Highlights of Monaco, Monaco, Monaco

The Principality of Monaco is among the more curious countries. It is a constitutional monarchy whose ruler, while not being styled “the King”, has probably the most powers over his domain than any other remaining monarch in all of Europe. It is the second tiniest sovereign entity in the world. It is a largely independent country that is nonetheless in many aspects closely integrated with its big neighbor. It hosts more commuters and visitors on any given day than its entire population of under 40,000 – of which less than a quarter are native citizens.

The curiosity factor would probably make Monaco a must-visit destination for most, even though its many attractions are probably not universal “musts” on their own merits. We first visited the city-state over two decades ago (I even recounted a travel anecdote from that visit once). Back then, we walked around a lot, checked off the “gamble at the Monte-Carlo casino” travel-targets item, visited a couple of paid attractions, and generally got a pretty good feel of the place. This time around, we walked significantly less, stopped for refreshments significantly more, and targeted a couple of museums that the youngest member of our party had penciled in to visit. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).