16 Dec 2025
Tags: Monaco, VisitMonaco, 2026, Events, Culture, Gastronomy
Monaco is lining up a blockbuster 2026. Think iconic sports, headline cultural moments, and fresh luxury experiences delivered in a destination that keeps evolving while staying unmistakably Monaco.
1- Sporting calendar: the can’t-miss dates in 2026
- 4–12 April: Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
- 24–26 April: Monaco Historic Grand Prix
- 16-17-May: Monaco E-Prix
- 4–7 June: Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix
- 8-11 July: Monaco Energy Boat Challenge
- 22 August: Tour of Spain Grand Departure (Vuelta a España)
2- New eco-district and culinary delights
- Mareterra, Monaco's new floating eco-district built entirely on reclaimed land, sets a new standard in sustainable coastal urbanisation. Food lovers will be thrilled to discover new restaurants in this new neighbourhood celebrating its first anniversary in December 2025:
3- New flavours: a growing dining story
- The world’s second smallest country, one of its biggest dining scenes: Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer is now the world’s most Michelin-starred resort group (10 stars across 6 restaurants) and continues to refresh concepts and open new addresses. The 2025 Michelin Guide further brightened this culinary constellation, awarding 3 new stars to the Principality’s gastronomic galaxy at L’Abysse Monte-Carlo and Elsa.
- New restaurants opened in 2025 in Monaco:
- The Condamine Market, a cornerstone of Monaco’s culinary and local culture, is set to undergo a 13-month renovation starting in January 2026. The new design will enhance capacity and modernise facilities while maintaining the market's traditional and historical architecture.
4- Hotel scene: heritage, refreshed
- Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo: Following a first-phase renovation in 2025, the 5-star hotel enters 2026 with the next stage of its transformation. Newly reconfigured rooms and suites by Jacques Garcia roll out through the season, with fewer but larger, more premium spaces, suite-style layouts, and expanded bathrooms and dressing areas. The hotel’s wellness offering is also renewed with the rebranded Spa Métropole by Guerlain. A signature treatment honours the Monegasque Riviera using the Gharieni Psammo Quartz table, blending warm sand therapy with sculpted quartz for a deeply sensory experience.
- Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo: Quietly evolving in phases through 2026, with rooms and suites being re-imagined to keep the hotel’s Belle Époque soul while increasing space and light. Renovations reduce key count to create larger rooms with improved connecting options for families.
- Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo continues to affirm its place among Europe’s enduring grand hotels, recognised again in the World’s 50 Best Hotels list, while its newly restored Wine Cellars, home to around 300,000 bottles have opened to the public through bookable guided tours and tastings, offering rare access to one of the world’s great hotel wine collections.
- Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort completes a two-phase refurbishment that sharpens its contemporary look and the final stage continues through the low season into 2026. Phase one delivered redesigned rooms and suites with a brighter Mediterranean palette and improved layouts, plus a fully reworked wellness zone: the 900-sqm SPA Clarins & myBlend with new treatment rooms, upgraded thermal features, and a more high-tech, skincare-led focus.
5- Culture: Monaco turns up the lights
- Grimaldi Forum will host a new exhibition “Monaco & the automobile” from 01 July until 06 September 2026, tracing Monaco’s deep relationship with cars, from early street pioneers to Grand Prix legends, and brought to life with immersive scenography and rare archives.
- Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo: A celebratory season marking the company’s 40th anniversary, led by Jean-Christophe Maillot, featuring a headline new creation “Ma Bayadère” plus special anniversary events and guest works throughout 2026.
- Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra: A prestige programme and final season until June 2026 under Music Director Kazuki Yamada, spotlighting major choral and symphonic works (including Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth), continuing the Shostakovich 50-year commemoration, and welcoming cellist Pablo Ferrández as Artist-in-Residence.
- Opera de Monte-Carlo: a 12-production season running until March 2026, with 7 operas plus concerts and stage works, a programming emphasis on great female voices and strong theatrical storytelling.
- Cultural unmissable 2026 events
- 8 March – 2 April: Spring Arts Festival Monaco
- 4 July - 15 August: Monte-Carlo Summer Festival
- November: Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival
- December: Christmas & New Year celebrations
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Monaco Tourism and Convention Authority: www.visitmonaco.com
Monaco Awarded Best European Destination 2025: Monaco has been named Best European Destination 2025 by the non-profit organisation European Best Destinations, a leading tourism promotion body and partner of the European Commission. Every year, the organisation selects the most attractive destinations in Europe and has travellers from around the world vote for their favourite, out of 500 European destinations. Over one million people took part in this year’s vote, in which Monaco placed first, ahead of Madrid and Lisbon.
Contacts:
Claire Kaletka-Neil, Regional Manager Australia & New Zealand
Monaco Government Tourist Bureau
Email: claire@tourismgarden.com.au
Phone: +61 (0)2 8206 9311
Alison Roberts-Brown, Regional Director, Australia & New Zealand
Monaco Government Tourist Bureau
Email: alison@tourismgarden.com.au
Phone: +61 (0)2- 8206-9311
Mobile: +61 (0)401 250 165
