French Riviera Itinerary: A 7-Day One-Way from Olbia to Monaco

Your charter begins at Marina di Olbia, a fifteen-minute taxi ride from Olbia (OLB) airport. Your captain and chef meet you on the dock, walk you through the yacht, stow the luggage, and cover the chart for the days ahead — including the two longer at-sea days mid-week, which the captain runs early in the morning before the breeze builds. The marina is deep-water capable for any size yacht, and the early afternoon is yours to settle in.

Provisioning squared away, lines off for the short sixteen-nautical-mile run northeast around Capo Figari and into the Costa Smeralda. The Costa Smeralda is the most concentrated stretch of granite coastline in the Mediterranean; Pevero Bay sits just south of Porto Cervo, framed by two white sand beaches and protected from any wind direction the Mistral might be blowing.

First night at anchor in Pevero or stern-to at Porto Cervo Marina. Chef-prepared welcome dinner aboard — Sardinian seafood, a glass of Vermentino di Gallura, and the lights of the Costa Smeralda coming up across the bay. The trip is built around the next six days; the first night is the slow start.

Mid-morning lines off for the twenty-five-nautical-mile crossing of the Strait of Bonifacio. The captain checks the morning's wind forecast at first light: when the Mistral is settled, the strait is flat enough to swim across; when it's blowing twenty-five-plus, the boat may push the crossing to the early afternoon. A swim stop at the Lavezzi Islands — French marine reserve in the middle of the strait — typically anchors the mid-morning of the day.

From Lavezzi the run into Bonifacio takes another forty-five minutes. The harbor approach is unforgettable: cut into the limestone cliffs, with the haute ville rising directly above. Stern-to mooring inside the marina or anchor outside; the captain handles the booking. Walk the haute ville — the medieval walled town built on the cliff-top peninsula — in the late afternoon, the King of Aragon Stairway down and back if the group is up for it.

Dinner ashore tonight at one of the stone-walled taverns in the haute ville: charcuterie de Corse, fresh-grilled fish, and a glass of Patrimonio rosé. Or aboard with the haute ville lit up across the harbor.

Long day. The captain runs the seventy-nautical-mile leg up Corsica's west coast in the morning, before the maestrale builds — a planing motor yacht handles the leg in four to five hours, getting you into Calvi by early afternoon. The route passes the Calanques de Piana, the entrance to the Gulf of Porto, and the UNESCO Scandola Nature Reserve on the port side mid-day. Guests on the dedicated Corsica West Coast itinerary anchor inside Scandola; on this route, you see the red cliffs from the water as the boat passes.

By early afternoon you're rounding the western headland of Calvi Bay and into the marina or the bay itself. Calvi sits at the head of a five-mile crescent of fine sand backed by snow-capped mountains; the Genoese citadel rises above the marina on the western headland, occupied by Nelson in 1794 (where he lost his right eye to a French mortar shell) and home to the local legend that Christopher Columbus was born inside its walls.

Afternoon and evening ashore. Walk the citadel, drop into one of the harbor cafés or beach clubs, and dinner ashore tonight at one of Calvi's harbor restaurants. Or aboard with the citadel lit up across the bay.

Longest leg of the trip. The captain runs the eighty-nautical-mile crossing from Calvi to Saint-Tropez early in the morning — a planing motor yacht handles the leg in five hours; on a sailing yacht the same crossing takes twelve. Open-water passage across the Ligurian Sea, with no scheduled stops; the boat is moving the whole time and the day is for relaxing on deck rather than running a tight schedule.

By early afternoon, the boat is rounding the headland into Saint-Tropez Bay. Stern-to mooring at the old port quay (the captain holds a slot in advance) or anchor in the bay outside. Saint-Tropez itself is a small old fishing village — the harbor is still working, the pastel buildings above the quay are protected, and the high-season summer crowd is concentrated in a few specific bars and beach clubs.

Afternoon ashore: walk the old town, lunch at Sénéquier on the quay if the table works, and a tender ride east to Pampelonne Beach (three miles of fine sand with Club 55, Nikki Beach, and Tahiti Plage along the dunes). Dinner aboard tonight or ashore at one of the harbor restaurants — the captain books ahead.

