five minutes west
One headland west of Beaulieu lies the deepest natural harbour on this coast: the great sheltered bowl of Villefranche-sur-Mer, ringed by ochre houses, a sixteenth- century citadel and water so protected it stays swimmable when the open sea is white-capped. It is our five-minute neighbour, and the answer to more plans than guests expect.
Timings are from her berth at Beaulieu-sur-Mer. Staying closer? We bring her to you — and it is simply a boat day in Villefranche-sur-Mer instead.
Every charter coast needs a place that works when the weather half-behaves. Villefranche is ours: the bay faces away from the prevailing blows, Cap Ferrat takes the swell, and the result is a swimming pool a mile wide. On a mistral day when other operators cancel, we often run the whole day here and in the lee of the Cap — and guests go home thinking the forecast was wrong.
It is no consolation prize. Cocteau painted the chapel on the quay, the old town stacks up from the water in exactly the colours you came to the Riviera for, and anchoring under the citadel walls at nine in the morning, coffee in hand, water like green glass — that is a postcard you are inside of.
The dinghy-able quay puts you at the foot of the old town: the Rue Obscure’s covered medieval street, the citadel’s gardens, a row of unhurried waterfront restaurants where grilled fish and cold white wine take ninety minutes because they should. Cruise ships anchor here on some mornings — we check the schedule and time the town accordingly, or simply stay on the water where the crowds cannot follow.
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.
Restaurants
arrive by sea
On the quay since 1938, when Germaine fed the fishermen and then the US Sixth Fleet’s admirals. Bouillabaisse is the order.
Anchor in the bay, tender to the quay, two hours of old-Riviera correctness. The classic short-day lunch.
Anchorages
arrive by sea
Under the sixteenth-century citadel walls in the deepest natural harbour on the coast.
The bay stays swimmable when the open sea is white-capping — this anchorage is why our weather cancellations are rare.
Sights & museums
arrive by sea
A fishermen’s chapel that Jean Cocteau covered in dreamlike frescoes in 1957 — angels with the faces of local boys.
A ten-minute visit and one of the great small rooms on this coast. Go before the cruise tenders land.
Sights & museums
A thirteenth-century street entirely roofed by the houses above — a cool stone tunnel one block behind the water.
Free, strange and takes five minutes. Almost nobody who photographs the quay ever walks up to it.
whatever you have in mind, that is the day we build
from the log
It is the easiest yes on the coast — the bay sits directly between Beaulieu and Nice, so almost every westward day passes through. A morning swim under the citadel costs twenty minutes and improves every itinerary it touches.
This bay is a large part of the answer. Villefranche and the sheltered side of Cap Ferrat stay comfortable in most conditions that make the open coast unpleasant, so a windy forecast usually means a re-shaped day here rather than a cancelled one. If even the bay will not do, the captain cancels and you pay nothing.
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.