Best anchorages and harbours in France

Baie de Bon-Porte - Pointe du Canadel

Sand anchorage on the Var coast between Cavalaire and Le Lavandou, at the foot of the Maures massif off the Pointe du Canadel.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, SW

Bastia - Vieux port

Historic harbour of 263 berths below the citadel of Bastia, capital of Haute-Corse, on the north-east coast of the island.

Beg Salus

Open anchorage on rock and algae bottom on the Breton coast, 0.7 NM south-west of the port of Saint-Gildas.

• Sheltered N, NE, E

Calanque de l'Escondelle

Cove on the western flank of Île de Pomègues, Frioul archipelago, facing the open sea off Marseille.

• Sheltered E, SE, S

Île du Grand-Rouveau

Anchorage off the Île du Grand-Rouveau, a rocky islet west of the Embiez archipelago in the Var, topped by a 19th century lighthouse.

• Sheltered NE, E, SW, SE

La Gracieuse

Sand-spit anchorage on the east side of the Golfe de Fos, at the tip of the Gracieuse sand bar, sand bottom.

• Sheltered NW, W

La Vigne

Anchorage on the north shore of Cap Ferret, inside the Bassin d'Arcachon, sand bottom.

• Sheltered SW, W, NW

Montureux-lès-Baulay

River anchorage on the Petite Saône near Montureux-lès-Baulay, a farming village in Haute-Saône on the upper navigable reach above Port-sur-Saône.

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

Paluden

Buoy mooring field on the upper Aber-Wrac'h river, about 2 nm inland from the village of L'Aber-Wrac'h in Finistère.

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

Plage de Château Serein

Coastal anchorage on the Côte d'Émeraude in northern Brittany, 2.5 NM west of Saint-Cast Port d'Armor, mixed sand and rock bottom.

• Sheltered N, NE, SW, W, NW

Pointe de la Varde

Open anchorage off the rocky headland between Saint-Malo and Rothéneuf, on the Côte d'Émeraude in Brittany.

• Sheltered W, SW, S, SE

Port de l'Argol

Small drying harbour of about 35 places on Hoedic, a Breton island of roughly 100 inhabitants south of Quiberon.

Port de l'Arsenal

Marina of 177 berths in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, between Place de la Bastille and the Seine.

Port saint sauveur

Inland marina on the Canal du Midi in central Toulouse, 500 m from Place du Capitole and directly served by métro line B at station François Verdier.

Porto d'Arone

Open cove on the west coast of Corsica, south of the Capo Rosso peninsula, roughly 4.5 nm north of Cargèse.

• Paid
• Sheltered N, NE, E, NW

Saint-Martin de Ré

Anchorage off Saint-Martin-de-Ré on the north coast of the Île de Ré, in the Pertuis Breton, Charente-Maritime.

• Paid
• Sheltered SE, S, SW

Abbartello

Anchorage on the north shore of the Golfe de Valinco in Corsica, between Porto Pollo and Propriano, on sand.

• Sheltered N, NE

Korejou

Anchorage off the Plouguerneau coast in north Finistère, Brittany, sand bottom.

• Free
• Sheltered W, SW, S, SE

Marseille - SNM

Yacht club marina of 544 berths on the north quay of the Vieux-Port of Marseille, founded 1887.

Pointe du Canouvié

Anchorage on the eastern side of Île des Embiez, sheltered from the west wind between the island and Le Brusc.

• Sheltered SE, S, SW, W

Port de Propriano

Marina of 500 berths at the head of the Valinco gulf, on the west coast of Corsica.

Port Le Goff

Drying harbour of 123 moorings at Trévou-Tréguignec on the Côte de Granit Rose, Côtes-d'Armor.

Port-La-Vie

Marina of 1 000 berths at the mouth of the Vie river in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, on the Vendee coast.

Porz Liboudou

Small anchorage on the north coast of the Crozon peninsula with 3 moorings, in western Brittany.

• Free
• Sheltered SW, W

Saint-Mitre

Anchorage on the western shore of the Étang de Berre, off Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts, Provence.

• Sheltered SE, S, SW

Stêr-Ouen

Narrow inlet on the north-west coast of Belle-Île-en-Mer, Morbihan, open to the north.

• Sheltered NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

Valras-Plage

Harbour of 350 berths at the mouth of the Orb, Hérault, on the Occitan coast.

anse de Saint-Antoine

Anchorage at the mouth of the Aber Wrac'h in north Finistère, sand and mud bottom, just west of the fairway leading up to the marina.

• Sheltered W, S, SE

Anse de Stagnola

Buoyed mooring field of 10 berths on the south shore of the Gulf of Ajaccio, Corsica, in the Porticcio sector.

• Paid
• Sheltered SW, S, SE

Anse de Tarco

Sand bay on the east coast of Corsica, between Solenzara and Sainte-Lucie-de-Porto-Vecchio, at the mouth of the Tarco stream.

• Sheltered NW, N, W, SW