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Harbours and anchorages
From Menton to Bonifacio, the French and Corsican coast has over a hundred and eighty marinas, sheltered coves and natural anchorages. Some are bywords for glamour and old money; others are limestone inlets with no sound but the wind and the gulls.
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UNESCO World Heritage Sites
The Gulf of Porto in Corsica — with its red granite cliffs, the Scandola marine reserve and the Piana calanques — and the historic centre of Avignon are both on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Riviera also holds an unrivalled concentration of twentieth-century modern art, much of it within a short walk of the water.
22–26 °C
Exceptionally clear water
The Mediterranean off the French and Corsican coasts reaches ideal swimming temperatures from June to October. The Scandola Nature Reserve in Corsica has visibility of up to 40 metres underwater; the Calanques between Marseille and Cassis are protected as a national marine park.
Unrivalled
The food
Marseille bouillabaisse, Provençal rosé, Corsican charcuterie with its own appellations, Niçoise pan bagnat and the flower and spice markets of the Côte d'Azur. Sailing the French coast means having access to one of the great culinary traditions of the world, at every port of call.
Èze from the water: the clifftop medieval village that has come to define the image of the French Riviera
The Calanques of Cassis: white limestone cliffs above a blue that seems almost too vivid to be real
The Scandola Reserve in Corsica: volcanic red granite and turquoise water in a landscape that looks almost painted
Bonifacio from the sea: the most dramatic clifftop town in the Mediterranean
The French coast combines the unapologetic glamour of the Riviera, the wild landscapes of Corsica and the most authentic stretch of Provence in between. These are the experiences that make the most sense when you arrive by sea.
For decades the French Riviera was where the most important artists of the twentieth century chose to live and work. The Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Matisse's Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence, the Musée Picasso in Antibes and the Musée National Marc Chagall in Nice form a constellation of modern art with no equivalent on any other stretch of coastline in the world — all within a short drive or taxi ride from the harbour.
Authentic Marseille bouillabaisse — prepared according to the Charte de la Bouillabaisse, with at least four types of rock fish — only genuinely exists in the city and the fishing ports nearby. Niçoise socca, Provençal tapenade, Corsican brocciu cheese and the rosé wines of Bandol or Patrimonio are not incidental accompaniments; they are destinations in themselves.
The Calanques of Marseille and Cassis are limestone fjords with turquoise water that are accessible mainly by sea. In Corsica, the beach at Palombaggia, the coves of Cap Corse and the anchorages of the Gulf of Porto are among the most beautiful protected natural spaces in the western Mediterranean — many have no road access at all, or only after a long and demanding hike.
The Scandola Nature Reserve in Corsica is the most protected marine area in the western Mediterranean: no anchoring, no fishing, no land access. The Port-Cros National Park in the Hyères Islands holds the oldest marine reserve in Europe. Both are only properly explored by boat, and both offer diving and snorkelling of an exceptional quality that comes as a genuine surprise to those who assume the French Riviera is all superyachts and beach clubs.
Monaco, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Antibes, Nice and Menton have been part of the collective idea of Mediterranean elegance for well over a century. Sailing between them and arriving at each by sea — or anchoring offshore and taking the tender in — is something that no amount of driving along the Corniche can replicate.
Cassis, with its calanques and its own white wine appellation; Porquerolles in the Hyères islands, where cars are banned and the vineyards run to the water's edge; or Bonifacio in southern Corsica, built on a limestone plateau above hundred-metre cliffs over the strait that separates Corsica from Sardinia. Each anchorage opens a different world.
From the Calanques of Marseille to the cliffs of Bonifacio: three routes through the best of the French Mediterranean and Corsica. Art, food, wild nature and legendary harbours across seven days each.
Practical information for planning a sailing holiday along the French coast and Corsica, whether you're joining a shared cruise, chartering a private yacht or booking a catamaran.
For Corsica, the second half of June and the whole of September are the sweet spot: sea temperature around 23–24 °C, ports lively without being full, and the Corsican maquis in flower sending its scent several miles out to sea.
In Corsican ports, whenever the menu says "charcuterie corse maison", order it. Industrial French charcuterie bears no resemblance to the handmade Corsican cured meats that have been aged in the maquis scrubland.
For the Corsica route departing from Nice, consider embarking at Antibes instead: it has an excellent charter fleet, is slightly less expensive than Nice and is well positioned for the overnight crossing to Cap Corse.
A reusable tote bag and a refillable water bottle are genuinely useful at the Côte d'Azur and Provence markets: local markets don't supply plastic bags and tap water across most of the region is excellent.
