Côte d'Azur

Typical afternoon wind

3–5 Beaufort · Mistral

Passage lengths

2–4 hours

Suits

Some seasons

Season

May–September

Short coastal hops between glamorous ports, with the Îles d'Hyères providing the anchorages the mainland lacks.

The French Riviera is a coastal cruise rather than an island one, and the sailing is secondary to the ports. The islands off Hyères are where the good anchorages are. The Mistral is the thing to respect: it comes down the Rhône valley into the Gulf of Lion and can build fast, though it usually gives some warning in the forecast.

A typical week

1. Day 1 Hyères to Porquerolles
2. Day 2 Port-Cros national park
3. Day 3 Saint-Tropez
4. Day 4 Cannes and the Îles de Lérins
5. Day 5 Antibes
6. Day 6 Back west along the coast
7. Day 7 Base

Roughly 90 to 120 nautical miles over the week

Worth the detour

• Porquerolles and Port-Cros national park
• Saint-Tropez from a mooring rather than a berth
• Îles de Lérins off Cannes
• The Calanques, if the week starts further west

Watch out for

• The Mistral in the Gulf of Lion arrives with little warning and blows hard
• Marina prices in July and August are the highest in the Mediterranean
• Anchoring is restricted around much of the coast

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