainier amassed an impressive array of over 100 classic automobiles, which he opened to the public in 1993…

7. Musée Océanographique de Monaco

0.24 MILES

Stuck dramatically to the edge of a cliff since 1910, the world-renowned Musée Océanographique de Monaco, founded by Prince Albert I (1848–1922), is a…

8. Roseraie Princesse Grace

0.29 MILES

Thoroughly revamped in 2014, this exuberant collection of over 4000 rose bushes – along with the adjacent Parc Fontvieille – stands out in dramatic…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "monaco/attractions/palais-princier-de-monaco/a/poi-sig/1188682/359266",
      "destination": "Monaco",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "Monaco",
      "position": "superzone"
    }