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Day: 18 February 2026

Prince’s Palace extends 2026 opening dates for the public

by: Cassandra Tanti
18/02/2026

Monaco’s Prince’s Palace will reopen to the public on 30th March, offering visitors nearly seven months to explore the State Apartments and their recently restored Renaissance frescoes.

The official residence of the Grimaldi family will welcome tourists through to 15th October, the Palace recently announced.

The extended opening period allows visitors to plan their trips to the principality during the prime tourist season and view the results of a decade-long restoration project that uncovered hidden artworks dating back five centuries.

600 square metres of Renaissance art

The State Apartments feature exceptional Italian Renaissance frescoes covering a total surface area of 600 square metres, some of which had been concealed from view for nearly 500 years.

The restoration campaigns, conducted under the patronage of Prince Albert II, began in earnest in 2015 following chance discoveries that led to major finds in the Gallery of Hercules and throughout the State Apartments.

The Palace has described the process as “a series written day by day, whose outcome surpasses simple fiction to achieve a marvellous reality.”

The project has not only revealed the artworks but also advanced restoration methodology, with techniques developed to ensure sustainable conservation that respects both the original works and available resources.

A restorer works to return the hidden 16th century frescoes to their former glory. Photo credit: Cassandra Tanti

Mythological heroes restored

The newly visible frescoes depict three heroes from classical antiquity: Hercules, Ulysses, and Europa, whose exploits and adventures now shine across the Palace walls.

Palace officials say the discoveries resonate with Monaco’s own history and its centuries-old ties to the Mediterranean world and the classical myths that have shaped Western culture.

The frescoes’ revelation marks a significant moment in art history given the scale of the discoveries and the innovative restoration approaches employed.

See also: Prince’s Palace reopens to reveal new hidden frescos under restoration

Eight centuries of history

Perched atop the Rock since the 13th century, the Prince’s Palace remains one of Monaco’s most emblematic sites.

Visitors enter through the Honour Courtyard, paved with pebbles from Liguria, before proceeding to galleries adorned with 16th-century frescoes.

The State Apartments, with their refined décor and period furnishings, demonstrate eight centuries of architectural evolution and the dynastic continuity of the Grimaldi family.

The Palace serves as both the Prince’s official residence and a working seat of government, with public access limited to the warmer months when the princely family’s schedule permits tourism.

Tickets and visiting information will be available through the Palace’s official channels closer to the opening date.

Hidden Grimaldi dynasty frescoes to be revealed to international scholars

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Main photo credit: Cassandra Tanti

 

Cyrielle Dailly – the baby sleep whisperer brings American know-how to Monaco

by: Kyriaki Topalidou
18/02/2026

When Cyrielle Dailly’s second son refused to sleep, she did what any exhausted mother would do: desperately searched for answers. What she found, however, was something that would change not only her own life, but the lives of thousands of parents struggling with their baby’s sleep.

Dailly is now a sleep specialist for babies and children aged zero to five, and she was in Monaco Tuesday for a lunch event at Little Wonders, the principality’s new space dedicated to early childhood.

Speaking to Monaco Life, she explained the method that has become her life’s work, and why so many parents are still struggling in the dark.

“Usually, they are desperate because they tried everything,” she said of the parents who come to her. “The baby is not sleeping well at night, or has difficulties falling asleep, or wakes up at five, or is doing micro-naps all day long. They tried to find solutions, they’ve tried everything.”

Her own research led her across the Antantic, where she discovered the Family Sleep Institute in the United States and trained in its science-based approach. The biggest insight is quite surprising: the less a baby sleeps, the less they will sleep.

“The number one mistake is to think that they are not tired,” she said. “You think a baby is not tired because they don’t sleep, but usually it’s the opposite.” This state of overtiredness, driven by a build-up of the stress hormone cortisol, can pull families into a cycle that only gets harder to escape.”It’s not the parents’ fault. It’s because you don’t know the science of sleep.”

