the last town in France
Past Monaco the coast relaxes again, and the last town before Italy is the one the crowds forgot: Menton, its old town stacked in ochres and lemon yellows above two curved bays, with the Alps falling straight into the sea behind it. It is the easternmost run we make, and the one that feels most like the Riviera of fifty years ago.
Timings are from her berth at Beaulieu-sur-Mer. Staying closer? We bring her to you — and it is simply a boat day in Menton instead.
The run out is a highlight reel — the Èze cliffs, Monaco’s skyline, Cap Martin’s pines where Le Corbusier kept his cabin — and then Menton opens up like a different country. The light is softer here, the seafront is painted like an Italian opera set, and the Garavan bay under the old town is a lovely, rarely crowded anchorage.
Ashore: the basilica steps down to the water, the covered market smells of the lemons the town is famous for, and lunch on the old port costs half of what the same table would in Monte-Carlo, one bay back. On the return we time Monaco for the late-afternoon light, when the rock goes gold.
Choose the Menton day when you have done the classics, when you want the coast without the coast’s crowds, or when the table you actually want is a quiet Italianate square rather than a beach club. It pairs beautifully with a slow Monaco pass on the way home — the two towns are twenty minutes and a century apart.
a few suggestions
These are suggestions, nothing more — places we actually take guests, each with the captain’s own note. Tell us which ones tempt you and the day is built around them, name somewhere that is not on the list and we go there instead — or leave the whole thing with us.
Beach clubs
arrive by sea
An elegant beach club at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin with a wide open terrace over the bay, simple Mediterranean cooking and very good cocktails.
Quietly the best value east of Monaco, and the natural lunch on a Menton day — a tender ride from the anchorage.
Restaurants
Mauro Colagreco’s three-star dining room above the bay — voted the world’s best restaurant in 2019, and the reason serious eaters come this far east.
The single strongest argument for the Menton run. Book months ahead, take the late lunch, and let the boat do the return in the evening light.
Anchorages
arrive by sea
Under Menton’s ochre old town, with the Alps falling into the sea behind and Italy in the next bay.
Lovely and rarely crowded — the easternmost anchorage we use, and the one that feels most like the Riviera of fifty years ago.
Sights & museums
A Belle-Époque hall smelling of the lemons the town built its identity on.
Lunch on the old port afterwards costs half what the same table would in Monte-Carlo, one bay back.
whatever you have in mind, that is the day we build
from the log
The border is minutes past Menton and the water does not check passports — a lunch run along Ventimiglia’s coast is happily arranged — mention it when booking and the captain will pick the right day for it.
About twenty-five minutes at cruising speed from Beaulieu, or a beautiful hour if you idle the sights on the way — Èze, Monaco and Cap Martin all line the route, so the “transit” is half the day’s scenery.
One boat, one crew, up to 10 guests, and a coast that is entirely yours for the day. Tell us how you want to spend it and the rest is ours to arrange. The day is yours and it is our pleasure to be part of it.