My experience of Monaco and Formula E
This is hopefully going to be the start of a ‘mini-series’ where I talk about all the different places I travelled to in 2024 to watch motorsport. I’m undecided whether this is going to be a review of the place I went to, or more just me trying to show off a little bit!
So, the first place I’m going to start with is Monaco.
Monaco is often associated with rich people, casinos and extremely fast cars. It is safe to say it lived up to that expectation and then some more.
I went on this trip with my friend and instead of staying in Monaco, we stayed in Nice as it was much cheaper. Nice is a 25-minute train journey from Monaco and if you are travelling to the principality, I would absolutely recommend staying there. It has an extremely picturesque coastline, lots to explore and some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had!
When we arrived in Monaco, we were immediately surprised by how big the train station was. The train station brings you out at by Turn 1 on the circuit, meaning the first bit of Monaco you see is the drive up the hill towards the casino.
Naturally, the first thing I wanted to do was walk a lap of the track. This meant walking past the famous casino, around the hairpin, through the tunnel and winding around the swimming pool section. We were there for the Formula E and so some areas were slightly less accessible due to barriers being in the way, but we persevered bravely.
The casino is a tourist hotspot. Masses of people are gathered outside contemplating whether to go inside and lose their life savings. We went inside the lobby and saw the 20 euro entry fee and so thought better of it! Unknown to us, between the time we went in and came back out, the two drivers for the Mahindra Team (Mortara and de Vries) began filming some content for the team outside the casino, which gave us a great opportunity to get up close to some of the drivers!
As we wandered down the side streets, we reached the most famous corner in motorsport. The hairpin. We stood there for at least 30 minutes just watching cars of all varieties glide through. Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Bentley’s and a taxi train all caught the eye. I decided to take a proper hand-held camera with me on this trip as photography is something I’m quite keen on, so fancy cars were top of the agenda. It takes much crisper photos than my iPhone can, if used properly. Unfortunately, I may have messed that up on the first day. Instead of having crystal clear images of cars, it instead looked like I dropped the lens in sand as all the pictures were very grainy. It turns out that I may have accidentally knocked the ISO setting up to 12,800 on the camera. For context, it should’ve been 400. It left me with beautiful pictures such as this:
And this:
Not exactly what I was looking for, but safe to say I learnt. The hairpin however, was incredible, but I don’t think that is any surprise. On our way round the rest of the lap we bumped into now F1 driver Jack Doohan on a training run. Not sure if he was going for a PB or just trying to get away from the team, either way, he was quick!
The biggest surprise we had was how incredible the access was to the pit lane in the days prior to the race. You could walk right through, getting to have a look at the cars from a distance and you could get close to some of the drivers. We spotted 21 / 22 drivers, with Sam Bird hiding from us somewhere! We also saw ex-F1 driver Paul Di Resta in the pit lane. As a massive Paul fan boy, I remained extremely calm and didn’t act like a little girl at all! So yes, I did ruin the chance for a photo as I panicked and let him walk right past – still haven’t forgiven myself.
Before coming to Monaco, you should do some research about the area and where is best to visit. I did not as I figured I knew my way round like the back of my hand from the F1 game. I was wrong.
Unknown to us, there’s two ‘levels’ to Monaco. There’s the area where the circuit winds through, but as well as this there is an area on top of the hill. This is where the prince’s small, terrace house is located, as well as a lot of food options and gift shops. We timed it perfectly for the ‘changing of the guard’, where the soldiers on duty switch with those who are just starting their ‘shift’ in a grand ceremony at 12pm. It’s worth a watch but can be very busy.
The best part of ‘upper’ Monaco was a brilliant sandwich shop. They were selling large, toasted baguettes for 6 euros and the owners were lovely. We went back 2 days later, and they recognised us and gave us a discount for coming back. They were extremely understanding of my poor French, but that shouldn’t have been a problem as the friend I went with lived in France for 6 years! But apparently after not being in France for 8 months he’d ’forgotten it’!
We also had a look around the famous oceanographic museum, which was incredible. The building itself is an architectural masterpiece, meeting the side of the cliff perfectly. It was a bit pricey to get inside though so I wouldn’t rush to go to visit it straight away.
Monaco is one of the best places to visit when the skies are clear and the sun is shining, but oh my goodness is it miserable when it rains. We bought ourselves a tiny umbrella and just committed to getting soaked, but it was grim. There’s no place for shelter unless you sit in a café all day or go through the expensive museums. So, we used this opportunity to visit the world-famous Prince’s car collection. Judging by the cars in there, it certainly cost him a penny or two. We paid 10 euros each for entry and by the end that felt like a bargain. The cars in there were spectacular and they were in pristine condition. They were steeped in history, covering all decades and all speeds with amazing access to look at every single one. I would 100% urge you to go!
The Formula E race (the whole reason we were there) was on the Saturday and we couldn’t have predicted how different it would be. First of all, the train to Monaco from Nice was full. We were shoved in like sardines and we were pressed up against other people, making it not the most comfortable journey I’ve ever had. Your bags were immediately searched leaving the train station and tickets were checked twice. As well as that, 90% of the walkways were shut, meaning half of Monaco was inaccessible for the day. As we were slightly lost in the crowds of people, we ended up following the herd which meant we kept going back to security checkpoints. By the end of the day, I think my bag had been searched about 7 times!
Despite all of that, we found our seats and if I do say so myself, I made an excellent choice when booking online. We were able to see the cars powering behind us into turn 1 and up the hill, as well as out of the tunnel all the way round to the swimming pool section. All of this was helped by the weather being nothing short of perfect. It did get a bit toasty at times though so if you are pale like me, I would recommend applying some factor 50 midway through the day!
Formula E at every event has a fan village. In 2022 I went with my family to the Formula E in London and the fan village was a minute or two walk away from your seats, which was perfect. In Monaco however, this was like trying to find a buried treasure in the desert. Due to all the roads being shut, massive detours were introduced around the back streets. The walk which would’ve taken 5 minutes on Friday took us 25 on the Saturday. Even when we got there, entertainment options were slim and so we headed back as it took so long to get there, the next session wasn’t far off!
What I did find odd was the merchandise. As soon as you left the grandstands and out onto the streets on Monaco, there were stalls selling merchandise for F1 drivers and teams. There wasn’t any Formula E merchandise insight until you completed the marathon to the fan village, where even then options were extremely limited (and expensive).
The racing experience was really good. There wasn’t much overtaking but that’s to be expected in Monaco. The seats made us feel like we were right on top of the track and close to the action. I don’t think you go to Monaco to watch an entertaining race though; you go because it’s Monaco.
After the race is finished, if you were planning on making a quick escape, forget it. We headed for the train station about an hour and a half after the race finished and we had to queue for just as long to get to the platform. I dread to think what it would be like on a Formula One race weekend in comparison, but if you have no rush to get back to your hotel or AirBnb, I would just wait for a couple of hours and enjoy Monaco.
Would I recommend going to Monaco? Yes, 100%.
I’d pick a day with good weather, but on the whole it was fantastic. We went for the Formula E, but that was just an excuse to go really. I’d dreamed of going for so many years and it didn’t disappoint at all. It is immaculately clean and everybody was really friendly. As well as that, food and drink was nowhere near as expensive as I thought it was going to be and the transport in and out of the area was extremely reliable.
Would I go again for the Formula E? Yes, I would and I am. At the end of April I’m going back, and I can’t wait. It’s such a ridiculous place but it’s incredible. If you ever get the chance to go, please do. You won’t regret it.