This is the verified 7-day Côte d'Azur itinerary we would run on a 50m motor yacht from a Cap d'Antibes embarkation. It is built on real berths, real anchorages, real running times at a 13 knot cruise, and real lunch and dinner stops. The two destinations the route visits that the standard broker package mishandles are Saint-Tropez (the Pampelonne lunch problem) and Monaco (the dock-night-as-event problem). Both are addressed below.
The route is for a recent-build 50m motor yacht with at-anchor stabilisers, twin tenders, a beach club, and a crew of 12 to 14. The cost band, as of May 2026, is $620K to $920K all-in for a peak week and $480K to $720K all-in for a shoulder week.
The shape of the route
Day 0: Embark IYCA Antibes. Day 1: Cap d'Antibes and Îles de Lérins. Day 2: West to Saint-Tropez (Pampelonne or Cap Camarat anchorage). Day 3: Saint-Tropez and Ramatuelle anchorages. Day 4: East along the coast back to Cannes for the Croisette. Day 5: Continue east to Cap Ferrat and Villefranche. Day 6: Monaco for one set-piece evening, overnight on the harbour or back to Cap Ferrat. Day 7: Back to Antibes for disembarkation.
Total nautical miles: approximately 140 to 170 across the week. Average daily cruise time at 13 knots is under 2 hours. Day 2 is the longest run at approximately 35 nautical miles.
Day 0: embark IYCA Antibes
The IYCA (International Yacht Club of Antibes), at Port Vauban, is the berth for the 50m segment in the region. The berths handle the LOA cleanly, the chandlery and provisioning chain is the densest in the Western Mediterranean, and the airport at Nice is 25 minutes by car. The alternative is Cannes Vieux Port, which is closer to the Croisette but tighter for a 50m and not the right base for a route that spends three of its seven days west of Cannes.
Embark afternoon. Depart IYCA by 17:30 on Day 0 if the daylight allows, or hold overnight on the berth and depart Day 1 morning. Our default for a 50m: hold overnight, depart Day 1 morning. The first night on the berth gives the principal time to settle, the chef time to load the final provisioning, and the captain time to brief the route in calm conditions.
Day 1: Cap d'Antibes and Îles de Lérins
Depart IYCA by 09:30. Run 4 nautical miles around Cap d'Antibes and anchor off the Plage de la Garoupe or, if the southerly is up, on the Cap d'Antibes western side near Plage Keller. Lunch aboard or, for a charter client who wants a shore lunch on day one, tender into the Plage Keller beach club (book ahead through the captain).
Afternoon: reposition 5 nautical miles south-west to the Îles de Lérins (Sainte-Marguerite or Saint-Honorat). Anchor in 15 to 20m on the Sainte-Marguerite north side. The Lérins are within tender range of Cannes, the swim is good, and the anchorage is calm in any northerly summer wind.
Overnight on the Lérins anchorage or reposition the final 4 nautical miles into Cannes Vieux Port for an early evening on the Croisette. Default: stay at Lérins, save the Cannes berth for later in the week.
Total nautical miles: approximately 13.
Day 2: west to Saint-Tropez
Depart Lérins by 09:00. Run 35 nautical miles south-west along the coast to the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. This is the longest single run of the week and the right day to do it: the principal is rested, the route is moving toward a destination the principal wants, and the late-morning swell off the Esterel headlands is manageable.
Arrive Pampelonne or Cap Camarat by 12:30. Anchor in 18 to 25m. Lunch aboard. Afternoon: tender into Pampelonne for a beach-club afternoon (Club 55 or Loulou are the standard plays, both require pre-booking through the captain) or, if the principal wants to pass on the beach-club scene, swim and water-toy time at anchor on the Cap Camarat side.
Overnight at anchor on the Pampelonne or Cap Camarat side. The Saint-Tropez town berth is, for a 50m in peak August, a very expensive proposition (typically $6,000 to $11,000 per night and rising) and the harbour is loud. We would not take the town berth for an overnight on this route.
Total nautical miles: approximately 35.
Day 3: Saint-Tropez and Ramatuelle anchorages
The standard broker route on Day 3 holds at Pampelonne for a second beach-club day. We would not. Pampelonne in mid-August is unworkable from mid-morning onward: the bay fills with boats, the wake makes swim time unusable, and the beach-club lunch turns into a logistical exercise in tender-traffic management.
