The Beauty Of Yachting In Monaco

To experience the true beauty of luxury yachting you must cruise the French Riviera, and the grand jewel in the Riviera crown is the glittering principality of Monaco.

By Jo Morgan • 20 June 2017

Monaco Yacht Charter

On a Monaco yacht charter, you will dock your yacht in Monte Carlo, under the shadow of The Rock, where the Grimaldi Palace is home to one of the last great royal families of Europe, who have ruled here since medieval times, when pirates still plagued the cobalt-blue waters of the Mediterranean.

Today, Monaco is an exclusive metropolis of gold-clad casinos and high-end hotels, dazzling designer boutiques and A-list hotels, where champagne sprays like summer rain and the bar bills run into the millions. A Monaco luxury yacht charter is a journey into a rarefied world of billionaires and racing car drivers, princes and pop stars - a town where Lamborghinis are as common (or perhaps more so) than taxi cabs.

Luxury Capital of the World

Monaco is one of the luxury capitals of the world, and a Monaco yacht charter provides plenty of spine-tingling, pinch-yourself glamour.

In Monaco, society it-girls and heiresses shop in the famous haute couture boutiques of the Cercle d’Or, their burly bodyguards carrying Hermès and Louis Vuitton shopping bags to the limousines that crawl slowly around the winding steep streets of Monaco, the world’s greatest street racetrack. Helicopters buzz over the city, dropping their wealthy guests at helipads - the luckiest coming to charter the grand superyachts berthed in Port Hercules, others to stay in the five-star hotels that line the port.

Living the high life on the French Riviera

After a fun morning’s shopping or a game of golf with a breathtaking view of the coast, it’s time to hit one of Monaco’s exceptional day spas. The most famous of them all is Thermes Marins at the endlessly lavish Hotel de Paris, where the 7000sqm spa complex spills over four stunning levels of pink marble, fragrant gardens, and heated swimming pools. Treat yourself to a caviar facial or heavenly massage, savouring the decadence - the sheer indulgence - of living the high life on the French Riviera.

Despite Monaco’s mighty cliffs and relatively small beach real estate, there are some spectacular beach clubs in the Principality, with glamorous terraces suspended above the sea, DJs playing summer tunes to a beautiful crowd lazing about on deckchairs and drinking magnums of rosé by the sparkling sea. An unmissable experience is Paloma Beach Club in nearby Cap Ferrat - an enchanting glimpse of the Côte d’Azur back in the heady days of Picasso and Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Bardot.

The Monte Carlo Night

At sunset, that mythical twilight settles across the Riviera, the sun coming to rest behind the Southern Alps and turning sky and sea into a tapestry of dreamy pinks and purples. It’s time to return to the yacht and dress up in to enjoy sunset canapés on the sundeck as night falls over Monaco, the yacht gleaming in the reflected lights of the skyscrapers and grand hotels that line the port. Before long, the excitement of the shore is calling, so it’s time to step off the yacht’s passerelle and into the beating, thrilling heart of the Monte Carlo night.

Given the steep landscape of Monaco, it’s no surprise that rooftop bars are something of a Monégesque speciality, with dizzying Mediterranean views from the top of some of the world’s ritziest hotels. Head to the Horizon Deck of the Fairmont Hotel for cocktails on a designer lounge at the edge of the sky, or if you want to get the party started, head up to the Nikki Beach pop-up on the roof, where a chic young crowd of supermodels and celebrities dance by the pool and drink champagne on all-white daybeds. In Monaco’s grand concert halls, world-class ballet and operas bring the well-heeled audiences to their feet, and in the opulent casinos, men in tuxedos play blackjack at velvet-topped tables, their million-dollar super cars parked outside under the waving palms.

Rocking Restaurants, Celebrity Spotting & The Grand Prix

The biggest decision of any day on a yacht charter in Monaco is where to eat. Monaco is littered with Michelin-star restaurants and celebrity chefs, from the legendary splendour of the Alain Ducasse Louis XIV restaurant at the Hotel de Paris, to the fabulous Joel Robuchon Monte Carlo at Hotel Metropole. Other dining highlights include global phenomenon Nobu, and Elsa, the first all-organic restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star.

One of the great Monaco pastimes is celebrity-spotting, with the gossip grapevine running hot in the summer months as Beyonce, Clooney, or a Kardashian pull into Monte Carlo on their charter yachts. Everyone ends up at Jimmy’z in the end, that great institution of Monaco clubbing, where F1 drivers mingle with Saudi royals and tech billionaires. Relax with friends in the tranquil Japanese garden, or join the sweaty, happy mob on the dance floor, to dance until the sun comes up over the Mediterranean and you revel in being young and alive in this extraordinary place.

Of course, to experience Monaco at its ultimate star power, you’re going to want to charter a yacht for the Monaco Grand Prix, when Monte Carlo erupts in an explosion of high society parties and adrenaline fuelled action to the thunderous backdrop of the F1 cars roaring around the streets.

The Beauty of Yachting with a Monaco Yacht Charter

If you ever need a break from the glam and buzz of summer in Monte Carlo, your Monaco charter yacht allows you to escape into yachting heaven. You could anchor in the deep waters just offshore and get busy on the watertoys, looking up from your jetski or flyboard to admire Monaco in its nest of mountains, or as you plunge from the yacht’s swim platform or waterslide into the deep blue sea.

But there’s so much more to see and do on a Monaco luxury yacht charter. As your yacht leaves the port, you can turn to port and visit the exotic gardens of Menton and the charming Italian Riviera, or turn to starboard and carry on down the French Riviera, past desperately pretty Villefranche and grand old Nice, then visiting Eden Roc on the glamorous Cap d’Antibes before carrying onto Cannes and Saint Tropez. All are within easy reach of a Monaco charter yacht - in fact you can easily leave Monaco in the morning and be at a Saint Tropez beach club for lunch!

One of the birthplaces of luxury yachting and the summer home of the global elite, Monaco is one of the best places on earth to appreciate the limitless beauty of yachting.
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