Metropole Shopping, the Carré d'Or's covered arcade

In a town where luxury is bought on the street, the Metropole is the covered exception. It’s a marble arcade hung with crystal chandeliers in the heart of the Carré d’Or, just off Casino square, and plenty of people wander in looking for something else, the hotel of the same name. I’ll run through the shops, the hours and when it’s worth a stop.

What is Metropole Shopping Monte-Carlo?

It’s the shopping centre of the Carré d’Or, on avenue des Spélugues. According to its website, it was the idea of the Lebanese developer Nabil Boustany, who wanted a luxury complex in the heart of Monaco drawn up with several well-known architects, and it opened its doors on 13 May 1988, with Rainier III at the ceremony. It was finished in marble with crystal chandeliers by Faustig, and today it holds about 80 shops and 6 restaurants covering fashion, food, beauty, technology and jewellery.

Don’t confuse it with the Hôtel Métropole, the 1886 five-star with the Karl Lagerfeld pool and the Guerlain spa. They share a name and a block, but they’re separate businesses. If it’s the hotel you’re after, see the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo.

Opening hours, and the Sunday catch

Doors open at 10:00 and close at 19:30, Monday to Saturday, with Sunday off. Inside, a few businesses keep their own hours. The Spar supermarket on the ground floor runs from 08:00 to 19:30, the Metcafé from 09:00 to 19:30 and the exchange desk from 10:00 to 19:00, all of them also closed on Sunday. If you turn up on a Sunday and need something, the Carrefour in the Fontvieille shopping centre opens that day from 08:00 to 19:00.

Which shops are there?

The list on its website mixes Italian and French fashion with beauty chains. For clothes there’s MaxMara, Weekend Max Mara, Marina Rinaldi, Missoni, Etro, Isabel Marant, Roberto Cavalli, Boss, Elisabetta Franchi and Ermanno Scervino. For jewellery and watches, APM Monaco, Vhernier and Roger Dubuis. For beauty, Sephora, Nocibé and Clive Christian perfumes. For children, Gucci Kids and Mercedeh Kids. And an FNAC for books, music and tech.

My honest view is that you won’t find anything here you couldn’t get in any big city. What it does offer is everything together and under a roof, which on a rainy day is welcome. For the street boutiques of the Carré d’Or, One Monte-Carlo and the other shopping areas, my overview is in shopping in Monaco.

A bite to eat, or something to take away

This is where the Metropole wins me over. On the ground floor there’s Ladurée, with its tea room and macarons, and elsewhere in the arcade Fauchon, with a gourmet shop and café. There’s also Dean & Deluca, the Au Vieux Moulin bakery, Comtesse du Barry for foie gras and truffles, the Chez Pierre restaurant, the Bubble Bar on the first floor, a Joe & the Juice and the Metcafé. For a break during an afternoon in Monte-Carlo, it’s about as convenient as the district gets.

The Metropole or One Monte-Carlo?

It’s the question people ask most, and the answer depends on what you’re after. One Monte-Carlo, a Société des Bains de Mer project, opened in 2019 between the Hôtel Hermitage and Casino square and brings together about forty high-end boutiques along its shopping promenade. That’s window-shopping luxury, the big fashion houses. The Metropole is older and more of a mix, with fashion labels, an FNAC, a Sephora, a supermarket and cafés, and it does something One Monte-Carlo doesn’t in quite the same way, which is sort out everyday needs in the middle of the Carré d’Or. For browsing, I’d go to One Monte-Carlo. For buying something I actually need, or sitting down with a coffee, the Metropole.

Handy services for visitors

The most useful is Change & Tax Free, on the ground floor, which changes currency and processes VAT refunds. That matters more to British visitors since Brexit, because as residents outside the EU you may now qualify for a refund on larger purchases, while EU residents don’t. The conditions are in my shopping guide. There’s also a Davidoff cigar shop, a florist, a hairdresser, a nail bar and a business centre.

Getting there

By bus, get off at Citronniers, beside the arcade, on lines 1, 5 and 6, and each ride costs €1.50 by contactless card. The centre reckons on roughly a 10-minute walk from the station, and which exit to use is covered in Monaco train station. If you’re driving, the centre points to a car park at 5 avenue des Citronniers, with no published price. And if you want to make an afternoon of it, Casino square and its gardens are a few steps away, part of what I cover in Monte-Carlo.