Tips for Monaco '17

[uttershambles]

I know these can get boring, so will try and make this as quick & painless as I can

Gf and I are heading to Monaco F1 this year, part of a France driving holiday

I got 2 x VIP tickets for qualy - decent seat, food, drinks... as I figured Qualy was best value and also most exciting part

Stuck on what to do for the race tho...

-my plan was to head to a nearby bar and have a relaxed drink/lunch whilst watching in on TV, then head down to the track when it's over and opens up for some milling, blagging and soaking it all up

-or, we could get GA tickets but from what I can tell you are squished onto a cramped hill with no view

-If we get Tribunes its 1200 euros minimum, which seems like really poor value for this particular race

I am not really a fan of the race itself, and GF doesn't care - we are going for the 'event' of it (and it's part 2 of the triple crown for me)

Just thought I'd check with people that had been - we could do a lot with that 1200 euros on the rest of our trip, but having never been I can't tell if my idea is secretly just really, really sh**

[uttershambles]

Cheers guys - golden stuff

I'm committed to Nice so can't take the recommendation on alternatives, but will get that weekend rail ticket sorted (thanks Oz)

Also thanks for the tips - we have a sweet setup for Quali so as you suggest I think I will take enough cash with me and if the worst is taht we retreat to a bar, then we are both cool with that and my gf's face went white at the standard prices for seats - her exact quote was 'do you know how much wine that will buy?'

I also quite like leaving things a bit flexible, so that sounds like our winner

Really appreciate the help

sam

[uttershambles]

Just thought I would stop back in to say thanks again, and report findings.

In short, the idea worked really well - the buzz was great around Qualy and had a sorted position on a rooftop terrace (VIP package); on race day we just wandered into the town literally minutes before the green dropped (missing all the train crush), easily found a few bars to have some drinks and food and watch the race on TV. We did have to wait a while then (till 8pm but I get the sense this time can move around a bit), then partied on the rascasse/swimming pool section till late and easily wandered up to the train back to Nice

One word of advice, a friend we met reported that the post-race trains (like an hour after) were very busy, and although the Monaco police were very good, the sheer weight of numbers would (to me) be worth avoiding by hanging around for an extra 2 hours post race.

Onto the next trip