Monaco has launched an extensive road resurfacing campaign from Monday 16th February to Monday 19th March in preparation for upcoming motorsport and cycling events, including the Monaco Grand Prix and the principality’s first hosting of La Vuelta.
The Urban Planning Department is conducting the works, which are more extensive than previous years due to the addition of the international cycling race to Monaco’s usual Grand Prix preparations.
Nighttime operations to limit disruption
To minimise impact on traffic, all works will take place at night with appropriate signage in place. Temporary road closures and parking restrictions will be implemented, with specific information provided to residents.
Emergency services and police will maintain access to all areas during the works. Pedestrian routes will remain open and marked throughout the construction period.
Affected bus routes will be diverted from 8pm, with information distributed by the Compagnie des Autobus de Monaco. Users of impacted car parks can request temporary parking in neighbouring facilities.
Five-week rolling schedule
Works begin in Monaco-Ville on 16th February with Avenue de la Porte Neuve and Avenue Saint-Martin, before moving to the Marquet roundabout, Boulevard Albert Ier and Place Sainte-Dévote during the week of 23rd February.
The campaign continues through early March covering the port area, Avenue des Guelfes, Quai Antoine Ier and the Portier sector. The Madone roundabout, Quai Jean-Charles Rey, Boulevard d’Italie and Place des Moulins receive attention during the week of 9th March.
Final works take place from 16th to 19th March on Boulevard Albert Ier entrance, Avenue des Citronniers and Avenue Princesse Grace.
Parking and access restrictions
Major parking facilities will face temporary closures during the works. The Visitation car park closes on nights of 16th-17th and 19th-20th February. The Stade Louis II entrance closes on 23rd-24th February, though the Marquet tunnel remains open except to heavy vehicles.
The Sainte-Dévote car park closes on nights of 24th-26th February. Portier and Grimaldi Forum car parks close on nights of 25th-27th February and again 4th-6th March, with Louis II car park access maintained. The Annonciade car park closes on 12th-13th March, and Métropole car park on 17th-18th March.
Most restrictions run from 8pm to 6am, with parking prohibitions typically beginning at 4pm.
The Monaco government has announced the start of works to replace moving walkways serving the two parking levels at Fontvieille Shopping Centre as part of the facility’s ongoing modernisation programme.
Following a tender process, a specialised company has been selected to carry out the operation. The works will be conducted sequentially on different walkways to ensure at least one circulation route remains available at all times.
Upward access maintained
Construction begins on 16th February. The upward direction will remain operational throughout the entire project, maintaining access to shops and the hypermarket during the works. Shopping trolley stations will be installed near lifts in the car park, close to public toilets, and at other strategic locations.
During the construction period, visitors are encouraged to use lifts for movement between levels, particularly when travelling downward. The arrangements have been agreed between the centre’s management and hypermarket operators.
Wider modernisation programme
The works form part of a broader initiative, with the government continuing site modernisation through an enhancement programme rolling out this year.
It is the first phase of a modernisation announced in July 2025, which includes a €10 million refurbishment of the centre that opened in 1992. The renovation works are scheduled to begin in 2028 after more than 18 years of delays.
Strike action
The announcement comes as approximately 80% of shops at the centre closed this week in protest over planned redevelopment. Traders objected to compensation packages and concerns they will not be guaranteed space in the renovated centre.
The government stated it remains attentive to traders’ concerns and intends to maintain dialogue with the Economic Interest Group and all affected businesses.
The numbers tell the story: 36.5 kilograms of litter, 237 cigarette butts, 100 pieces of chewing gum, and countless takeaway food containers. All abandoned along Monaco’s coastline. All collected within six days. All discarded despite numerous public bins being readily available.
On Tuesday 10th February, students from the CM2 class at Institution François d’Assise-Nicolas Barré confronted this reality firsthand during a coastal cleanup of Monaco’s Marine Education Area, organised with support from the Monegasque Sanitation Company (SMA).
From observation to action
Over the six days prior, SMA workers collected every piece of litter abandoned on the ground along the site. The waste was weighed in front of the students—36.5 kilograms—then categorised with professional guidance. Glass, household waste, food packaging. The children identified what people throw away most frequently.
Then came the hands-on work. Equipped with gloves and collection materials, students worked in small groups to clean the site themselves. The activity revealed more than just surface litter. Their efforts uncovered 237 cigarette butts, approximately 100 pieces of chewing gum, various household waste including takeaway food packaging, and fishing-related materials: hooks, weights, tangled lines.
