THE MONACO YACHT SHOW

The Monaco Yacht Show is four days in Port Hercule at the end of September, from a Wednesday to a Saturday, with some hundred and twenty superyachts moored along the quays of the harbour, most of them between about twenty metres and ninety and the largest of 2026 over a hundred, shown to buyers, charter clients and their brokers. The first day is for invited guests only. It has been held since 1991, and is organised by Informa.

A ticket does not take anyone aboard. Access to each yacht “is at the discretion of the owner”, and is arranged through a broker beforehand.

The Show

The show was founded in 1991 by Maurice Cohen, a French entrepreneur, head of Media Plus and “father” of several other shows, for superyachts over twenty metres. In its early years the shipyards largely ignored it, and it lived off the brokerage firms.

In 1994 the rights were sold to IIR, and in 1996 the show was on the verge of failure. In 2005 IIR Holdings, its owner, was bought by Informa, the British events and publishing company, for $1.4 billion, and Informa has organised it since.

It grew. In 2002 nearly fifteen thousand visitors came; in 2016 there were 125 yachts in Port Hercule and some thirty-two thousand visitors. It is described as “Europe’s biggest in-water display of large yachts”, with more than a hundred and fifty private events around it.

The Yacht Club de Monaco calls it “an emblematic event in the Principality since 1991”, and holds its own Owners’ Lunch, a Captain’s Forum and evening parties during the week.

The Four Days

The show is open from ten in the morning to half past six from Wednesday to Friday, and to six on the Saturday. The Wednesday is not for the public: access is “reserved for invited guests and holders of a Prestige VIP Guest pass”, and the Dockside Area that day is “reserved for private clients”.

Going aboard is “at the discretion of the exhibiting shipyards and yacht brokers”. There is an official VIP Programme for buyers and charter clients, and a C&C Lounge reserved for the captains and crews of yachts not on show. Golf carts and boats carry visitors between the quays, free of charge.

Around the show are the Monaco Yacht Summit, a programme of conferences, and “invite-only cocktail parties on board the yachts”.

The 2026 show, the thirty-fifth, ran from Wednesday 23 to Saturday 26 September, with about a hundred and twenty yachts, forty-three of them delivered that year; the largest was the 102.4-metre Lürssen NIXIE. Some thirty thousand people came, and more than five hundred and sixty exhibitors. Oceanco showed Leviathan and Draak; Gulf Craft introduced the Majesty 145 and 160; Lürssen showed six deliveries. The Blue Wake Awards were given for the second time, a Designer Gallery opened, and tenders were presented on the water at Quai Antoine Ier.

What to Know

It runs from a Wednesday to a Saturday in late September: in 2027, from 22 to 25 September. Ticketing is closed until the next show.

Tickets are sold online only, with no sales on site. In 2026 the official prices, VAT included, were €400 for the Wednesday pass, €700 for one day, €1,300 for two and €2,070 for three.

Yachting attire, with an unlined jacket. Nothing is published; a guide recommends “Business casual / nautical chic”, and the Court dresses a level above it, since a member goes aboard by appointment and to the owners’ events.

Nice Côte d’Azur Airport is about thirty kilometres away by road, some thirty minutes on the A8 with the traffic, or about seven minutes by helicopter to the heliport at Fontvieille. Both are busy during the show, and “it is strongly advised to book the flight and transfer well in advance.” The Hôtel de Paris overlooks Casino Square; the Hermitage has views of the superyachts below; and there is the Métropole. To dine, the brokers name Le Louis XV, with three Michelin stars, and Nobu.

The mistake is to come on the Wednesday with a day pass. That day is for invited guests and Prestige VIP pass holders only.

The Court

The Monaco Yacht Show is not the Court’s own. A Prestige VIP pass for the Wednesday, and appointments aboard through a broker, are sought on a member’s behalf, and the Court arranges the whole of it: getting there, where to stay above the harbour, and the table afterward.

How one becomes a member is set out under Admission.