In fact, Dailly, after four years of working in this field, is quite shocked at how little formal guidance parents are given. “In France and Europe, I think we are so much in the idea that a child sleeps or doesn’t sleep, and then it passes,” she said. Paediatricians, she notes, are generally trained in sleep pathologies like sleepwalking, rather than the everyday challenge of a baby who simply will not settle.

How her method works

Her method, which she has built into a service called Dodo les Petits, focuses on working with a child’s natural circadian rhythm rather than against it by paying close attention to sleep windows, bedtime timing and the environment.

The best part? Results come quickly. “After three days you have big changes, big improvements, and then you keep going and it keeps getting better.” Parents who have worked with her, she says, often have one consistent reaction: “Why didn’t I ask you before?”

How much it costs

The approach is available at several price points designed to be accessible to as many families as possible. An entry point is a downloadable sleep guide at just €25. From there, video programme packages offer more detailed, structured guidance, with the most popular pack priced at around €109.

For parents who want direct support, remote accompaniment over several days runs to approximately €600, while in-person sessions are available for families in the region at a higher rate. Additionally, an English-language version of her programmes, called Baby Dream Secrets, launched around a month ago.

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Main photo credit: Monaco Life

What’s behind Monaco’s record-breaking resale boom and property trends in 2025?

by: Cassandra Tanti
18/02/2026

Monaco’s property resale market shattered records in 2025, crossing the €3 billion barrier for the first time with 429 transactions worth €3.2 billion. The 49.1% surge in value represents the strongest performance in the sector’s history, but the real story lies in the details: which districts drove the boom, which buildings entered the market, and how newly delivered developments reset price expectations across the Principality.

According to IMSEE’s 2025 Real Estate Observatory published on Monday, the resale sector now accounts for the majority of Monaco’s total property transaction value, marking a fundamental shift in how the Principality’s real estate market operates.

Larvotto’s fivefold surge

The most dramatic growth occurred in Larvotto, where resale values surged nearly fivefold to €851.9 million despite just 13 transactions. This was fuelled by newly built properties in Mareterra hitting the resale market for the first time.

When early buyers decided to resell, the transactions established price points that fundamentally altered the district’s valuation. Larvotto’s price per square metre reached €71,167 in 2025, crossing the symbolic €70,000 threshold for the first time and cementing its position as Monaco’s most expensive district.

Mareterra property resales have fuelled the price per square metre surge in the district. Photo credit: Cassandra Tanti

Monte-Carlo breaks the billion euro mark

Monte-Carlo recorded 164 resales in 2025, the highest level since 2014. More significantly, the district’s resale value exceeded €1 billion for the first time, reaching €1.1 billion. The €331.6 million annual increase marks a significant milestone for the district.

Unlike Larvotto, Monte-Carlo’s surge was not driven by 2024 deliveries. The district’s most recent major completions were One Monte-Carlo (40 units) and 26 Carré Or (9 units), both delivered in 2019. Instead, the record year reflects the sheer volume of transactions and Monte-Carlo’s enduring premium positioning.

The district saw 164 resales in 2025, accounting for 38.2% of all resales and approximately 35% of total resale value in the Principality, with its price per square metre standing at €54,009.

La Rousse and recent deliveries

La Rousse recorded 100 resales worth €433.3 million, benefiting from the 2025 delivery of Bay House (Testimonio 2 Socle) with 56 units and Villas Bay House n°1 to n°5 with 5 units. These 61 new properties provided fresh resale inventory as early buyers from the Testimonio development exited their positions.

The district’s price per square metre reached €51,265, with recent construction commanding €54,209 per square metre.

 

To the right, Bay House villas in the Testimonia II develoment, which drove up property prices in the district in 2025. Photo credit: Cassandra Tanti

The shifting price of space

Demand for Monaco’s largest homes reached new heights in 2025, with the average resale price of properties with four or more bedrooms climbing to €29.0 million — a jump of more than €10 million in a single year and a 54.1% rise that outpaced every other category.

