Larvotto Beach
Larvotto is Monaco's only public beach — a 300-metre arc of smooth imported pebbles curving along Avenue Princesse Grace, with the Grimaldi Forum on one side and the Japanese Garden a short walk away. The water here is genuinely clear, the Mediterranean shade of blue that photographs never quite capture, and in summer it reaches 26°C without much effort on anyone's part.
Renzo Piano and landscape architect Michel Desvigne reshaped the whole district, and the promenade that resulted is one of the more considered pieces of public space in Monaco — wide enough to breathe, lined with palms, and open around the clock.
💛 What travellers fall for
Regulars know to arrive before 10am in July and August — a spot goes fast and the supervised hours don't start until then anyway. The ice cream parlour Mullot is the consensus mid-afternoon stop. Bring water shoes: the pebbles are smooth but they're still pebbles, and the walk to the water's edge is longer than it looks.
Deals in Larvotto Beach
Book directly at the providerHow Larvotto Beach came to be
Before Prince Rainier III authorised a 54,000 m² land reclamation into the sea in 1961, Larvotto was a modest pebble beach bounded by a retaining wall dating to around 1931. Construction finished in 1963, adding roughly 10% to Monaco's total territory — a significant expansion for a country measured in city blocks. The Summer Sporting complex had already taken shape nearby in the 1930s, and the Monte-Carlo Sporting opened in June 1974.
The beach was substantially rebuilt again, with the Renzo Piano-redesigned district opening on 3 July 2021, bringing a larger beach footprint, a renovated promenade, and new dining. As of October 2025, a €9 million coastal protection project is underway, replacing geotubes with three rockfill islands; completion is set for spring 2026.
Who and what shaped it
People who shaped it
Landmark buildings
Plan your visit
On the map
When to go
July and August bring 10 to 15 hours of sunshine a day and water temperatures between 24°C and 26°C — the peak of the season, and the most crowded. September and October are quieter, the sea still warm enough to swim at 20–23°C. Winter is mild by northern European standards but the water drops to around 13°C, and the promenade becomes a place for walking rather than swimming.
Right now
Background & history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · specs from Wikidata (CC0) · weather from Open-Meteo · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · photos from Wikimedia Commons / Unsplash with per-image credit. No third-party reviews or social posts reproduced.