Beausoleil, the slice of France climbing above Monte-Carlo

Beausoleil is the stretch of hillside above Monte-Carlo that isn’t Monaco. You cross a street and change country without noticing, and that’s exactly its appeal. For me it’s the best option if you want to sleep in France with the Casino within walking distance, and it has a couple of sights that hardly anyone visits. Here’s what it’s like, how to get about and what to weigh up before booking.

Monte-Carlo Supérieur, or why Beausoleil exists

Beausoleil’s story is the story of the people who built Monaco. Between 1858, when the first stone of the Casino was laid, and 1920, Monte-Carlo was one long building site, and the workers, many of them from Piedmont, settled in Le Carnier, a district of La Turbie right against the border. The town grew out of that. On 10 April 1904, President Émile Loubet signed the decree separating those districts from La Turbie, and the first mayor was Camille Blanc, chairman of the SBM, the company that owns the Casino. He stayed in office until 1925.

For a long time this territory was known as Monte-Carlo Supérieur, because its streets thread into Monaco’s and some of them literally form the border. Today it has around 14,000 inhabitants, some twenty nationalities and three main districts, the Centre, Moneghetti and Ténao. The second name turns up again across the border, in the Les Moneghetti district of Monaco. To me it’s the best way to understand Monte-Carlo, the Casino district, from the other side of the social divide.

Is it worth staying in Beausoleil to see Monaco?

For me, yes, with two caveats. The advantage is clear, because you sleep in France and walk down into Monte-Carlo from the lower part of town. For a British visitor there’s also a phone angle, because Beausoleil belongs to the EU while Monaco lies beyond the EU’s roaming regulation, and British networks can price the two quite differently. I set out the details in phone and roaming in Monaco.

The first caveat is the gradient. Beausoleil winds up the hillside and its stairways earned it the nickname Petit Montmartre, so I’d look for somewhere low down, by the border. The second is price, because I haven’t found a single figure showing it’s cheaper to stay here than in Monaco, so I’d compare actual dates. The tourist office lists, among others, the Adagio Palais Joséphine, Alfred Hotels, the Hôtel La Tonkine, the Villa Boeri and the Odalys Les Hauts de la Principauté, with no categories or prices. Beside Monaco station, though on Beausoleil soil, there’s also Aparthotel Adagio Monaco Monte Cristo. The full comparison with Nice and Cap-d’Ail is in where to stay in Monaco.

What to see in Beausoleil, from the Riviera Palace to the market

The finest thing here is the Riviera Palace. The Compagnie des Wagons-Lits began building it in 1898 to plans by Georges Paul Chedanne, and it opened in 1903 as a luxury hotel. It served as a military hospital in the First World War and was later split into flats. What survives is the Winter Garden, over 900 m², beneath a glass roof the town hall attributes to Gustave Eiffel’s company. It has been a listed historic monument since 1989 and can only be seen on a guided tour, booked on 04 93 78 01 55.

The Gustave Eiffel market is the heart of the centre. It’s partly covered, has around twenty producers’ stalls, Provençal and Italian dishes among them, and opens every day from 7:00 to 13:00. In September it hosts a market of Italian flavours, a nod to the Piedmontese who founded the town. Close by are the Foyer du Poilu, a museum of the two world wars opened by Marshal Foch in 1928 and visited free with a guide, and the Sanctuary of Saint-Joseph, consecrated in 1923.

Up to the Mont des Mules

Above the town, the Mont des Mules is Beausoleil’s balcony. From the top you see from the Italian coast to the Rock of Monaco, and on the summit are the remains of a Celto-Ligurian hill fort from around 250 BC, protected since 1939. Waymarked trails continue to La Turbie and the Tête de Chien. With a single day I’d skip it; with two nights here, it’s the best morning’s walk on your doorstep.

Getting between Beausoleil and Monaco

For trains, the tourist office sends you to Monaco-Monte-Carlo station. Since July 2026 there’s the Zestgo B, an on-demand bus linking the upper districts with four points, Beausoleil Marché, Monaco Casino / Office du Tourisme, Pont Sainte-Dévote by the station and the Exotic Garden; you book it up to two hours ahead at zestbus.fr. A single Zest ticket costs €2. The other ways of getting about inside the Principality are in how to get around Monaco.

There’s a catch with taxis. A Monaco cab will bring you here for a fixed €25, but it won’t come and collect you, because it has to be ordered from inside the Principality. If you’re out late in Monte-Carlo, sort out the ride home before you cross.

Eating in Beausoleil

The town hall is proud of its Indian and Asian restaurants, and the tourist office lists plenty more, but no source lets me point you to a particular one. What I would do is buy breakfast and lunch at the market, which, a few minutes from the prices at Monaco’s restaurants, is a relief for the wallet.