Slow morning at Saint-Tropez. Optional walk through the morning market on the Place des Lices (Tuesday and Saturday), or breakfast aboard before lines-off. By mid-morning, the captain runs the thirty-nautical-mile leg east along the coast past the Massif de l'Estérel — the red volcanic-rock coastline that drops straight into the sea between Saint-Tropez and Cannes. The route is mostly inside the coast, with a stop possible at Théoule-sur-Mer if the group wants a swim.

Mid-day arrival into the Bay of Cannes. The captain calls Cannes harbor or the Lerins Islands anchorage — the Lerins (Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat) sit two miles offshore, and the smaller of the two (Saint-Honorat) holds an active Cistercian abbey where the monks make their own wine and run a public lunch service. Lunch at the abbey if the table works; otherwise lunch ashore at one of the Croisette beach clubs.

Afternoon and evening in Cannes. The Croisette runs the length of the seafront — palm-lined, beach clubs on one side, the harbor on the other. The Cannes Film Festival venue (Palais des Festivals) sits at the western end. Dinner ashore tonight or aboard with the harbor lights coming up.

Slow morning in Cannes. Lines off mid-morning for the twenty-nautical-mile coastal hop east, past Cap d'Antibes and into Antibes itself. Antibes' Port Vauban is one of the largest yacht harbors in the Mediterranean, with the medieval ramparts and the Picasso Museum (housed in the Château Grimaldi) directly behind the quay. Lunch ashore in the old town at one of the rampart-side restaurants, or a quick walk through the daily covered market.

Afternoon, the captain works the run east past Nice and into Villefranche Bay. The bay is a deep horseshoe between Cap Ferrat and Mont Boron — the deepest anchorage on the French Riviera, sheltered in any direction the wind might be blowing, and the standard overnight stop for guests on this route. Cap Ferrat's villa coast sits on the eastern shore: three kilometers of villa-lined headland between Nice and Monaco, with the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild the only one with public access.

Evening in Villefranche. Walk the old town in the late afternoon — the medieval Rue Obscure (a covered street that runs the length of the seafront) is the marquee piece. Dinner aboard tonight, anchored in the bay, with the lights of Villefranche running up the hillside above and the lights of Nice and Monaco visible from the deck.

Last full day. Slow morning at Villefranche — swim, breakfast on deck, optional tender into the old town for coffee. By late morning, lines off for the short five-nautical-mile final approach east into Monaco's Port Hercule.

Port Hercule is the only deep-water harbor on the Riviera between Italy and France — megayachts side-tied along the quay during the season, with the principality rising directly above. The Casino square (Place du Casino) sits at the top of the rock; the Grand Prix circuit runs through the streets and the marina is part of the Sainte-Dévote-to-Tabac stretch of the course; the Prince's Palace overlooks the harbor from the western headland.

Afternoon and evening ashore. Walk the Casino square, drop into the Hôtel de Paris bar opposite, walk up to the Prince's Palace if the group has the energy. Dinner aboard tonight at Port Hercule with the harbor lights coming up against the cliffs, or ashore at Le Louis XV (the Alain Ducasse restaurant inside the Hôtel de Paris) if the booking lined up. Final chef-prepared dinner aboard the more common pick on most charters — slower close, the trip's last full meal at anchor.

A last slow breakfast aboard at Port Hercule, a final tender into the harbor walk if the group wants one, and disembarkation by mid-morning. Your crew handles the transfer logistics: Nice (NCE) is thirty minutes by car or five minutes by Heli Air Monaco helicopter, with direct flights to most US East Coast hubs and essentially every major European city. Step off with the granite coast of Sardinia, the haute ville at Bonifacio, the Genoese citadel at Calvi, the old port at Saint-Tropez, the Croisette at Cannes, the villa coast of Cap Ferrat, and the Casino square at Monaco all behind you, and the kind of week that's hard to top inside seven days anywhere in the chartering industry.