Îles de Lérins

Two islands sit just offshore from Cannes, close enough to see from the Croisette yet quietly removed from everything happening on the mainland. Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat have been there for centuries, and arriving by private yacht rather than the public ferry changes the experience entirely.

Sainte-Marguerite is the larger of the two. Its pine forests run almost to the water’s edge, the paths are unhurried, and the old fort that once held the Man in the Iron Mask still stands along the northern shore. The sea here is exceptionally clear — shallow over white sand in places, deeper and cooler further out — and the sheltered bays make it one of the better spots along the coast for swimming at anchor.

Saint-Honorat is smaller and quieter still. Monks have lived and worked on the island since the fifth century, and the rhythm of the place reflects that. The monastery produces its own wine and liqueurs, the vineyards run along the southern edge, and the pace of an afternoon there is genuinely unlike anything you will find on the Riviera proper.

A day spent between the two islands — morning at anchor off Sainte-Marguerite, lunch on deck, an hour ashore on Saint-Honorat before the return — is one of the more complete ways to experience what this coastline has to offer when you step away from it briefly.

The crossing from Cannes takes under twenty minutes by yacht. Everything else can be arranged around how you want the day to feel.