There are few places on earth better-suited to a golfing yacht charter than the French Riviera. With an abundance of historic, challenging, and downright swanky courses along the Cote d’Azur, the South of France really is a golfer’s paradise.
And what better way to experience the golf courses of the French Riviera than on a luxury yacht charter? You won’t have to swap hotels, carrying luggage and golfing gear, as you make your way along the coast, on a charter yacht your ‘hotel’ moves with you! This is a golfing holiday, done right.
Imagine getting a group of your golfing buddies together for a 10-day jaunt down the French Riviera on a superyacht, stopping at world-class golf courses along the way.
With views of the Mediterranean and the Alps and old hunting estates among the pines, it will be near-impossible to have a bad game. And even if you do spend half the day in the bunkers, there’s plenty of fine restaurants, watersports, and the best French Riviera beach clubs to cheer you up! You might even bring a pro-golfing instructor along on your charter to radically improve your game over the duration of the charter.
Here’s what a 10-day-long golfing French Riviera yacht charter might look like, as you float along the coast from Monaco to St Tropez, playing golf under the Mediterranean sun.
Day 1: Join your charter yacht in Monaco
Arrive in Monaco by helicopter to really kick your French Riviera golfing vacation off in style. Join your charter yacht in glamorous Port Hercules and enjoy lunch on the aft deck as the captain moves the yacht to Cap Ferrat, where you’ll drop anchor and spend the afternoon at Paloma Beach Club, swimming off the back of the yacht in the blue-green water, and taking the watertoys out for a spin.
As the afternoon sun starts to wane in the sky, the yacht will move back to Monaco, where you’ll head ashore for an aperitif at the Bar Americain piano bar, before dining at the 3 Michelin star Louis XV Alain Ducasse at the Hotel du Paris, or at Nobu at the Fairmont Monte-Carlo.
If you’re feeling lucky, channel your inner James Bond at the famous Monte-Carlo Casino, or if you’re in the mood for dancing, there’s a VIP table at Jimmy’s with your name on it. Just remember, you’ve got golf tomorrow!
Day 2: Monaco – Monte-Carlo Golf Club
After a leisurely breakfast on deck, you’ll head up to the exclusive Monte-Carlo Golf Club for your first round of your golf yacht charter.
This 18 hole, par 71 course is perched high above the coast and offers a rolling, high accuracy course with changing elevations. At 900m above sea level, the views of the Med and the mountains are simply breathtaking, and you can actually see three countries—Italy, Monaco and France—from hole 5!
After your round, adjourn to the elegant century-old clubhouse for lunch with a view, before heading back down to Monaco to shop the boutiques, stroll by the palace, or have a relaxing massage at one of Monaco’s excellent spas. If you didn’t get to the casino, now’s your chance, while adventure seekers might like to take a spin in a Ferrari round Monaco.
In the evening, enjoy sunset cocktails and canapes on the sundeck beneath Monaco’s skyscrapers and a stunning meal prepared by your yacht’s private chef.
Day 3: Cannes – Golf Country Club de Cannes-Mougins OR Royal Mougins Golf Resort
In the morning, the yacht will cruise along one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline in the world, as the steep cliffs fall away to the palm-lined boulevards of the Bay of Angels, and the Alps crowd up behind Nice.
Arriving in the port of Cannes you’ll head ashore for a walk along the Croisette before grabbing your clubs and heading into the rolling green hills behind Cannes, where some glorious golfing country awaits you, as well as a difficult choice.
Option one is to play a round at the Golf Country Club de Cannes-Mougins, a first-class course designed by Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas and upgraded in 2015 by Tom Mackenzie. The 18 hole, par 72 course is a traditional course set in pretty woodland, with its wide, perfectly manicured fairways sitting beneath views of mountains, with a gorgeous stone building serving as the clubhouse.
Option 2 is to play the course at Royal Mougins: a par 71 masterpiece designed by Robert Van Hagge. Set along a small river connecting 8 lakes, the course is undulating, full of hazards and fiendishly difficult in spots. You’ll be tested on the course and there’s quite a lot of travelling between holes, but more than amply rewarded with lunch on the terrace of their gastronomic restaurant.
After your lunch, return to Cannes to spend an afternoon in Baoli Beach Club or Z-Plage, before heading back to the yacht to shower and dress for dinner. The best table in town is at the 2 Michelin-star Palme d’Or, followed by a nightcap at Cannes’ iconic lounge bar, Bar Amiral at the Hotel Martinez.
Day 4: More Golf…and the Cannes Islands
You’ve got several options today. The first is to head back up to Mougins to try whichever of the two courses you didn’t get to yesterday. Alternatively, you might want to head to the course at Golf Country Club St Donat, an excellent par 71 Robert Trent Jones II course in undulating parkland.
For a round by the sea, the captain will move the yacht to Mandelieu-la-Napoule, where you can choose between the Old Course, which was established by a Russian Great Duke in 1891 and is best known for its parasol pines and the ferry that delivers you across the river to play your next holes, or the Riviera Golf de Barbossi, a fine par 71 Robert Trent Jones Senior course which has recently received a rather lovely upgrade and now features many sculptures throughout the lush grounds.
At lunchtime, return to your yacht to make the 10 minute cruise out to the gorgeous Cannes Islands. This peaceful archipelago of pine forest paths and perfect blue-green coves is a gorgeous place to spend the afternoon— playing on the yacht’s watertoys, exploring Fort Royal where the real Man in the Iron Mask was imprisoned, or strolling through the monastery vineyards.
