Star Clippers has mapped out four seven-night tall-ship itineraries along the French and Italian Rivieras for 2027, and all of them loop round trip from Nice — no flights between embarkation and disembarkation ports to worry about.
The season splits neatly in two. Spring belongs to the Royal Clipper, with a Corsica & French Riviera sailing departing April 24 and a Ligurian Sea route on May 1. Autumn hands over to the Star Clipper, which repeats both itineraries on October 2 and October 9. Fares open at $2,660 per person for the spring pair and $2,500 for the October departures, based on double occupancy.
Choosing between the routes is really about choosing a flavour. The April Corsica & French Riviera sailing calls first at Portofino, then hops to Propriano and Calvi in Corsica with a stop in Alghero, Sardinia, before finishing with the Provençal fishing harbour of Sanary-sur-Mer and St. Tropez. The May Ligurian Sea voyage leans more Italian: Porto Venere, Portoferraio on Elba, cliff-hugging Bonifacio in southern Corsica, Alghero again, then Ajaccio and Menton on the French border.
The October versions tweak the recipes. The October 2 Ligurian Sea sailing trades in extra beach time, adding Porticcio Beach on Corsica's Gulf of Ajaccio day and a Monaco call before returning to Nice. The October 9 Corsica & French Riviera run keeps Portofino, Calvi, Sanary-sur-Mer and St. Tropez but spends more time on Corsica itself, adding L'Île-Rousse and Ajaccio in place of Propriano and Alghero.
The appeal is the sailing itself. These are real tall ships, so ports arrive the slow way — villages and headlands easing into view under canvas — and then you step ashore into the same places you've just been watching from the water. For anyone who finds modern mega-ships a bit much, it's a different pace entirely: seven nights, small ports, and coastlines like the Riviera's that genuinely reward a sea-level approach.
This rollout sits alongside a bigger 2027 push from the line, which has also added Turkish coast sailings in the Eastern Mediterranean and 27 new ports of call across its 2027-28 programme. Booking early matters with a four-ship fleet like this — the Riviera departures are limited and cabins under sail tend to go first. — Cruise Industry News