Our Day 3 plan: depart Pampelonne by 09:30, run 5 nautical miles south to the Plage de l'Escalet on the Ramatuelle coast, anchor in 18m. Lunch aboard. Afternoon: tender into Saint-Tropez town for a long stroll, gallery and shopping time, sundowner at Sénéquier, return to the yacht in time for dinner aboard. Overnight at anchor off Pampelonne or on the Cap Camarat side.
For a charter group that wants a Saint-Tropez town dinner, the better play is to take a town reservation, tender in, eat ashore, tender back to the yacht. The yacht stays at anchor. The town berth is reserved for groups who specifically want the dock-side scene, which is a different week than the route we are running.
Total nautical miles: approximately 5.
Day 4: east to Cannes for the Croisette
Depart Saint-Tropez by 09:30. Run 30 nautical miles east-north-east back along the coast to Cannes. Arrive late morning. The Day 4 question is whether to take the Cannes Vieux Port berth or anchor in the Croisette roadstead.
For a 50m, the Cannes Vieux Port berth is workable but tight, and the dockage cost is in the $4,000 to $7,000 per night band in peak. The Croisette roadstead anchorage is free, comfortable in any northerly summer wind, and a 5-minute tender ride from the Croisette steps. We default to the Croisette anchorage for Day 4 and take the Cannes Vieux Port berth only if the principal has a specific dockside event (a Hotel Martinez dinner with the yacht visible from the terrace, for instance).
Lunch aboard. Afternoon: tender into the Croisette for shopping, gallery time, sundowner at the Carlton or Martinez. Dinner aboard or ashore depending on the principal's preference.
Total nautical miles: approximately 30.
Day 5: east to Cap Ferrat and Villefranche
Depart Cannes anchorage by 10:00. Run 22 nautical miles east past Antibes, Cagnes, and Nice to the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat side of the Bay of Villefranche. Anchor on the Cap Ferrat west side or in the Villefranche bay itself, depending on the wind direction.
Lunch aboard. Afternoon: tender into Villefranche town or Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat for a stroll, or stay at anchor for water-toy time. Sundowner on the deck with the Cap Ferrat coastline as the backdrop.
Overnight at anchor in Villefranche bay. The bay holds well in any summer wind below 25 knots and the holding is good.
Total nautical miles: approximately 22.
Day 6: Monaco
Day 6 is the Monaco day. The standard broker move is a full day and night on a Monaco harbour berth. We would not. A full day on the Monaco berth in peak August costs $12,000 to $20,000 per night for a 50m, the harbour is busy, and the principal gets less out of the destination than they would by spending three or four hours there for a set-piece evening and overnighting elsewhere.
Our Day 6 plan: hold at anchor in Villefranche through lunch. Reposition 5 nautical miles east to Monaco mid-afternoon. Take a short-stay berth at Port Hercule for the evening (the harbour will accept a 50m for an evening visit on shorter notice than for a full overnight, and the evening rate is lower). Dinner ashore at one of the harbour-view restaurants or the Hotel de Paris dining rooms. Casino visit if the principal is so inclined.
Late evening: depart Monaco, reposition the 5 nautical miles back to Villefranche or Cap Ferrat for an overnight at anchor. The principal sleeps in calm water rather than in the harbour-side noise.
For charter clients who specifically want the Monaco-on-the-dock overnight (typically Grand Prix week or a yacht-show-related event), we make the exception, but we tell the principal in advance that the dockage cost reflects the brand of the harbour, not the experience of the night.
Total nautical miles: approximately 10.
Day 7: back to Antibes
Reposition 18 nautical miles west from Villefranche or Cap Ferrat back to IYCA Antibes for a 09:30 to 10:30 disembarkation. The captain will plan the final reposition to align with the principal's onward travel.
Total nautical miles: approximately 18.
The friction about the standard broker route
The standard broker Côte d'Azur week makes three mistakes the route above corrects.
The first mistake is the Saint-Tropez Pampelonne double-day. Two consecutive days at Pampelonne in peak season is overkill on a destination that does not improve with a second visit. One day, with the second day on the Ramatuelle side, plays better.
