Monaco Formula 1 Circuit Walk

The Monaco Grand Prix is run on ordinary public streets, which means that outside race week you can stand on the grid line, cross the famous hairpin and walk through the tunnel where the cars scream under the Fairmont hotel. The street circuit is about three kilometres long and loops from the harbour front up the hill to Casino Square, drops down past the Café de Paris and the Mirabeau corner, turns at the Fairmont hairpin, runs through the tunnel and returns along the quay by the swimming-pool chicane. For motorsport fans it is a pilgrimage, and for everyone else it is a pleasant and varied walk through the most scenic parts of Monte-Carlo and the port. A guided walking tour, known as The Inside Track, covers the circuit in roughly two hours and fifteen minutes with a guide who tells the stories of the drivers, the near misses and how the principality turns its streets into a racetrack every year.

The guided tour is among the best-reviewed activities in Monaco, with well over a thousand reviews and a very high rating on the booking page, and it is bookable with free cancellation up to a day before in most cases. The walk follows the route on foot, so you see the places that television can only hint at: how steep the climb is from Sainte Dévote, how tight the hairpin is, how narrow the tunnel feels and how close the walls and the barriers are. The guide fills in the history of Grand Prix racing in Monaco, the safety changes and the layout in a way that a map cannot.

Going alone is perfectly possible. Start at Sainte Dévote, near the station end of the port, follow the road up to Casino Square, pass the Hôtel de Paris, loop around the hairpin, descend towards the tunnel and finish on the quayside. Most of the route is pavement and in some places closed to traffic lanes, but it is real road, so mind the cars and do not walk in the carriageway. Some sections are steep, and in the days around the Grand Prix the pavements are covered with barriers and grandstands.

Pair the walk with a coffee on Casino Square, a visit to the Casino atrium and, for racing fans, the Car Collection. Wear comfortable shoes and sun protection in summer, and a light waterproof in November showers. The tour suits adults and older children who like cars, and is less suitable for toddlers. If you want to experience race weekend itself, tickets for grandstands and terraces sell out early and sit outside this guide, but the circuit walk is a worthy substitute for the other fifty weeks of the year.