Away On Saturday: Visiting Monaco on the cheap!

Where did the summer go, I found it in Monaco...

There's a huge myth that surrounds Monte Carlo/Monaco; that it's an expensive place to visit, that you need to save for ages beforehand and it's full of glitz, glamour and a 'James Bond' lifestyle because Roger Moore lived here for a number of years.

Whilst it is a tax haven for the rich and the cost of just a basic studio apartment can be over a million euros (despite relatively similar accommodation being around 1/3 of that price just a few miles down the road), a trip to the principality doesn't have to be that expensive.

Given my Yorkshire roots, being 'tight' (or, as I like to think, very shrewd where money is concerned) and searching for a good bargain is second nature - and, as a result, I managed to have the Monaco experience on a shoe-string budget.

Every January, travel prices are ALWAYS at their cheapest with a reason/theory being that 'nobody travels in the New Year because everyone is skint after Christmas'.

Therefore, there are some great bargains to be had and my flights for this particular trip was £10 each way (London Stansted to Nice) with Ryanair - leaving Friday, returning Monday.

Whilst Ryanair might not be a favourable airline for many, I've enjoyed numerous ventures across Europe and only once have I endured problems and, even then, it was due to circumstances totally beyond their control.

Ryanair is as 'budget basic' as you get, but do you really need in-flight entertainment like on offer with other airlines, a three-course meal at 30,000 feet or to pack a weeks worth of clothes for a three-day trip and subsequently have to pay more for your luggage?

If travelling alone, priority boarding and reserved seating is utterly pointless too; if you don't get the seat you want in the 'random' allocation (i.e. a window seat), let the masses board first, ensure you're the last passenger to board and, voila, you now have the pick of any remaining seats - usually there's always some and I've never been asked to move when I've done this trick!

Assuming you bag a window seat on the right-hand side of the aircraft, you'll also get some stunning views of the French Riviera as you come to land as well.

Anyway, that's £20 spent on flights to get from A to B.

If you want to save a few quid once you've arrived, an idea is to take a stroll from the airport to the promenade where buses to the city are significantly cheaper. Or, if you're feeling fit and have an hour or two to spare, you can stroll all the way into the centre.

For the next challenge - accommodation, the cheapest solution is to stay in Nice, which is absolutely beautiful and in my opinion actually more picturesque and pleasant than Monaco/Monte Carlo.

I stayed in a hostel in the 'old town' part of the city which was fine enough (aside from some guy who looked like Mr Motivator swinging his python about at three o'clock one morning - which was a little bit of an, erm, 'What the f**k?' moment) and it cost about €15 per night.

Hostels definitely aren't for everyone - especially when lookalikes of GMTV's former fitness freak turn up, but there are numerous other accommodation providers that offer reasonable prices and can be easily found via a quick Google Search.

With Monaco not playing at Stade Louis II until the Sunday, I spent the Saturday exploring Nice, soaking up the sun (which is surprisingly very nice in Southern France at this time of year) and relaxing.

On the Sunday, a quick look at the SNCF train timetables showed several trains between Nice and Monaco, taking around half-an-hour, with a return ticket costing under €10.

I'd purposely booked my trip to tie in with the Ligue I game, but also to allow a good few hours beforehand to explore the principality and see the sights such as the Marina, Casino, Grimaldi Forum and the race-track (which every F1 fan will know is actually the streets of Monaco).

Mistakenly, I left the station via the wrong, high-level, exit and unfortunately wasted around half-an-hour battling my way back down to sea level - though it did surprise me just how many cranes there were and how people already seemed to live on top of each other.

Once at sea-level, I indulged in the aforementioned glitz and glamour of what Monaco has to offer. Given the fact this principality spans just a few square miles and is tiny, everything is within walking distance, well-signposted and very easy to find. It also costs nothing to view marvellous buildings or take photos of the various expensive cars that are here, there and bloody everywhere.

There were tourist traps, none more so than some restaurants down by the marina - though in fairness the prices being charged weren't as bad as I've seen in other towns/cities around Europe, but a small mini-supermarket provided me with what I needed at a more than reasonable cost.

With regards to the football, Monaco hosted Metz (frustratingly arranged for the same time Nice were playing, otherwise I could have done two games in a weekend) and tickets were priced at €20.

Stade Louis II has an 18,000 capacity, which is half of the principality itself, and, surprisingly to some, attendances are often around the 5,000 mark. The complex is multi-purpose with an athletics track around the perimeter of the pitch and a swimming pool and car park underneath the playing surface as well.

Even when the 'big boys' of French football come to town or the team advances to the latter stages of the Champions League, attendances don't improve that greatly, so you're always likely to get tickets here regardless of who the opposition are.

The atmosphere is poor, however, and only a very small bunch of die-hard fans made the trip from Metz which probably had as much to do with distance as it did with them being adrift at the bottom of the Ligue I table.

Wherever you're seated inside the stadium, you'll get some fantastic 'picture perfect' views of the Côte d'Azur landscape, which, along with the unmistakable arches behind one of the goals, make for superb photographs. It's no surprise really that UEFA used to play the much-maligned 'Super Cup' here for several years before deciding on a rotation-process in the mid-2010s.

On the pitch in this game, Monaco eased to a relatively straightforward three points - taking the lead just before the interval through Jorge. Rachid Ghezzal and Rony Lopes added further goals, which were punctuated by a strike from Metz's Ibrahima Niane.