Best anchorages and harbours in France

Chalon sur Saône

River port of 100 berths on the right bank of the Saône in Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy, at the foot of the old town.

Île Stagadon

Anchorage off Île Stagadon, in the archipelago north of L'Aber Wrac'h, north Finistère. Sand bottom, shelter from N and NW.

• Sheltered N, NW

La Vène

Anchorage on the northern shore of the étang de Thau, off Bouzigues in Hérault, on sand and weed.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, E

Castelnaudary

Inland port of 51 berths on the Canal du Midi in the Aude, opening onto the Grand Bassin, the largest water body on the canal.

Isolella

Anchorage off the Isolella peninsula on the western side of the Gulf of Ajaccio, Corsica, about 4 NM south of the city.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, SW, S, SE

La garenne

Mooring buoy in the Golfe du Morbihan near the Île de la Garenne, mud bottom, sheltered from the prevailing westerlies.

• Sheltered NW, W, SW, S

La Gourre

River mooring on the Mayenne in Pays de la Loire, mud bottom, sheltered from all sectors by the riverbanks.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

Portz Halai

Cove on the north coast of the Île de Groix, off the Morbihan coast of Brittany. Sand bottom, open to the north.

• Sheltered SW, S, SE

Rosmeur

Anchorage off the Port du Rosmeur, the fishing harbour of Douarnenez in Finistère, western Brittany. Sand bottom, protection from W, SW, S and SE.

• Sheltered W, SW, S, SE

Anse de la Picarde

Anchorage on the north shore of Lac d'Orient, Aube, part of the Forêt d'Orient regional nature park. Weed bottom.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, SW, W, NW

Cala Scandola

Small rocky cove on the west coast of Corsica, inside the Scandola nature reserve, north of the Golfe de Galéria.

• Sheltered NE, E, SW, S, SE

Grand Veïzit

Anchorage in the golfe du Morbihan, close to Locmariaquer on the west shore of the entrance channel.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, SE

Môret Sur Loing

Small river port of about 30 berths on the Loing, just upstream of its confluence with the Seine at Saint-Mammès, Seine-et-Marne.

ÈCLUSE BEAUCHASTEL

Lock on the Rhône at Beauchastel, Ardèche, part of the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône hydroelectric chain. Rock bottom.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E

Fréjus

Marina on the Esterel coast in the Var, built in the 1980s on the site of the Roman naval harbour, 843 berths.

La Tremblade

Port of 115 berths on the Seudre estuary, in the heart of the Marennes-Oléron oyster basin in Charente-Maritime.

Plage de la Grande Conche / Plage des Ovaires

Open bay on the south-east shore of the Île d'Yeu, in the Vendée, with a sand bottom and a ban on anchoring over the seagrass beds.

• Sheltered W, SW

Relais Nautique Chalons-en-Champagne

16-berth halt on the Canal latéral à la Marne in Châlons-en-Champagne, préfecture of the Marne département.

Sampiero

Buoy mooring field on the southern shore of the Gulf of Ajaccio, Corsica, off the Sampiero sector between Porticcio and the Isolella peninsula.

• Sheltered NE, E, SW, S, SE

Fouras - Port Nord

Anchorage on the north shore of the Fouras peninsula, Charente-Maritime, looking across the Rade des Basques toward the Île-d'Aix.

• Paid
• Sheltered W, SW, S, SE

Île noire

Anchorage behind Île Noire in the Bay of Morlaix, northern Brittany, between Carantec and the Plougasnou peninsula.

• Sheltered NE, E

Les avollions

River anchorage on the Saône in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, close to the Ponton des Amoureux.

• Sheltered SW, W, NW

Port des Oursinières

Marina of 243 berths at Les Oursinières, a hamlet of Le Pradet on the eastern side of the Bay of Toulon, Var.

Port Vilaine Maritime

Marina of 130 berths on the lower Vilaine, at Pénestin in Morbihan, Brittany.

Roche-Bernard

Anchorage on the river Vilaine at La Roche-Bernard, upstream of the Arzal dam and lock, southern Brittany.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

Anse de Pouldohan

Buoy field in the anse de Pouldohan in southern Finistère, between Concarneau and Trévignon, sand bottom with good holding.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, E, S, SE

Gorrequer

Small mooring field with 3 buoys in the Rade de Brest, on the north shore of the Anse de Moulin Mer, Brittany.

• Sheltered E, SE, S, SW

Île Tomé

Rocky islet off Perros-Guirec on the Côte de Granit Rose in northern Brittany, anchorage on its south side.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, SE

Roc'h Gouarivinou

Open anchorage off the Côte de Granit Rose in northern Brittany, roughly 3.8 nm north of Tréguier and 4.4 nm east of Port-Blanc.

• Sheltered NW, W, E, SW, S, SE

ANSE DE PERALDU

Rocky anchorage on the west side of the Cap Corse, in the Golfe de Saint-Florent, 4 nm NW of Saint-Florent.

• Sheltered W, SW, S, SE