Supermarkets in Monaco: which store for which shop

The short version

Monaco's grocery landscape is smaller than its reputation suggests and simpler than most guides make it. There is one hypermarket — the Carrefour in the Fontvieille Shopping Centre — and a ring of neighbourhood supermarkets belonging to five French groups: Carrefour, Système U, Spar, Intermarché and Casino. Add the two municipal food markets and a couple of organic shops and that is the whole map.

Just as useful is what is not here. There is no Monoprix, no Lidl, no Aldi, no Leclerc and no Auchan in the Principality. Any guide that sends you to a "budget Monoprix in Monaco" is describing a store that does not exist.

Prices are simply French chain prices: these are French retailers running their normal ranges, catalogues and loyalty schemes, at French VAT rates (5.5% on most food). What changes the bill is the format — a hypermarket is cheaper than a city-centre convenience store, in Monaco as anywhere else.

Which store for which shop

The full address, phone and opening-hours list for every store is in the companion page Supermarkets in Monaco: the complete list.

The hypermarket: Carrefour Fontvieille

Carrefour Monaco anchors the Fontvieille Shopping Centre at 27 avenue Albert II, next to the Stade Louis-II and the Fontvieille harbour. It is the one place in the Principality where you can do a proper weekly shop under one roof — every fresh department plus household goods, with non-food upstairs — and it keeps the longest hours of any food store in Monaco: Monday to Saturday 8am–9.30pm, Sunday 8am–7pm.

The centre's covered car park has 580 spaces and is run by Monaco Parkings, so the standard public-car-park rule applies: the first hour is free. Bus lines 3, 4 and 6 stop at the centre, and there is a parcel-relay point at the hypermarket entrance and a cash machine on level 0. The 36 other shops in the centre, a pharmacy and a McDonald's are covered in the Fontvieille Shopping Centre guide.

The neighbourhood supermarkets

La Condamine. Carrefour Market at 17 boulevard Albert Ier is the port district's full-size supermarket, a short walk from the Place d'Armes. A small Spar trades on the square itself at 7 place d'Armes, and Côté Bio at 8 rue de Millo is the district's organic grocer.

Monte-Carlo. Marché U at 30 boulevard Princesse Charlotte and the Spar on the ground floor of the Métropole Shopping Centre (17 avenue des Spélugues) are the two supermarkets within a few minutes of the Casino. Note that the Spar is closed on Sunday and shuts at 7.30pm — it is a convenient store, not a late one.

Larvotto and La Rousse. The second Marché U, at 7 boulevard d'Italie, is the group's main Monaco store, with its own free customer car park, an Italian range ("Il Bel Paese"), fresh pasta, a butcher, a fishmonger and a wine cellar, and it runs Monaco's only supermarket Drive (coursesu.com) and the home-delivery service. The same boulevard has a Casino Shop at no. 68, and there is a Petit Casino at 6 lacets Saint-Léon and a Carrefour City at 1 rue des Genêts.

Moneghetti. Intermarché Express at 31 avenue Hector Otto is the only supermarket on the Jardin Exotique side of the Principality, and opens on Sunday morning.

Sunday and late opening

Monaco is not a 24-hour city for groceries. On Sunday the safe bets are Carrefour Fontvieille (8am–7pm), Carrefour Market on boulevard Albert Ier and Intermarché Express in the morning. The Métropole Spar is closed and both Marché U stores publish Monday-to-Saturday hours only. In the evening, nothing in Monaco beats Carrefour's 9.30pm closing.

The two municipal markets are the exception to every rule: they open every day of the year, but their produce stalls close at midday (Condamine) or 1pm (Monte-Carlo) — see the markets guide.

Markets, organic and frozen food

For fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and cheese, residents still use the Marché de la Condamine and the Marché de Monte-Carlo on avenue Saint-Charles rather than the supermarkets. Both are run by the Mairie, both offer free home delivery to Monaco residents (Monday to Saturday, 7.30am–2pm), and the Condamine hall interior is closed for works until early 2027, with the traders working from a temporary village on the square.

Organic shopping means Côté Bio in La Condamine, Solis Bio among the market traders, and the "bio" ranges of Carrefour and U. For frozen food, the nearest Picard is not in Monaco but a few steps over the border on rue du Marché in Beausoleil (Sunday 9am–12.45pm).

Shopping across the border

Beausoleil begins on the far pavement of boulevard d'Italie and boulevard de France, so "shopping in France" can mean a five-minute walk. Cap-d'Ail and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin are a short drive either way along the coast road. Residents cross for the formats Monaco lacks — discounters, Monoprix, larger Picard and Intermarché stores — rather than for dramatically lower prices, since the same chains charge the same catalogue prices on both sides. There is no customs check and no restriction on bringing groceries into the Principality.

Practical notes

• Bags. Single-use plastic carrier bags have been banned in Monaco since 2016; bring your own or buy a reusable one at the till.
• Payment. Cards and contactless are accepted everywhere, including most market stalls.
• Loyalty cards. French Carrefour, U, Intermarché and Casino cards all work in the Monaco stores.
• Online. Marché U takes orders on coursesu.com for collection at its Drive on boulevard d'Italie or delivery to Monaco addresses; the municipal markets deliver free to residents. Restaurant delivery is a separate subject — see food delivery in Monaco.
• Budget. How grocery costs fit into a Monaco household budget is covered in the cost of living guide and budget tips.