At the other end of the scale, studios remained a popular choice, with their average resale value rising 5.5% to a new record of €2.0 million. One-bedroom apartments also reached a peak, up 9% to €4.0 million.

The middle of the market told a different story. Two-bedroom apartments fell 6.5% to an average of €5.5 million, while three-bedroom properties dipped 9.1% to €10.2 million — though both remain at historically high levels.

IMSEE notes that villas are excluded from its price indicator due to the low number of resales in this category, with just five recorded in 2025.

Homes with four or more bedrooms are now in high demand across the Principality. Photo credit: Cassandra Tanti

Twenty-two sales exceed €20 million

The mean resale price in Monaco reached a new record of €7.6 million in 2025, up €1.6 million in a single year. The median hit €4.0 million, meaning more than half of all resales now conclude above this level — a figure that would have seemed extraordinary in most markets, but in Monaco increasingly represents the floor.

Twenty-two resales exceeded €20 million during the year. A decade ago there were 18 such transactions in a year when the average resale price stood at €4.3 million. That average has since risen by €3.3 million — roughly 77% growth in ten years — with each wave of major development deliveries pushing the baseline higher.

The share of resales concluding below €5 million has fallen steadily, from around 80% of all transactions a decade ago to under 65% today. The market has not transformed overnight, but the direction is consistent and the gap between Monaco and everywhere else continues to widen.

The bottom line

Monaco’s 2025 resale market was ultimately shaped by one underlying force: the arrival of a new generation of high-end developments on the secondary market. From Mareterra’s first resales pushing Larvotto’s values to unprecedented levels, to Bay House inventory refreshing La Rousse, to Monte-Carlo breaking the billion-euro barrier on volume alone, the data points consistently in the same direction. Prices are rising, transaction sizes are growing, and the profile of what sells in Monaco — and for how much — is being reset with each major delivery cycle. With limited new supply expected in the years ahead, the conditions that drove 2025’s record performance show little sign of reversing.

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Main photo credit: Cassandra Tanti, Monaco Life

 

UK rejoins Erasmus+ programme from 2027

by: Cassandra Tanti
18/02/2026

French students will once again be able to use the Erasmus+ programme to study, intern or train in the United Kingdom from 1st January 2027, following a political agreement between the European Union and London concluded on 17th December 2025.

The UK had been excluded from Erasmus+ since 2021 as a consequence of Brexit, ending what had been one of the programme’s most popular student destinations for French participants. The return was negotiated as part of a broader rapprochement between the EU and the UK government.

The full terms of the reintegration — including which types of exchanges will be available, funding conditions and the implementation timetable — will be confirmed in forthcoming association agreements with EU member states.

What French students need to know

Erasmus+ is open to pupils, students, apprentices, teachers, trainers, job seekers and adult learners enrolled in a participating institution, whether a school, university, CFA apprenticeship centre, association or NGO. Scholarships are available, with amounts varying by activity type and destination, and may include a contribution towards travel costs. Students already in receipt of a scholarship may also be eligible for International Mobility Assistance.

Those interested in planning a UK placement from 2027 are advised to contact their institution’s international relations department for details as they become available.

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Photo credit: Mike Benna, Unsplash

 

Faith Kipyegon confirmed for 2026 Herculis EBS Meeting in Monaco

by: Cassandra Tanti
18/02/2026

Triple Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will compete at the Herculis EBS Meeting at Stade Louis-II on 10th July, organisers have confirmed.

The Kenyan middle-distance runner will race over 3,000 metres, marking her return to Monaco track competition after taking part in the Monaco Run Gramaglia road race earlier this year.

A familiar setting for record-breaking

Kipyegon, 32, holds world records over the 1500m and the Mile. It was at the 2023 Herculis EBS Meeting that she set her Mile world record on the Monaco track, a performance that reinforced the venue’s reputation as a stage for elite distance running.

Her debut on the roads in the Principality also produced a notable result. Running her first competitive 10km, Kipyegon clocked 29’47, placing her among the top 15 women of all time over the distance for an opening attempt on the road.

