The gardens of Monaco, from cacti to koi ponds

Monaco is a country of stone and glass, which is exactly why its gardens feel so good. There are about a dozen gardens and parks, some centuries old, others built on land taken from the sea, and nearly all of them are free. Here they are in my own order, with what each one offers and how to fit them into your walk without extra miles.

The Exotic Garden, the only paid one and the most rewarding

The Exotic Garden reopened on 30 March 2026 after almost six years of works, and for me it’s the most remarkable garden in the country. More than a thousand species of succulents and exotic plants cling to a slope above Fontvieille, with the Alps on one side and the sea on the other. It costs €12 for an adult, €15 with the Observatory cave, which you visit with a guide. Next door is the Botanical Centre, rebuilt in 2017, with over 10,500 plants, 85% of them protected. Hours and combined tickets are in the Exotic Garden of Monaco.

Three free ones I wouldn’t skip

The Japanese Garden in Larvotto is the perfect contrast. Yasuo Beppu laid it out around carp gliding under little bridges, a teahouse and raked gravel, and the moment you step through the gate the traffic noise vanishes. It’s free and open all year, as I explain in the Japanese Garden.

The Saint-Martin Gardens are the oldest, laid out in 1816 by Honoré V on the slopes of the Rock. The path runs from the cathedral to the Oceanographic Museum and ends at a statue of Albert I gazing out over the Mediterranean. If you’re seeing the old town, you walk through them anyway.

And the Casino Gardens, from 1893, the work of Édouard André, frame the country’s best-known square with the tropical Petite Afrique and the formal Boulingrins. Their terraces give you the Casino-among-flowers photo, which I cover in Casino Square.

Fontvieille, gardens on reclaimed land

Fontvieille, built on land reclaimed from the sea, has green lungs of its own. The landscaped park covers four hectares from the heliport to Place du Campanin, with a pond renovated in 2020 that’s home to turtles, fish and ducks, and some twenty sculptures dotted along the lawns, Guino’s washerwoman modelled on Renoir among them. Part of it is set aside for the Circus Festival big top.

Inside the park is the Princess Grace rose garden, with more than 450 varieties in memory of Grace Kelly, best seen in spring. And on top of the shopping centre sits the UNESCO garden, small and very pleasant, with views of the harbour and the cliffs of the Rock, a César fist, a crouching bather by Bourdelle and an arch of bougainvillea that everyone seems to photograph. Several of those pieces belong to the Monaco sculpture trail.

For families, and what’s still shut

Princess Antoinette Park, in the Exotic Garden district, is the children’s park, with ancient olive trees, play areas, a mini farm and an 18-hole minigolf at €5. Details in Princess Antoinette Park.

The one you won’t get to see is Monaco’s Jardin Animalier, the small zoo the prince opened in 1954 on the southern flank of the Rock. None of the animals was bought, all came as donations, abandoned pets or customs seizures, and its hippo Pollux, who arrived in 1986, is almost a national mascot. According to VisitMonaco it’s closed in 2026 for works, with no reopening date published.

How I’d fit them in

I wouldn’t plan a garden trail as such. I’d slot them into districts you’re visiting anyway. Saint-Martin on the morning you do the Rock, the Japanese Garden when you head down to Larvotto, the Casino Gardens with the square, and the rose garden and UNESCO garden if you pass through Fontvieille. The Exotic Garden is different, it deserves a special trip, ideally in the morning and in comfortable shoes, because the whole district is uphill. And if you’re travelling in summer, save them for early morning or late afternoon, because at midday the sun beats down on the flower beds and only Saint-Martin and the Japanese Garden give real shade. To tie them into everything else, see my plan in Monaco in one day.