Have dinner at anchor, looking out across the lights of Cannes twinkling in the distance.
Day 5: Cannes – Chateau de Taulane
Another day, another wonderful golf course. Chateau de Taulane lies about an hour outside Cannes, up in the forested hills at 1000 metres altitude. Designed by Gary Player, aka ‘the Black Knight’, the par 72 course is set around 7 lakes and an 18th century chateau in a setting almost too beautiful to miss.
Those wanting to explore this stunning part of France should make an afternoon detour to the Gorges du Verdon, a spectacular canyon with Europe’s highest bridge and a shockingly blue river running through it. The Verdon Gorges are an adventure sports nirvana – whether you want to bungee jump, rock-climb, white water raft or kayak down the gorges.
Return to your yacht exhausted and happy after an amazing day in the hills behind Cannes.
Day 6: Terre Blanche
Terre Blanche is easily one of the South of France’s best golf courses – in fact, it features as one of the top 100 golf courses in the world. There are two courses at the hotel, with ‘The Chateau’ the most impressive. Designed by Dave Thomas, it’s a complex par 72 course designed to test the best golfers, and it sits beautifully in the forested landscape.
There’s also a Performance Centre and a David Leadbetter Golf Academy on site if you wanted to improve your technique, as well as a Michelin star restaurant, wellness spa, and casual dining by the hotel’s infinity pool.
Arriving back in Cannes, it’s your last chance to indulge in the Mediterranean city, so what will it be this afternoon? Another beach club? Shopping the Croisette? A massage and a soak at the Thermes Marins spa? In the evening, head to 360 rooftop bar at the Radisson to get the evening started, before dinner at 5 Senses rooftop pool restaurant and then on to Club Baoli to farewell Cannes in style.
Day 7: Sea and Beach Club Day
Today’s a day for taking it easy. Have a lie in and a late breakfast on deck as the yacht gets underway for Saint Tropez. Soak up the splendid views of the red-rock Esterel hills sloping down to the turquoise sea, before entering the Bay of Saint Tropez and dropping anchor off Pampelonne Beach.
After creating happy havoc on the watertoys and swimming off the yacht, head ashore to one of the beach clubs for an afternoon of drinking champagne on deckchairs, or maybe a long rose’ lunch at a table on the sand. Club 55 continues the legend that Brigitte Bardot started back in 1955, while Bagatelle beach club is the cool new kid on the block. Nikki Beach, meanwhile, continues to create all-white party mayhem around the pool just behind the beach.
Head into St Tropez for a pre-dinner drink at Bar du Port, before dining at the superb 3 Michelin star restaurant, La Vague d’Or. If clubbing is on the menu after dinner, Caves du Roy and the VIP Room are both champagne-spraying A-list hangouts.
Day 8: Domaine de Saint Endréol
After a late breakfast and a swim to refresh any sore heads, you’re back on the green today, and what a day it will be. Domaine de Saint Endréol is a magnificent flagship course in the heart of Provence, with its signature hole jutting out onto the winding river Endre.
Designed by Michael Gayon and considered one of the finest golf courses in Europe, this 72 par course has a gorgeous backdrop of parasol pines and the imposing Rocher de Roquebrune cliff. Enjoy a lovely lunch in the Provencal clubhouse, before returning to St Tropez for some boutique shopping and an afternoon drink on the port at Le Senequier, watching the people pass by.
Tonight, stroll the cobbled back streets of Saint Tropez to settle in for a Provencal dinner at Auberge du Marche. Afterwards, either head to Papagayos to keep the party going with some live music, or head back to the yacht for a nightcap, looking out across the brightly lit port of St Tropez.
Day 9: Barbaroux Golf Hotel
Just when you think the South of France must be running out of world-class golf courses, you come across Barbaroux. Designed by Pete Dye, this is an absolute gem of a course, with the biggest green in Europe at 69m and three lakes and a vineyard to contend with.
It’s a difficult, wonderful course in the American style and the fine dining restaurant and spa make it an even nicer place to spend a day.
Back in St Tropez, enjoy a dinner at Café Brasserie des Arts, enjoying the ambience of the live music in this iconic bar and restaurant, people spilling out into the square.
Day 10: Your choice – Golf or Porquerolles?
Another day on your yachting golf holiday, and another choice awaits you. The Golf Club de Saint Tropez may not be technically the best on the French Riviera, but it is certainly one of the most glamorous. There’s a pomp and ceremony to this club in the hills of Gassin, and it’s good fun spotting celebrities treading the greens.
Alternatively, the yacht can cruise along the coast to Saint Maxime, where there’s a David Harridine course overlooking the Bay of St Tropez.
If you’d prefer to enjoy your last day on the water, then your captain will cruise across to Porquerolles, a breathtaking island often likened to the Caribbean for its white sand beaches, exotic plants, and bright turquoise water. Cycle under the pines, relax on the beach or explore on the jetskis, before enjoying your last dinner at anchor in this beautiful place.
Of course, you could do both, with an early round of golf followed by an afternoon spent in Porquerolles. Who says you can’t have it all on a golfing yacht charter?
Day 11: Disembark from St Tropez
Enjoy a long breakfast on deck and a last stroll through the pretty streets of St Tropez, perhaps stopping for a game of boules with the locals in the shady Place des Lices. Return to your yacht before disembarking at noon and flying home, taking a whole heap of great golfing memories with you.
To organise the golfing yacht charter of your dreams on the French Riviera, contact the South of France specialists at Bespoke Yacht Charter:
Alexander Coles
