Kelly Rutherford's guide to visiting Monaco

Kelly Rutherford exudes an understated sophistication that fits perfectly with the glamorous, high-class lifestyle in Monaco. While she is still based in the United States, the actress is best known for her role as Serena's mother, Lily van der Woodsen gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012, has adapted to the lifestyle in the small nation for most of the last decade.

“It’s actually quite peaceful,” said the 55-year-old actress Travel + leisure exclusively at this year's Monte-Carlo Television Festival. “It's the opposite of what everyone thinks, at least for me. It’s a place where you can come and just be quiet.”

While its flagship events, such as the famous Monaco Grand Prix and the nearby Cannes Film Festival, attract international audiences in the summer months, the off-season is particularly subdued, she noted.

“In the winter it’s very quiet, very private and very peaceful,” she said. “It’s like the Hamptons in the summer versus the Hamptons in the winter.”

And despite Monte Carlo's glamorous stereotype, her perfect days are simple.

“I just walk the dogs, spend time with the kids and run errands,” she said. “If there’s a gallery opening or something like that, I just go and check it out. But for me it is above all a quiet time here.”

On these relaxing days, she enjoys taking walks in the bay near the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and visiting Organic Cafe Woo for sandwiches, salads, cappuccinos and organic juices, especially the Starter Juice in the morning. Another favorite is Cova, an Italian pasticceria with roots dating back to 1817.

Of course she also sees the magic of the travel destination. “Grace Kelly really created this beautiful feeling here,” she explained. “She invited all the Hollywood people to Monaco early on and made it very glamorous.”

But during her time there she also experienced a change.

“It’s still very old-fashioned, traditional, private and beautiful, but it’s now also becoming something of a cultural center,” she said. “It feels like it has another new energy.”

That includes the art scene, which she describes as “amazing,” particularly with the opening of a Hauser & Wirth gallery location in 2021 in a 3,121-square-foot cube flooded with skylights. She's also watched a new neighborhood emerge near Larvotto, scheduled to open in 2025, as well as more fashion shoots around the city and even a surprise from New York City along the way.

“They're opening a Dean & Deluca here too – finally, after all these years,” she said, adding: “All we need is a good deli anywhere in the world.”

For first-time visitors, she recommends a walk through the famous area around the Casino de Monte-Carlo, as well as the Lavratto district and around the port of Fontvieille, including the La Condamine market. She also suggested going to Monaco-Ville, also known as The Rock, where the Prince's Palace and the Oéanographique Museum are located.

“It's worth seeing the view from The Rock – it's really beautiful!” she said.

Another advantage of the small state on the French Riviera is its strategic location. “It’s just a great center where you can be and go anywhere,” she said. On a recent day trip, she ventured to Théoule-sur-Mer and, among other things, took a tour of Pierre Cardin's bubble-shaped Le Palais Bulles. She names other highlights: Saint-Paul de Vence, Cannes and Antibes as well as Château La Coste.

Since she spent so much time in Monaco, she also worked on her first European production, the French series Escort boysStreaming on Amazon Prime Video. “We shot in Arles – and it was really magical,” she said of the Ruben Alves-directed project. “It's like the dream of working in France, as if we were riding horses and in the Camargue. My son came with me and it was just wonderful.”

While she still considers the United States her home, the Kentucky-born artist has embraced the global lifestyle that is innate to her. “I think we're descended from Sir Francis Drake or something like that – we kind of have the explorer in our family,” she said of her family's passion for travel. “We focus so much on education in school, but I think the best education is learning about other cultures and how other people do things. We judge less and are more conscious and respectful when traveling.”

It's a philosophy she passed on to her two teenagers, Hermés, born in 2006, and Helena, born in 2009 – even though the tables have turned.

“I'm just trying to keep up with them,” she admitted. “They are both so incredibly bright and clever and I am very grateful. They also have a much more global mentality towards young people. I constantly learn so much from them. I hope they learn something from me – I don’t know what!”

In fact, she also learns from the European way of thinking.

“In the U.S. we’re kind of like worker bees, which is good — the work ethic we have is incredible in a lot of ways,” she said. “There are many other cultures that also have a very strong work ethic, but I believe in learning balance. There's something so luxurious about slowing down, enjoying life and taking the time to actually look at someone and connect. Sometimes we get so busy that we don’t connect as much with our own humanity and other people – I don’t know where we’re headed.”

But that doesn't mean she doesn't love the hustle and bustle of big cities. “There is momentum and you feel it,” she said. “You go to New York and there is so much incredible energy and people helping each other.”

Although she hasn't spent that much time in the city since then gossip Girl Years later, she still thinks about it fondly. “I spent a lot of time with the kids in Central Park when they were little and I still love it,” she said. In true Lily fashion, she said she also loves the Upper East Side, including places like the Guggenheim Museum, Sant Ambroeus, Le Bilboquet and The Carlyle.

Another neighborhood she was drawn to was SoHo, where you could just walk around and stroll into the shops and places like the garden in Laduree.

“A lot of New York is similar to Paris and other cities where the main thing is being able to walk around the neighborhoods,” she said. “It's the aspect of slowing down when you just have time to look through the windows. Just taking it in and discovering it – it’s the discovery that’s so beautiful.”