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Going up (and down) in Monaco
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Even the super-rich take Monaco's free elevators
Climbing up the socio-economic ladder is all but impossible among the hyper-rich of Monaco, but you barely have to break a sweat moving and down the steep hills of the seaside principality thanks a unique system of public elevators lacing the world’s second smallest country.
Only Vatican City is smaller, but the principality’s 36,000 residents – and millions of visitors each year – can move around in relative comfort up and down the steep hills along the sparkling Cote d’Azur.
Not everyone has a brand-new Lamborghini to ply Monaco’s steep hills, so the municipality government has built spacious, air-conditioned and impeccably clean public elevators in several strategic spots.
It sure beats the seemingly endless stairways that otherwise cut the distance between the switchbacks up and down the corniche.
The elevators link some of Monte Carlo’s top shopping and tourist sites built higher up on the hills, such as the Palace Casino and the National Museum, to the beaches and restaurants at sea level.
For example, we found a relatively cheap apartment in Beausoleil, a French village just across the official demarcation between France and Monaco, but more than 100 vertical feet above the hotels lining the tony Larvotto plage where rooms start at $350 a night at the Fairmont Monte Carlo.
We were down at the beach in no time, thanks to the elevator. We walked down to the Place des Moulins, stepped into the marble-floored elevator and were swished directly down to sea level, just 150 yards from the beach.
The best part is the price – they’re free, leaving more money in your pocket to spend in those over-priced bars and restaurants filled with the world’s beautiful people.
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