Italy · Riviera dei Fiori
Yacht Charter Sanremo
Twenty minutes from the French border, with a medieval spiral above the harbour and glasshouses on the hills.
Sanremo is the last serious Italian town before France and it has spent a century and a half being other people's winter. Russians, English and Germans came for the climate, built villas and an Orthodox church, and left a town that is grander than its size explains. Behind it the hillsides are terraced in glass, because this is the Riviera dei Fiori and for a hundred years the flowers of half of Europe were grown and shipped from here.
The old town, and the one above it
La Pigna — the pine cone — is the medieval quarter, and the name is the shape: lanes spiralling up the hill in concentric rings, vaulted over for most of their length, climbing to a garden and the sanctuary of the Madonna della Costa at the top. It was built as one continuous defensive structure, which is why it is entered through gates and why it works as a maze.
Eight kilometres inland stands Bussana Vecchia, wrecked by the earthquake of 1887 and abandoned for seventy years, until artists began moving into the ruins in the 1960s and never left. It is inhabited, unrestored and legally complicated, and there is nowhere else quite like it.
What the harbour is for
Portosole is one of the largest marinas on this coast and has the depth for large yachts, which is the practical reason boats put in here: Monaco is forty-five minutes west by sea and considerably more expensive to lie in.
The coast either side is a cycle path now — twenty-four kilometres of it, laid on the trackbed of the old coastal railway between San Lorenzo al Mare and Ospedaletti, running at sea level through tunnels the trains used. Bicycles are for hire at both ends and it is the best hour ashore anywhere near here.
Practical notes
- Portosole has the depth for large yachts; Monaco is forty-five minutes west by sea
- The French border is twenty minutes away by road, and Menton and Ventimiglia are either side of it
- La Pigna is entered through gates and is vaulted over for most of its length — it is a single structure, not a district
- The coastal cycle path runs twenty-four kilometres on the old railway trackbed, through the original tunnels
Reached from: Monaco, Portofino and the Côte d'Azur
Where to dine
A table by the water
Paolo e Barbara
SanremoA street back from the front, growing much of what it serves on its own land above the town.
Ittiturismo M/B Patrizia
SanremoRun by the fishing boat that lands the catch, so the menu is whatever came up that morning and nothing else.
Balzi Rossi
VentimigliaOn the French border above the caves of the same name, with the frontier a few metres from the terrace.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
La Pigna
The medieval quarter spiralling up the hill in vaulted rings, built as one continuous defensive structure.
Bussana Vecchia
Wrecked by the 1887 earthquake, empty for seventy years, and lived in by artists since the 1960s.
The casino
Licensed in 1905 and one of only four in Italy, in a Liberty building above the seafront.
The coastal cycle path
Twenty-four kilometres on the old railway trackbed, at sea level and through the original tunnels.
The fleet
Yachts available for Sanremo
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about Sanremo
- Why is Sanremo grander than its size?
- Because it was a winter resort for the Russian and northern European aristocracy from the 1870s, and they built accordingly. There is an Orthodox church, a casino licensed in 1905 — one of only four in Italy — and a belt of villas along the seafront that a town of this population would not otherwise have.
- What is Bussana Vecchia?
- A village destroyed by the 1887 earthquake and left empty for seventy years, then occupied from the 1960s by artists who moved into the ruins. It is still lived in, still unrestored, and its legal position has never been fully settled. It is eight kilometres inland and worth the drive.
- What does a yacht charter from Sanremo cost?
- It depends on the yacht, the season and the crew, so we quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most weeks.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
Charter here
Enquire about a charter at Sanremo
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.