The second mistake is the Monaco overnight on the dock as the centrepiece of the week. Monaco is an evening, not an overnight. The harbour is the visible event. The night on the dock is not the event. Spending the dockage money on the harbour overnight is a poor allocation against the available alternative of dinner ashore plus an overnight 5 nautical miles away in calm water.
The third mistake is undervaluing the Lérins and Cap Ferrat anchorages. Both are within minutes of major shore activity and both anchor cleanly in the standard summer wind patterns. Brokers tend to price the dockage convenience and underprice the at-anchor quality. The route above flips that.
What does not make the cut
We would pass on the Pampelonne anchorage as a two-day plan in August. We would pass on the Monaco harbour overnight outside of a specific evident-event reason. We would pass on the Cannes Vieux Port berth as a default Day 4 plan for a 50m (anchorage works better). We would pass on routing the yacht east of Cap Martin or into the Italian Riviera on a 7-day Côte d'Azur week (that adds repositioning time and is the right shape for a 10-day route, not a 7-day, see the Monaco-Portofino itinerary for the dedicated route).
We would pass on the Day 1 dockside-at-Antibes default. The Lérins anchorage on Day 1 puts the principal on the water from the first morning and pays back the embarkation effort.
The 50m question
50m is the LOA where the Côte d'Azur becomes its full self. Below 45m the at-anchor stabiliser and beach-club packages are inconsistent. Above 60m the Cannes Vieux Port and Saint-Tropez town berths become operationally hard and the dockage cost rises sharply. At 50m the IYCA accepts the yacht cleanly, the Saint-Tropez and Cannes berths are workable when chosen, and the at-anchor anchorages on Lérins, Pampelonne, Cap Ferrat, and Villefranche all hold well.
For the 60m to 70m segment, see our Monaco-Portofino route, which is sized for the larger LOA and routes around the berthing constraints.
The cost reality
A peak-season 7-day Côte d'Azur week on a recent-build 50m motor yacht, all-in:
| Line | Range |
|---|---|
| Base charter rate (peak July/August, 7 days) | $400K to $620K |
| APA (30 to 35 percent) | $120K to $220K |
| Dockage (Antibes IYCA, optional Cannes or Monaco evening) | $15K to $40K |
| Crew gratuity (10 to 15 percent of base) | $40K to $93K |
| Total all-in | $620K to $920K |
Shoulder season (May, June, late September) compresses the base rate to $310K to $480K per week and the all-in to roughly $480K to $720K. See our Côte d'Azur August pricing analysis for the full breakdown of the broker-quoted versus delivered-cost gap.
Where to verify before booking
Before signing the MYBA contract for a 50m Côte d'Azur week with this route, verify with the central agent: the IYCA berth booking for the embarkation and disembarkation nights (the IYCA fills early in peak season), the at-anchor stabiliser package, the tender complement (a 50m needs at least one limousine tender of 9m+ for the Saint-Tropez and Monaco shore movements), the captain's familiarity with the Saint-Tropez and Monaco evening berthing protocols (both have specific port-control conventions and a captain new to the coast will overpay), and the chef's sourcing for the Saint-Tropez and Cap Ferrat provisioning, which has its own conventions.
For destination context on shore stays, hotel recommendations, and the wider Côte d'Azur pillar, see our French Riviera charter pillar and the Cap d'Antibes hotel guide on hotelsforkings.com. For the matching Amalfi route a size band down, see our 44m Amalfi itinerary.
FAQ
How many nautical miles is the route? 140 to 170 across the week. Day 2 is the longest single run at approximately 35 nautical miles.
Does the route work in May? Yes, with the Pampelonne caveat reversed: in May the Pampelonne anchorage is calm, the beach clubs are open but uncrowded, and the two-day Saint-Tropez plan that fails in August works fine in May.
Does the route work for a sailing yacht? A 50m sailing yacht can run a similar shape but the Saint-Tropez town berth and Monaco evening berth are more constrained on a sailing platform. The motor yacht is the more natural fit for this specific route.
Can the route extend west to Marseille or east to Portofino? Not in 7 days. The 7-day Côte d'Azur loop is the right shape for the LOA. A 10-day route can extend east to Portofino, see our Monaco-Portofino route.
What is the worst single day to be in Saint-Tropez? Saturday in mid-August. The Pampelonne anchorage is unworkable, the town is at peak load, and the harbour traffic is heavy. The Cap Camarat or Escalet anchorages are the day-time alternative.