Monaco has more Ferraris than it has vegan restaurants.
To be precise, it has exactly one vegan place, and I will get to it, because it deserves the attention. But first the setup, because the setup is the whole joke.
This is the richest square mile on earth. Superyachts stacked three deep in the harbour, a casino that has bankrupted people more glamorously than anywhere else on the planet, and property prices that make London look like a clearance sale. You would think somewhere this wealthy, this obsessed with wellness and being seen to be well, would be swimming in plant-based everything.
It is not. There is one spot. And I loved it.
Getting there: arrive by boat if you can
I did Monaco as a day trip from Nice, and there is really only one way to arrive: by boat.
We took a boat into the port of Monaco, and I would tell anyone to do the same. There are actually two ports, and you come into the smaller one rather than the main superyacht harbour, but it barely matters. Sailing in past the cliffs and the rocks, watching the whole ridiculous place rise up out of the sea, is a genuinely stunning way to enter the country. Or the principality. Or whatever we are calling it.
It costs a bit more than the train. It is worth it. Some things you pay the extra for and never regret, and gliding into Monaco from the water is one of them.
Seaside Juicery, the only fully vegan place in Monaco
Seaside Juicery is a small, entirely plant-based juice and smoothie bar, and it is the single genuinely vegan address in the principality.
Cold-pressed juices, smoothies, plant mylks, salads and light bites. Nothing on the menu you have to interrogate. Everything is vegan, which after a while on the road is a small and real relief. No performing your dietary requirements at a confused waiter. You just order.
The people running it were lovely, which mattered more than I expected. When you have spent a morning surrounded by Monaco’s particular brand of moneyed indifference, walking into somewhere warm and friendly and unbothered hits differently. If you want the full gushing version, my review is on Happy Cow.
It is not in the glossy centre either. You will walk a little to get to it, out towards Fontvieille, away from the harbour crowds. Worth every step. Think of it as earning your smoothie.
Practical bits: open Monday to Friday roughly 8 to 5, Saturdays a shorter day, closed Sundays. So if you are doing Monaco as a day trip, do not leave it until Sunday afternoon and expect to be fed here.
What about all the fancy places?
If you are in the mood for something fancy, Monaco does have that covered.
Several of the big-name restaurants do plant-based dishes, and do them properly. Alain Ducasse’s three-star Le Louis XV has put vegetables at the centre of the plate since the eighties, long before it was fashionable. Joël Robuchon does a vegetarian menu. Buddha Bar has vegan options.
But let us be honest about what that is. Those are omnivore restaurants with a vegan option and a bill that will outlive your holiday. They are extraordinary places that will feed a vegan beautifully if you have several hundred euros and a reservation. I have not eaten at any of them, so I am not recommending them, only telling you they exist.
For me, travelling on a budget, Seaside Juicery was perfect. A different proposition entirely, and the right one if you just want lunch without remortgaging.
A note on snacks, because Monaco is not that kind of place
Do not turn up expecting little street stalls selling cheap bites. Monaco does not really do that. It is not a wander-and-graze sort of city.
That said, if you look, you can find things. Up near the casino there are a few food places, and I spotted vegan ice cream up there, so you will not starve if you are between meals. There are affordable options if you hunt for them. But if you are vegan and you have the choice, put your money into the one small local business actually doing plant-based food properly. It is the friendly, decent thing to do, and the food is good.
What else to do on a day trip
You will not need long. Half a day covers Monaco comfortably.
Walk the harbour and gawp at the boats, because that is genuinely half the fun. Have a look at the famous casino, even if, like me, you are not there to lose money. We happened to spot the Princess of Monaco outside, surrounded by a cluster of racing drivers, which is apparently a very normal Tuesday here and was not remotely my scene. Your mileage may vary.
Wander up to the old town and the Prince’s Palace, where there is a changing of the guard ceremony every day around midday. Small, a bit ceremonial, worth catching if your timing lines up.
Then, when you have had your fill, take the train back.
Getting back: the coastal train to Nice
The train from Monaco to Nice runs right along the coast and is almost comically cheap for what it is.
Around twenty minutes, a few euros, and stretches of proper Riviera coastline sliding past the window the whole way. After a day in a place built entirely around spending money, there is something nice about the cheapest part of it being one of the best.
Monaco is not a vegan destination. There is no scene, there is one juice bar. But it is a genuinely good juice bar, run by genuinely kind people, and there is quiet satisfaction in eating a plant-based lunch in the most conspicuously excessive place in Europe. You do not need Monaco’s money to do it well. You just need to know where the one place is.
Now you do.