Photo source: AMPN
Making ambassadors
At the end of the morning, SMA awarded each student a ‘Coastal Protector’ certificate, recognising their environmental commitment. The company also distributed collection bags and educational tools to transform them into ambassadors for waste sorting and marine protection.
The initiative achieved more than a clean beach. It allowed children to observe pollution reality rather than just hear about it, understand the direct link between daily actions and coastal conditions, and develop a sense of responsibility for their environment. The message: protection is everyone’s responsibility, and individual actions matter.
The British School of Monaco opened its early years nursery in January, and families have wasted no time. Set in a 250 square metre space at L’Escorial on avenue Hector Otto, it gives children aged three to five a full day of learning, play and rest; something that was surprisingly hard to come by in Monaco until now.
Founders Olena Prykhodko and Luke Sullivan started the school in 2022 with just seven students. Today, it has around 150 pupils across four sites, with the nursery as its latest addition.
Filling a significant gap
While full-day nurseries are standard across much of Europe, in Monaco, many only offer half a day. “What can you do in three hours? It’s impossible,” Maria Lugovoy, a parent, tells Monaco Life. The new nursery runs from 8:45am to 3:30pm, providing a full day of .
“We have 15 students today, against a total capacity of 32 places,” reveals Prykhodko. Each class has a maximum of 16 children, with an English-speaking teacher, a bilingual English-French assistant, and a French teacher who takes the children every morning.
The school follows the British curriculum, but French runs through the whole day due to the mix of families. Close to 30 nationalities are represented, mainly from English, Russian and Italian speaking backgrounds. “Most of our children come from international families who have recently arrived in Monaco,” said Prykhodko. “Many are bilingual or multilingual. Our real expertise is preparing them for that environment.”
During the school day, photo credit: Monaco Life
A school cosy by design
Inside, the classrooms are bright and softly furnished, more like a home than a school. . Each room is 45 sqm for a maximum of 16 children. Outside, two separate playgrounds of 80 and 160 sqm give the children plenty of room to run and play. For those who want to nap after lunch, the school has also built custom wooden beds.
“We really wanted the children to sleep in a very cosy place,” said Prykhodko. “Children love to sleep here. they really don’t want to wake up afterwards.”
Their daily schedule covers French, reading and writing, maths, music and outdoor play.
One of the two classrooms, photo by Monaco Life.
“It’s like one big family”
The best reviews came from the parents. Maria and Andrey Lugovoy are an Israeli family with three children at the school. Their youngest started the nursery a month ago.
“On weekends, she’s sad that she doesn’t go to school,” said Maria Lugovoy. “She tries to put her uniform on herself. In the morning, she doesn’t even want to eat breakfast, she just says: ‘Mummy, I want to go to school.'”
For the Lugovoys, it was never just about the hours. “We were looking for something more than the standard approach where the school and parents are completely separate,” said Andrey Lugovoy. “We saw an integrated approach around the child, their education, their well-being and their values. You can see it’s like one big family.”
The international curriculum matters too, for a family that may move again. “We wanted something stable, something we could apply in other places,” he said.
Body Tailor has opened in Monte-Carlo with a clear focus: delivering visible results through advanced techniques. Founded by wellness entrepreneur Gabriela Manescu, the boutique studio takes a different approach to the traditional spa experience found across Monaco.
The compact space, located near the Metropole Shopping Centre in Monte-Carlo, offers two specialised treatments. One involves a machine that will humble even the fittest athletes. The other requires a practitioner to perform precise manual work inside the mouth. Both deliver exactly what they promise.
Welcome to your new limit
The Lagree Method is not Pilates. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not tried it. Body Tailor is the first and only place in Monaco offering this particular brand of controlled suffering, and within minutes of your first session, you will understand why it has a cult following.
The Mega Pro machine looks deceptively simple. A flat carriage, some springs, a few platforms. Then you start moving, and the method reveals itself. Slow, controlled movements that target muscles you did not know existed. Your trainer adjusts resistance throughout, pushing you to the edge of muscle failure, then holding you there.
The Lagree fitness machines at Body Tailor
A one-hour session feels like a lifetime. Your muscles shake. You might swear under your breath. But the method works precisely because it is this challenging. The low-impact, high-resistance approach builds strength without destroying joints, and the constant variation means your body cannot adapt or coast.
Sessions are personal or in very small groups. Your trainer watches every movement, corrects form, increases difficulty when you are getting comfortable, and generally ensures you cannot cheat your way through. If you have been bored by your gym routine or frustrated by lack of progress, this will solve both problems immediately.
