Monaco is a small principality on the French Riviera and the world's second smallest city-state with a land mass of just under 2 sqkm and a population if around 36,000 people. It is surrounded by France on thre sides and the sea. Interestingly, through history, while control of other cities in the Europe such as nearby Nice has changed many times between states, Monaco has been ruled by the Grimaldi family almost uninterupted since 1297.

Monaco is synonymous with extreme personal wealth. It enjoys the world's second highest GDP per capita and has never disguised itself other than a tax haven for the rich, many of whom are sports stars.

When one thinks of Monaco in the hey-day of glamour, an image appears of men dressed in black tie and women in gowns as immortalised by films from the Golden Days of Cinema, conjurung, perhaps, an image of James Bond, arriving in his Aston Martin outside the Casino to humiliate his foe at the Baccarat tables. The glamour days have passed and gambling has become a passtime for the masses. Slot machines have replaced many of the green baize gaming tables and the only dress code is not to enter wearing bikini tops and flip flops.

The rich remain, but hidden away in their multi-million pound appartments and exclusive restaurants and clubs, while disoriented tourists traipse the narrow and winding streets hemmed in by tall buildings and wonder what the attraction is. And in truth, visually, Monaco is a confusing place to the visitor. The mish-mash of architecture, ranges from medieval of the royal castle residence, the Belle-Epoque where buildings are best described as pastel covered iced-cakes, and the modern high rises, that are rapidly replacing the traditional low-rise villas, as Monaco strives to squeeze in more residences for the nouveau riche. Even in the harbour, the mega-yachts are literally packed in like sardines. 

So if you want a feel of the unspoiled old and glamorous Cote d'Azur, then perhaps Cannes or better still, Beaulieu are better examples, but that said, Monaco is not without it's highlights, such as the views down to the harbours, the gardens around the Monte Carlo, Oceanographic and car museums, and the old town of Monaco-Ville.