Europe’s most beautiful yachting marinas

When one arrives in a beautiful yacht, gliding across a silvery sea at sunset, something more than a mooring point and a water connection are required. Fortunately Europe’s most exclusive coastal haunts are home to some of the world’s most beautiful harbours.

Long the haunt of the celebrity, the film star, and the plutocrat, a luxury yachting marina needs a lot of attributes to attract the biggest, smartest yachts – and their human cargo. It should be beautiful, it should offer access to somewhere compelling, and more and more these days, it should be something of a luxury destination in its own right.

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Here are Finest Holiday’s pick of Europe’s most beautiful anchoring spots.

Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca

Beautifully adrift in the Med, it should come as no surprise that Mallorca’s top marina is one of the oldest businesses on the island. It counts Spanish royalty among its patrons and has a beautiful setting close to Palma’s fine La Seu cathedral. And Mallorca’s not all about the sea, Palma is its capital and is one of Spain’s most exciting, cosmopolitan and fashionable cities, packed with fine clubs, brilliant restaurants and chic bars.

Monte Carlo, Côte d’Azur

When Grace Kelly is your queen you’d expect there to be a certain glamour to the surroundings. Monte Carlo, capital of the tiny principality of Monaco, has been entertaining the jet-set in its casinos and luxury hotels for more than 150 years. Those high rollers need somewhere to moor the super yacht and Monte Carlo has several high-end marinas. Port Hercule is – as the name suggests – the biggest. Sitting in the exclusive La Condamine district it’s an important place in Monte, occasionally hosting big concerts and making a good vantage point to see the F1 cars of the Grand Prix screech by. If you want a sneak preview before booking in, watch Goldeneye, the 1995 James Bond film for a dramatic helicopter chase scene set here.

Ponto Cervo, Sardinia

Almost all of the glittering luxury on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda is down to one man, the Aga Khan. In the 1960s he started constructing an international play-park for the super-rich. And they’re still coming today – you’ll find most of Serie A, and their model girlfriends rubbing shoulders with superstar rappers and Hollywood A-listers in the summer. Of course, the Aga Khan included a marina in his plans – possibly the only boatyard with a branch of Harrods as its on-shore shop.

Puerto Banus, Marbella

Marbella’s premier nautical stop-off is relatively modern. The whole town was purpose built in the 1970s and expanded in the ‘90s. It is now one of the four most expensive places to park your yacht in the world. As is so often the case, royalty were the taste makers here. When Fabiola de Mora y Aragón married the king of Belgium in 1960, her glamorous brother Don Jaime’s predilection for the beaches and parties of the Costa del Sol was bound to attract attention. An exclusive international party set still love to chill out and party hard in Marbella.

Portofino, Italy

Portofino is no modern interloper. With a history going back to the Romans, when the town was called Harbour of the Dolphins, the historic beauty of this place is what attracted the beautiful people. Over the years visitors have ranged from Richard Burton and Liz Taylor, whose love affair was revealed here, to Avril Lavigne, who honeymooned with Chad Kroeger, and Kylie Minogue, as well as a long list of Italian movers and shakers like the Prada and Agnelli families. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of luxury fashion house Dolce&Gabbana choose their breathtaking villa, overlooking the picture-perfect coastal town, to present their Haute Couture S/S 2016 collection last year.

Mykonos, Greece

The starriest of all the Greek islands has seen Shakira, George Michael, Melanie Griffith, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones join a long list of celebrities to weigh anchor on its beautiful shores. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lindsay Lohan and the Kardashians are also part of a new generation following the likes of Jackie Onassis, the Duchess of Windsor and Maria Callas to the island in the Cyclades. The harbour – like the rest of the island – has great natural beauty and the best luxury shops, restaurants and cafes on its doorstep.

Capri, Italy

Capri is an Italian island with an ancient pedigree, attracting important visitors since Emperor Tiberius came here to escape Rome’s sweaty summers. It has long British and artistic connections, with Sir Winston Churchill, Graham Greene and Noel Coward just a few of its visitors; famed director Luchino Visconti and actor Helmut Berger made Capri their favourite summer holiday destination during the 1960/70’s. It’s a small, but very beautiful island, and with space at a premium on its 17-km coastline its two marinas – Marina Grande and Marina Piccola – are busy, and in the case of Grande, the most expensive in the world.

Saint-Tropez, Côte d’Azur

Saint-Tropez is the French Riviera. It was here that Brigitte Bardot drove the world wild in her bikini, and brought people flocking to live the dream life of “And God Created Woman”. The waterfront is at the centre of a busy and exclusive social scene, where Bono, the Beckhams, Karl Lagerfeld of the House of Chanel, Rihanna, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss rub shoulders and sails on exclusive charter boats in a beautiful, historic harbour.

Port Grimaud, South of France

If Saint-Tropez has remnants of the old fishing village that are the historic heart of the French Riviera, Port Grimaud has been built to cope with their popularity. The complex of sea-front houses – all in perfect Mediterranean style with a nod to Venice – was begun in the 1960s and has had two further stages of development. Water is all part of the plan, with most houses having their own yacht berth in a marina that is at the heart of the settlement, snaking inland to allow front-door mooring for smart summer guests.

Ibiza Magna, Ibiza

The White Isle would be a celebrity hotspot for the quality of its clubbing alone. For those who want to carry on the party out at sea the Ibiza Magna marina in the heart of Dalt Vila, the beautiful Old Town of the island’s capital is a perfect jumping off point. The likes of P Diddy, Leo DiCaprio, Penelope Cruz and Anne Hathaway love to explore Ibiza by yacht. Although many exclusive beach clubs offer their own mooring points, the island’s Magna marina is still one of the most expensive and exclusive in the world.