Roquebrune castle, a thousand years looking down on Monaco for €5

Some castles are about what’s inside, others about what you see from the top. Roquebrune’s is firmly the second kind, and for me it’s the clearest way to read this coast. From its ramparts you have the whole of Monaco on one side and Menton on the other, with Cap Martin in between, and I don’t know anywhere else that gives you so much for €5. Here’s what you’ll see, when to go up and how to get there without a fight with the hill.

A thousand years of history on top of a rock

According to Roquebrune-Cap-Martin town hall, the fortress went up around 970, which puts it among the oldest keeps France still has standing. It sits about 300 metres above the sea, and the spot was no accident. From here the sea routes between Italy and Provence were watched over, and the village grew up around it between the 10th and 12th centuries.

Its story sums up the whole area’s. It passed through the Counts of Ventimiglia, the Republic of Genoa and the Grimaldis, and in the mid-16th century Augustin Grimaldi refitted it as a summer residence. Roquebrune belonged to the Princes of Monaco until 1861, when Charles III gave it up, along with Menton, for four million francs, which I go into further in the history of Monaco.

What is there to see inside Roquebrune castle?

The visit is straightforward. The 10th-century keep, the defensive walls, the old living quarters and, at the top, a 360-degree panorama. Menton’s tourist office describes the route as running “from rooms to terraces”, and that’s exactly what it is. Don’t expect a museum with display cases full of armour, because the value lies in the stone and the setting.

The best part, for me, is the top of the ramparts. From there you see the Bay of Monaco, Cap Martin, the Golfe Bleu beaches and Menton, and on a clear day, according to the town hall, you can make out the Italian hills. If you’d like the history without a guide, the village has a QR-code trail, “Dans les pas d’Augustin Grimaldi”, with archive material, videos and 3D reconstructions.

Opening times, tickets and the best time to go

From 1 April to 31 October it opens 10:30 to 18:30, and from 2 November to 31 March, 10:00 to 17:00. You can get in until thirty minutes before closing, and it only shuts on five public holidays, namely 1 May, 1 and 11 November, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Adults pay €5, children and students €3, groups of more than 10 people €4 each, and under-6s go free.

The town hall itself recommends spring and autumn, for the temperature, and late afternoon or sunrise, for the light. I agree about the afternoon. I’d go up an hour before closing, see the castle properly and stay on top until the end. In summer, you also skip the climb in the midday sun.

How to get up to Roquebrune castle

This is where plenty of visitors trip up. They see on the map that Roquebrune-Cap-Martin station is close and set off on foot in the middle of July. The town hall points you up the chemin de Menton, and it’s a genuine climb. Without a car, take Zest line 21 or 24 to the Le Lavoir stop, and from the village centre it’s 10 to 15 minutes along cobbled lanes to the entrance. By car, the car park is in the village, the Brigliano, reached via avenue Raymond Poincaré.

The combinations of train and bus from Monaco are in getting around Monaco and nearby. One honest warning from the town hall that I’d take seriously is that there are a great many steps, so it isn’t an easy visit with reduced mobility.

Castle, village and olive tree in one morning

The castle itself only needs 45 minutes to an hour, but I’d fold it into a wander round the whole village. Place des Deux-Frères, at the entrance, is the first viewpoint; inside Sainte-Marguerite there’s a copy of Michelangelo’s Last Judgement; and a few steps away stands the ancient olive tree, 1,800 to 2,200 years old. With all of that, the town hall reckons on an hour and a half to two hours, and I’ve laid it all out in what to see in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. There’s a market in the village on Thursday mornings.

If you fancy heading down to the sea afterwards, by the Monaco border you’ll find Monte-Carlo Beach, the SBM’s beach club. And if you collect views over the Principality, I compare this one with the rest in Monaco’s best viewpoints.