Villefranche, Monaco & Monte Carlo - Marella Voyager - Highlights of the Mediterenean

Join us on our trip to Monaco and Monte Carlo Casino from the tender port of Villefranche, in October 2023.
It’s day 6 of our Highlights of the Mediterranean Cruise on the Marella Voyager and we are ported in Villefranche (amended from St Raphael).
If you're curious about shore tenders we capture the full journey on camera, transferring from the Marella Voyager cruise ship to Villefranches show tender boats. It was a very gentle ride to shore with stunning views of this gorgeous, colourful town.
As our port was amended by Marella, our prebooked excursion was automatically cancelled and refunded, but after some research we decided to travel independently by train,, buying our tickets online on the Trainline which was super simple and easy to do. The train from Villefranche-sur-mer to Monaco Monte Carlo is only 15 minutes and cost us £3 per person, per journey.
Our first stop is to visit the fabulous Monte Carlo Casino. It’s a 15 minute walk from the train station to the casino gardens which we loved wandering through. There are plenty of super cars parked outside the casino and anyone can enter the atrium although we definitely recommend buying a ticket to experience the full casino, it was beautiful, especially if you are a James Bond fan! We beat the crowds and tour guided groups and got to visit the stunning Monte Carlo casino in Monaco when it was almost empty!
After visiting the casino, we wandered down the paths leading to the iconic Formula One start line set in the heart of Monaco before travelling back to Villefranche on the train for a delicious lunch on the seafront promenade. And then wandered the charming streets of Villefranche, stopping at shops and market stalls for souvenirs and seafront bars for a drink in the sun before heading back to the ship.
We even had time to enjoy some activities on board! Nat enjoyed afternoon tea with a view from The Kitchens and went to a watercolour class at the Arts House. This was definitely the prettiest port in terms of views from the ship and for sailaway we enjoyed the view from the hammock and loungers in our "Large Balcony Cabin"
We loved visiting Monaco and want to return one day to watch the iconic Grand Prix as we have since become huge F1 fans. We did have 90 minutes spare so definitely could have squeezed in a wander around the Old Town, we simply didn’t realise how close it was and how walkable the entire country of Monaco is - you could definitely see most of Monaco in a day - but we will be back!
Let us know what you get up to in Monaco on your visit, we'd love to hear about any other must see parts of the country.
If you’re porting in Villefranche on the Mediterranean Medley itinerary, we have another vlog of our day in Livorno - where we visit Pisa, go Wine Tasting in Tuscany and visit the town of Livorno, and will be putting out vlogs for Barcelona, The Marella Voyager ship and our 4 night stay in Majorca - if you hit the subscribe button you will be notified when we upload new videos.
If you have any questions, we will try our best to answer them in the comments.
Thanks for watching!
Nat & Sam
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Marella Highlights of the Mediterranean: www.tui.co.uk/cruise/itinerar...
The Trainline for train tickets:
www.thetrainline.com/
Monte Carlo Casino Prices & Terms of Entry : www.montecarlosbm.com/en/casi...
Espuma Restaurant, Villefranche: www.restaurantespuma.com/en/h...
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
uppbeat.io/t/zayner/falling
License code: BBZ75KYHDQ6CVZLF

[@jonathanfletcher1958]

Hi, a great video, thank you. For the casino visit do you book in advance or just turn up?
Thanks again.

[@Nat-and-Sam]

Thanks for your comment - we just turned up and paid on the day 🙌

[@jonathanfletcher1958]

@@Nat-and-Sam Thank you.👍