Sailseer

France: Harbours, bridges and formalities for sailors

593 harbours · 742 bridges and locks · 22 inland lakes

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France: 593 harbours, 742 bridges and locks, clearing in, papers and fees. Plan your trip with weather, tides and route.

Formalities

EU memberSchengen AreaEU customs unionCurrency: Euro

Clearing in: No clearance within the Schengen area. From the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or another non-Schengen country (in the Mediterranean e.g. Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Turkey): border control by the Police aux Frontières or the Douane in a port with a border crossing point (PPF) or in one of the marinas of the Marina Protocol (since 2024, confirmed for 2026), there with the entry and exit form (formulaire déclaratif contrôle aux frontières) no later than 24 hours before arrival; customs declaration with the Douane. Anyone entering via a marina without a border crossing point also leaves that way; the capitainerie knows which harbours these are.

Documents: Licence according to your home country's rules, SRC for the radio, boat papers and insurance. The Division 240 equipment regulations apply only to boats under the French flag.

Fees: Harbour dues per night and length, plus the taxe de séjour. In season, book berths early (Brittany, Côte d'Émeraude, Côte d'Azur, Corsica); in the national parks and protected areas on the Mediterranean, some mooring buoy fields with a fee instead of free anchoring.

Fairway: Large tidal range (over 12 m in the Bay of Saint-Malo) and strong tidal streams: Raz Blanchard, Chenal du Four and Raz de Sein only with the stream. Many harbours lie behind locks or sills and can only be reached around high water. In the Mediterranean hardly any tide, but the Mistral in the Golfe du Lion and on the Côte d'Azur up to gale force, often for days; between Corsica and Sardinia an accelerated wind in the Strait of Bonifacio (traffic separation, mandatory reporting for commercial ships, pleasure craft avoid the centre).

Inland waters: On VNF waterways the vignette (péage plaisance) applies to boats over 5 m or with an engine of 9.9 hp or more, graded by length and duration (year, leisure, holiday, day), best bought online via the Plaisance app. Motorboats over 6 hp need the inland licence (permis plaisance eaux intérieures) or a recognised licence; the ICC with CEVNI is accepted in practice, but not for boats over 20 m. Radio only with ATIS. Hire boats may be driven without a licence after a briefing. Do not discharge waste water into canals and rivers.

Nature: Marine protected areas (Parc naturel marin d'Iroise, Réserves naturelles) with anchoring and landing bans in parts; protect seagrass meadows when anchoring. Port-Cros (Porquerolles, Port-Cros) and Calanques national parks with anchoring and navigation rules; Scandola nature reserve on Corsica (landing prohibited, anchoring strictly limited) and Bouches de Bonifacio; in the Mediterranean, anchoring on seagrass meadows (Posidonia) is prohibited in many zones by prefectoral order, check the maps of the Préfecture maritime.

Emergency: 196 (maritime distress) or 112; CROSS Gris-Nez, Jobourg, Corsen and Étel, VHF channel 16 and DSC. In the Mediterranean CROSS Méditerranée (La Garde) with its Corsica sub-centre (Aspretto).

Sources: Douane, Plaisance, SHOM, nautical information, VNF: péage plaisance, rates, RYA: France, country specific advice (border crossing ports, inland) (as of 2026-10-20)

Local winds

Harbours by cruising area

Charente and the Pertuis (La Rochelle)

Corsica (Ajaccio, Calvi, Bastia, Porto-Vecchio, Bonifacio)

Côte d'Azur (Hyères, Saint-Tropez, Cannes, Nice, Menton)

Eastern Normandy (Seine, Dieppe)

Gironde and Médoc

Gulf of Lion (Roussillon, Languedoc, Sète)

Landes and Basque Country

Loire and Vendée

North Brittany (Saint-Malo to Brest)

Northern France (Dunkirk to the Somme)

Provence (Camargue, Marseille, La Ciotat, Toulon)

South Brittany (Concarneau, Lorient, Morbihan)

Western Normandy (Cotentin, Granville)

Inland lakes

Bridges and locks

Locks

Movable bridges

Fixed bridges (538)

Frequently asked questions

France: Do I need to clear in?

No clearance within the Schengen area. From the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or another non-Schengen country (in the Mediterranean e.g. Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Turkey): border control by the Police aux Frontières or the Douane in a port with a border crossing point (PPF) or in one of the marinas of the Marina Protocol (since 2024, confirmed for 2026), there with the entry and exit form (formulaire déclaratif contrôle aux frontières) no later than 24 hours before arrival; customs declaration with the Douane. Anyone entering via a marina without a border crossing point also leaves that way; the capitainerie knows which harbours these are.

France: Which documents do I need on board?

Licence according to your home country's rules, SRC for the radio, boat papers and insurance. The Division 240 equipment regulations apply only to boats under the French flag.

France: What fees apply?

Harbour dues per night and length, plus the taxe de séjour. In season, book berths early (Brittany, Côte d'Émeraude, Côte d'Azur, Corsica); in the national parks and protected areas on the Mediterranean, some mooring buoy fields with a fee instead of free anchoring.

France: What is the emergency number at sea?

196 (maritime distress) or 112; CROSS Gris-Nez, Jobourg, Corsen and Étel, VHF channel 16 and DSC. In the Mediterranean CROSS Méditerranée (La Garde) with its Corsica sub-centre (Aspretto).

France: Which local winds blow there?

Tramontana, Mistral, Maestrale (Mistral), Libeccio, Scirocco.

France: How many harbours does Sailseer cover?

Sailseer covers 593 harbours with harbour info, weather and route planning. Plus 742 bridges and locks with opening times and clearances.