The Monaco dress code is smart and composed by day and elegant in the evening: shoes and proper dress in town, a jacket for men in the evening at the Casino de Monte-Carlo, where the house recommends one after 8pm, and swimwear at the beach or pool only. Shorts are accepted in town during the day; they are not accepted in the casino’s gaming rooms.

Monaco has a dress code that most visitors underestimate. The principality is small and its standards are specific — and they vary considerably depending on the hour, the setting, and the occasion. What is correct at the Casino de Monte-Carlo is different from what belongs on the harbour at midday, which is different again from a dinner in Èze or a day in Antibes. Getting it right requires understanding all four.

The Casino de Monte-Carlo has a formal dress code that is enforced at the door. For men: a jacket is recommended by the casino after 8pm, and is the composed choice. No shorts, no sportswear, no trainers. The standard is European formal — not black tie, but considered. A PP linen shirt in a deeper colourway — Dubarry, a rich Oyster — worn with linen trousers and the PP shoe. The collar open but the shirt buttoned. The jacket adds the layer the evening asks for without requiring a suit.

For women at the Casino de Monte-Carlo the same standard applies, without the jacket: an evening dress, or a composed blouse with tailored trousers or a skirt, and proper shoes. Beachwear, sports clothing and flip-flops are not accepted in the gaming rooms for anyone. The Amelia linen dress shirt in Dubarry or Oyster, worn with a heeled sandal, is in keeping with that standard.

By day the casino is more relaxed. Visitors walk through the atrium in smart daywear, and the jacket belongs to the evening and the gaming rooms. Bring a passport or national identity card, which is asked for at the entrance to the gaming rooms, where entry is for those over 18, and look at the casino’s current terms before you go: the house reserves the right to refuse entry.

The harbour at Port Hercule, the morning walk to the Café de Paris, the afternoon at the beach club at the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo — these ask for something lighter. White or Vanille linen for men, open at the collar, worn with shorts or swim shorts. For women: the ladies linen set in Sky Blue or Light Blue, the Amelia linen dress shirt as the natural cover for the walk from the beach.

Can you wear shorts in Monaco? Yes, during the day. Tailored linen shorts with a shirt are right for the harbour, the old town on the Rock, lunch on a terrace and the walk along the port. What Monaco does not accept is beachwear away from the beach: the principality’s own rules forbid walking through town in swimwear, bare-chested or barefoot. In the evening, at the casino, in restaurants and in hotel bars, long trousers are the correct choice for men.

Monte-Carlo is the district of Monaco around the casino and the Hôtel de Paris. Everything in this guide applies there, at its most formal.

The Riviera dinner — at Le Louis XV, at Pavyllon Monte-Carlo, at any of the restaurants on the Roquebrune headland — sits between these registers. Composed without being stiff. A linen shirt and linen trousers, the PP shoe, the collar open. The setting does the formal work. The clothing needs only to be correct.

What to pack for Monaco: two linen shirts — one light colourway for the day, one deeper for the evening. One pair of linen trousers. PP linen shorts or swim shorts. The PP shoe for evenings. For women: the linen set, the Amelia, one composed colourway for the evening occasions.

Cannes, Saint-Tropez, and Antibes ask for slightly less formality than Monaco — the Riviera register is warmer and more open once you leave the principality. The same wardrobe covers all four destinations without adjustment. That is the point of natural linen in this latitude.

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