The Intra-Buccal facial
The facial that works from the inside out
The Intra-Buccal + Kobido facial requires a brief mental adjustment. Your practitioner will be working inside your mouth. Not around it, inside it. With gloves, obviously, but still. If that sentence makes you hesitate, consider this: it works.
The treatment combines three elements that sound more like a wellness world tour than a standard facial. Omorovicza products from Hungarian thermal waters prepare the skin. Kobido, a 500-year-old Japanese massage technique, works the facial muscles and fascia with rapid, rhythmic movements that bear no resemblance to the gentle dabbing of a typical spa facial. Then comes the intra-buccal work.
The internal massage reaches muscles in the lower face, jaw, and around the mouth that are essentially impossible to address from the outside. The practitioner works methodically through the inner cheeks, along the jawline from the inside, around the nasolabial folds. It feels strange for about three minutes, then you stop noticing because the release is so immediate.
The results are not subtle. During a recent 90-minute session at Body Tailor, the lifting effect was visible before I even left the studio. Hours later, the jawline was more defined, my face looked genuinely rested rather than just moisturised, and tension that had been living in my jaw for months was simply gone.
This is not a facial you book for a pleasant afternoon. You book it because you want your face to look different when you leave than when you arrived. The Kobido massage is intense, the intra-buccal work is unusual, and the entire experience is about function over comfort. It delivers.
Biologique Recherche and Omorovicza product lines are used in the Body Tailor facials
For those not ready to commit to facial massage from the inside out, Body Tailor also offers more traditional treatments using both Biologique Recherche and Omorovicza product lines. These sessions still follow the studio’s results-focused philosophy but without the intra-buccal component, making them a gentler entry point to the Body Tailor approach.
No shortcuts, no coincidence
Gabriela built Body Tailor around a simple premise: results come from consistency, not luck. The studio operates on a three-step cycle of Analysis, Adaptation, and Action, repeated monthly to keep pace with how skin and body actually change.
The skincare philosophy is refreshingly straightforward. Biologique Recherche, the French clinical line, handles problems. Concentrated, fragrance-free, effective for when skin needs correction. Omorovicza, built on Hungarian thermal water, maintains and prevents. Two different tools for two different jobs.
Body treatments include the Manuela Shala lymphatic drainage method, designed for circulation and reducing heaviness, with time built in after each session for personalised advice. The goal is for benefits to extend beyond the appointment and into daily life.
The Kobido technique
What you need to know
Body Tailor is not trying to replace your spa or your gym. It exists in a different category entirely. The studio keeps a small client base deliberately, allowing for genuine personalisation rather than assembly-line appointments.
Pricing reflects the boutique positioning and one-on-one attention. This is premium wellness for people who want measurable outcomes and are willing to pay for expertise and exclusivity. Packages offer better value for those committing to regular sessions, which is precisely the point. Sporadic visits miss the method.
Book through the website. Everything is by appointment, and the personalised nature of both the Lagree sessions and the facial treatments means availability is limited. The Intra-Buccal + Kobido facial requires extended time slots, so plan accordingly.
The verdict
Monaco has no shortage of places promising transformation. Body Tailor actually delivers it, largely because Gabriela has stripped away everything that does not directly contribute to results.
What you get is a Lagree workout that will redefine your understanding of muscle fatigue, and a facial treatment that works from angles you did not know existed. Both are uncomfortable in their own ways. Both produce visible, immediate results.
If you have been chasing results through conventional channels and coming up short, or if you are simply curious what happens when wellness stops being gentle and starts being effective, Body Tailor is worth the visit. Bring your pain tolerance and realistic expectations. Leave everything else at the door.
The Paris Opera Ballet will perform La Dame aux Camélias at Grimaldi Forum Monaco on 17th, 18th and 19th July, marking a rare opportunity to see one of the world’s leading ballet companies in the principality.
Choreographed by John Neumeier, La Dame aux Camélias is considered one of the most moving works in the classical ballet repertoire. The three performances will take place in the Salle des Princes at 7.30pm, with the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra providing live accompaniment.
Co-production
The performances are a co-production between Grimaldi Forum Monaco and Monaco Dance Forum. Each performance runs for two hours and 50 minutes, including two intervals.
Tickets start at 55 euros, with a reduced rate of 40 euros available for those under 25-years-old. Reservations can be made through the Grimaldi Forum Monaco box office on +377 99 99 30 00.
The Paris Opera Ballet, founded in 1669, is one of the oldest and most prestigious ballet companies in the world, based at the Palais Garnier in Paris.
