Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Festivals & Events
Monaco has a packed events schedule, and with a little planning ahead, it can be surpris-
ingly accessible, both in price and availability.
PERFORMING ARTS
Festival International du Cirque
(
www.montecarlofestival.mc
;
late Jan)
Hold your breath during world-class acrobat-
ics, or laugh out loud at the clowns.
Tennis Masters Series
(
www.monte-carlorolexmasters.com
;
Apr)
Fast becoming a key fixture on the profes-
sional circuit, with all the big players involved.
SPORTS
SPORTS
Formula One Grand Prix
(Automobile Club de Monaco; www.formula1monaco. com; late May)
One of Formula
One's most iconic races. If you're dead keen, you can walk the 3.2km circuit; the tourist
office has maps.
International Fireworks Festival
EVENT
( 93 15 28 63; Jul & Aug)
A showdown of pyrotechnic expertise in the port
area. The winner gets to organise the fireworks on 18 November, eve of the national holi-
day.
THE FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX
TONY WHEELER
If there's one trophy a Formula One driver would like to have on the mantelpiece, it would have to be from the
most glamorous race of the season, the Monaco Grand Prix. This race has everything. Its spectators are the most
sensational: the merely wealthy survey the spectacle from Hôtel Hermitage, the really rich watch from their lux-
ury yachts moored in the harbour, while the Grimaldis see the start and finish from the royal box at the port. Then
there's the setting: the cars scream around the very centre of the city, racing uphill from the start/finish line to
place du Casino, then downhill around a tight hairpin and two sharp rights to hurtle through a tunnel and run
along the harbourside to a chicane and more tight corners before the start/finish.
But despite its reputation, the Monaco Grand Prix is not really one of the great races. The track is too tight and
winding for modern Formula One cars, and overtaking is virtually impossible. The Brazilian triple world champi-
on Nelson Piquet famously described racing at Monaco as like 'riding a bicycle around your living room'. Piquet
