NICHOLSONThe Original Yacht Charter Company

The French Riviera remains the most polished chartering in the Mediterranean: Cannes, Antibes, Villefranche and the harbours of Monaco, with the Lérins islands a short run offshore and Saint-Tropez an easy day west. Anchorages are shallow and busy, so berth bookings matter, but the payoff is a coastline of beach clubs, Michelin tables and mountain villages within a morning's drive. May, June and September bring warm water without August's congestion and peak pricing; the Monaco Grand Prix and Cannes Film Festival transform the coast entirely in May. Evenings belong to the quay.

The Amalfi Coast packs vertical drama into fifty kilometres: Positano stacked in pastel above the water, Amalfi's cathedral, Ravello on the ridge and Capri and Ischia offshore. A yacht is the only sensible way to see it, since the roads are slow and every good view is a sea view. Days run between swimming stops beneath the cliffs, long lunches at beach restaurants and anchoring off Capri for the Faraglioni and the Blue Grotto. May, June and September are best; July and August bring heat, traffic and full marinas. Ponza and the Pontine Islands extend the route north.

Sardinia and Corsica sit almost within sight of each other, and the strait of Bonifacio between them is one of the great cruising passages in the Mediterranean. Sardinia's Costa Smeralda is polished and expensive; the Maddalena archipelago just north is granite islands and turquoise shallows. Corsica is wilder: the Scandola reserve, the Calanques de Piana, Bonifacio's limestone cliffs and beaches reached only by boat. Distances are short, winds are steady through summer and swimming stops are constant. June and September are ideal; August is crowded and berths must be booked well ahead.

The Balearics offer four distinct charters within an easy sail of each other. Mallorca has the sheltered bays of the west coast and Palma's cathedral; Ibiza mixes Formentera's sandbanks with a famously late nightlife; Menorca is quiet, green and full of natural harbours; Cabrera is a protected marine park of empty anchorages. Winds are reliable, distances short and the swimming excellent. May, June and September are the best months; July and August are hot, busy and expensive, and Formentera's anchorages fill by mid-morning. Provisioning and berthing are straightforward throughout.

The Greek Islands are the definition of Mediterranean chartering: short hops between Cycladic whitewashed villages, Ionian anchorages ringed by cypress and pine, and ruins within swimming distance of your mooring. The Cyclades give you Mykonos and Delos, the Saronic Gulf is the easiest access from Athens, and the Ionian rewards anyone wanting gentler winds and quieter bays. The meltemi builds through July and August, so itineraries stay flexible, while May, June, September and October bring warm sea, calmer passages and far fewer yachts. Fresh fish on the quay is the evening ritual.

Turkey's Turquoise Coast runs from Bodrum to Antalya, a shoreline of pine-covered mountains falling into clear water, Lycian rock tombs and Roman amphitheatres. The gulet tradition shaped cruising here and it shows: long lunches in sheltered coves, thermal springs near Kekova, the sunken city off Üçağız, and harbours such as Göcek and Fethiye built around the water. Winds are dependable through summer and distances are short, which makes the coast one of the easiest places in the Mediterranean to charter well. May, June and September are the sweet spots; July and August are hot and busy, so anchorages fill early.