# Golf in Monte Carlo: the Mont Agel club, between France and Italy > Monaco has no golf course on its own territory: the Monte-Carlo Golf Club, laid out in 1911 by Willie Park Jr., sits 850 metres up on Mont Agel, on the French side, about twenty minutes from the Casino. Add the Circolo Golf degli Ulivi in Sanremo, Italy, about fifty minutes away, and Royal Mougins, about an hour away. Golfers come for mountain golf facing the sea and grand-hotel evenings, from April to June and in September and October. - Golf guide • Monaco • Principality of Monaco - Airport: Nice (NCE), 40 min transfer - Ideal stay: 3–5 nights - Best season: April – June, September, October - Updated 11 October 2026 - URL: https://www.golftripplanner.fr/en/destinations/monaco/monte-carlo/ Monte Carlo is a district of Monaco, and the Principality, squeezed between sea and mountain, has no room for a course. Its golf therefore moved up the hill, onto Mont Agel, on French soil above La Turbie. It was founded by Monte Carlo's English colony and the Société des Bains de Mer, and you reach it by a hairpin road that leaves the sea behind for scrubland and limestone. In twenty minutes you go from the yachts of Port Hercule to the pines of Mont Agel. The appeal of a Monaco base lies in its position, halfway between the Côte d'Azur and the Italian Riviera. To the east, the motorway runs to the border and Sanremo, whose Golf degli Ulivi hosted the Italian Open five times between 1934 and 1948. To the west, Royal Mougins, designed by Robert von Hagge, takes an hour by road but offers an entirely different, more modern golf. Three courses, three characters, and two countries. The rest of the stay happens down below, in the Principality: Place du Casino and its Belle Époque grand hotels, the Rock and its lanes, one great Michelin-starred table, Monegasque cooking and the bars where you replay the round. Three to five nights are enough to play all three courses. A car, or a driver, is essential for reaching the golf; in town, most things are done on foot. ## The courses ### Monte-Carlo Golf Club Architect: Willie Park Jr. · Opened 1911 · 18 holes · Par 71 Willie Park Jr.'s course, opened in 1911, occupies a plateau on Mont Agel 850 metres above sea level, on the road climbing from La Turbie. The layout has evolved a great deal: twelve holes originally, two more under Prince Pierre, a complete redesign in the 1970s, then three new holes after 1995. This mountain par 71, with small greens and lies that are rarely flat, rewards precise irons more than length. It finishes on a 171-metre par 3. Ballesteros, Faldo and Nick Price all played the European Tour's Monte Carlo Open here. Official website: https://montecarlogolfclub.com/parcours-monte-carlo-golf-club/ ### Circolo Golf degli Ulivi Sanremo Opened 1932 · 18 holes · Par 69 Opened on 20 February 1932 on a hillside covered in olive and mimosa trees, the Golf degli Ulivi has hosted the Italian Open five times; in 1935, Percy Alliss won the title here in 262 strokes. The Autostrada dei Fiori cut it down to nine holes in 1965, before it reopened in 1972 in its present form: a par 69 of 5,203 metres. Short but technical, with par 4s reachable in two and demanding par 3s, it suits every level. Allow about fifty minutes from Monaco by motorway. Signature hole: The 14th, a 210-metre par 3 lined with olive trees on both sides, is described in the club's hole guide as the hardest on the course: from the back tees, you often hit a wood. Official website: https://www.golfsanremo.com/it/le-buche-2/ ### Royal Mougins Golf Club Architect: Robert von Hagge · Opened 1993 · 18 holes · Par 71 Royal Mougins is the most distant outing of the trip, about an hour from Monaco on the A8 motorway, north of Cannes. Robert von Hagge designed a par 71 of 6,004 metres here in 1993, with sculpted contours; water comes into play, notably at the 3rd and 15th. The contrast with Mont Agel is clear: a modern design and shaped greens. Visitors are welcome, and use of the driving range is compulsory in high season. Keep it for a full day, with lunch at the club. Signature hole: The 9th, named Pinnacle, is a par 4 and stroke index 1, the hardest hole on the course according to the club. Official website: https://royalmougins.fr/en/golf/ **Concierge tip:** The Monte-Carlo Golf Club is booked by telephone or email, and its restaurant closes on Mondays: play it on another day and have lunch at the clubhouse after the round. Leave early for Sanremo and check for any maintenance closures at the Italian course in early autumn. Keep Royal Mougins for your departure day if you are flying from Nice. ## Where to stay ### Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo Opened in 1886 a few steps from Place du Casino, in the heart of the Carré d'Or, the Hôtel Métropole was reimagined by Jacques Garcia; Karl Lagerfeld designed the Odyssey pool and the spa bears the Guerlain signature. Ask for a sea-view category: the Casino and Odyssey lie below. Back from Mont Agel, some twenty minutes away, end the afternoon by the