3,000m target for July

For the 2026 edition, Kipyegon will step up to the 3,000m, a distance at which she recorded 8’07″04 at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia in 2025, one of the leading performances in the world over the distance.

The Herculis EBS is part of the Wanda Diamond League circuit, which comprises 15 meetings across 13 countries on four continents. The 2026 season opens in Doha on 8th May and concludes with the two-day final in Brussels on 4th and 5th September.

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Photo credit: Dan Vernon

 

Football: PSG seize control of Champions League play-off against Monaco

by: Luke Entwistle
18/02/2026
Zakaria contests a ball with Neves at the Stade Louis II

AS Monaco threw away a two-goal lead against Paris Saint-Germain, who seized the upper hand in the Champions League play-off with a win at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday night (2-3).

At the 27-minute mark, Monaco were in the driving seat. Two goals up thanks to a brace from Folarin Balogun, lady luck was shining on the Principality club, too, with Philipp Kohn saving a penalty from Vitinha, and Ousmane Dembélé, named the best player in the world back in September, forced off with an injury. So for Sébastien Pocognoli to say that Monaco can “consider [themselves] lucky to have defended so well in the second half to be just one goal behind, leaving [them] with lots of ambition” for the return leg is a sign of how dramatically this game switched on its head.

As it would transpire, Dembélé’s exit in the 27th minute would prove to be a blessing in disguise for PSG, the reigning European champions. It was his replacement, Désiré Doué, who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and helped PSG seize control of the tie. He needed only two minutes to get his first, driving a left-footed shot off the inside of Philipp Kohn’s post.

Golovin handicaps his Monaco teammates once again

He had a hand in the second, too. His curled effort was well-saved by Kohn but palmed straight into the path of Achraf Hakimi, who accepted the invitation to level the scores. Forget a game of two halves, it was a half of two halves. “We know that if PSG accelerate, the danger will come,” said Pocognoli. His players found that out the hard way. Les Monégasques would have gone in at half-time deflated to let their advantage slip, but the situation would worsen upon the return from the dressing room.

Aleksandr Golovin would quickly be back in said dressing room, given his marching orders for raking his foot down the shin of Vitinha just seconds into the second half. It was Balogun who had netted within 60 seconds of the start of the game and who gave Monaco such hope, and a red card within 60 seconds of the second that left them on the back foot and clinging on. “I am frustrated,” admitted Pocognoli post-match. It wasn’t a rousing defence of his player, but Golovin arguably didn’t deserve such treatment. It is the second time in the space of a matter of days that the Russian international has been sent off, after he suffered a similar fate against FC Nantes on Friday. His red against PSG makes him the most red-carded player for Monaco in the 21st century (six).

And whilst Golovin’s red didn’t prove costly for Monaco against Nantes, with Pocognoli’s men seeing out the 3-1 win without him, it did on Tuesday. PSG dominated the ball throughout, but the numerical disadvantage allowed the visitors to assert greater territorial dominance, and it told just after the hour mark when Doué netted his second of the night from the edge of the box.

Pocognoli bemoans penalty decision

“This week, everyone has criticised and killed Doué. He was sensational. He showed his personality. He helped the team at the best time,” said his manager, Luis Enrique. The young Frenchman has not been at his electric best in recent weeks, but benched, he had the aura of a man with a point to prove, and he did so emphatically.

Thereafter, it became a question of damage limitation, and the damage was limited. Monaco claimed a penalty when the ball struck the arm of Marquinhos, and Pocognoli believes that it should have been awarded, but the hosts were grateful to be just one goal down heading to the Parc des Princes for the return leg, and grateful specifically to Kohn, who saved a late Bradley Barcola shot.

“It allows us to have a return leg with everything to play for,” said Pocognoli. The hope of qualification remains alive, but instead of heading up to Paris next week with a lead to protect, they do so with a deficit to overcome. Chasing the game, Monaco will be the underdog, just as, admittedly, they always were.

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Photo source: AS Monaco