pool, among palms and cypresses. ### Château Eza At the top of the medieval village of Èze, Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, who first came here in 1920, bought these four-hundred-year-old houses one by one to make his winter residence; the fourteen-room hotel opened in 1987. The village is car-free: the valet takes the car at the bottom, then it is a five-minute walk up. Ask for a junior suite, on the sea side. Mont Agel is under half an hour away via La Turbie. ## Where to dine ### Le Louis XV - Alain Ducasse à l'Hôtel de Paris Alain Ducasse's restaurant at the Hôtel de Paris, on Place du Casino, with three Michelin stars. The Jardin de Provence menu, launched in 1987, set a trend by putting vegetables at the centre of the plate. It is the end-of-trip dinner, with a jacket required all year round; lunch, served only on Fridays and Saturdays, is the more relaxed way in. Closed on Sundays and Mondays. ### Castelroc On Place du Palais, facing the Prince's Palace, Marc Bonafede, the fourth generation of a family of restaurateurs, has run the house since 2013. The menu follows the Monegasque recipes of his great-grandmother Rosette: barbajuans, socca and panisses, then the house stockfish or fish from the Menton fishery. Ask for the pine-shaded terrace above the port of Fontvieille. Open every day for lunch. ### Le Petit Bar An institution of Monaco-Ville since 1981, on Rue Basse, almost opposite the town hall. Boards of charcuterie and cheese are sliced on a Berkel at the long counter and served with toasted Poilâne bread and a list of French wines. Continuous service from noon to 10 pm, Monday to Friday: take the little terrace on the pedestrian street for lunch after visiting the Rock. ## Beyond golf ### The Casino and Place du Casino In 1866, Prince Charles III gave his name to the Spélugues district: Monte Carlo was born around its casino. The present building, completed in 1879, is the work of Charles Garnier, who also built the opera house inaugurated by Sarah Bernhardt. The gaming rooms are open to those aged 18 and over, with identification; Monegasque citizens, for their part, are not allowed to gamble there. ### The Oceanographic Museum Founded by Prince Albert I and inaugurated in 1910, the museum stands 85 metres above the sea on the cliff of the Rock. Its white stone comes from La Turbie, below the golf course. Jacques Cousteau directed it from 1957 to 1988. The aquarium displays some 350 species, from the shark lagoon to the coral farm, and the roof terrace gives a wide view along the coast. ### The Trophy of Augustus at La Turbie On the road to the golf course, La Turbie keeps the Trophy of the Alps, raised in 7–6 BC to celebrate Augustus's subjugation of the Alpine peoples. Partly destroyed on the orders of Louis XIV in 1705, it was restored in the 1930s thanks to the American patron Edward Tuck. Managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux, it looks down over Monaco: an hour's stop on the way back from Mont Agel. ## When to go Spring is the best season: from April to June, it is mild on the coast and the courses are in good shape. September and October extend the summer without the crowds, but autumn can bring heavy rain. Summer is hot and very busy in town; at 850 metres, Mont Agel stays cooler. In winter, the coast remains mild, but the Mont Agel course can be caught in the clouds. ## Getting there Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) is about forty minutes from Monaco by car on the motorway. Monacair runs a seven-minute helicopter shuttle between the airport and the Principality. Regional trains on the Marseille–Ventimiglia line serve Monaco-Monte-Carlo station from Nice. For the golf, allow about twenty minutes to Mont Agel, about fifty to Sanremo and about an hour to Royal Mougins. ## Frequently asked questions ### Where is the Monte Carlo golf course? The Monte-Carlo Golf Club is not in Monaco but in France, on Mont Agel above La Turbie, at 850 metres. It is about twenty minutes by road from the Casino. ### How many golf courses are there near Monaco? Only one lies within 30 minutes: the Monte-Carlo Golf Club. The Circolo Golf degli Ulivi in Sanremo, Italy, is about fifty minutes away, and Royal Mougins, near Cannes, about an hour. ### Can you play the Monte-Carlo Golf Club without being a member? Yes, the club is open every day by reservation, by telephone or email. The clubhouse is reserved for members and players who have paid their green fee. ### When is the best time to play golf in Monte Carlo? From April to June and in September and October. Summer is hot and crowded on the coast, but Mont Agel stays cooler; autumn can be wet. ### Which airport is best for a golf trip to Monaco? Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE), about forty minutes away by car, or seven minutes by helicopter with Monacair. ## Your golf trip: Monte Carlo Tee times, suites, transfers and tables: your concierge replies within 24 hours with a proposal shaped around you. https://www.golftripplanner.fr/en/#contact