This was published 7 years ago
Mediterranean yacht cruise: Star Clipper France and Italy cruise takes in underrated delights
Santa Margherita. Credit: iStock
If it weren't for the cruise liner further along the breakwater, I would think I was in another age. Flags flutter from battlements and my own small ship, Star Flyer, is festooned in masts and rigging. It looks like the love child of a pirate ship and Errol Flynn's private yacht. As we sail away at 10pm to the clicking of champagne glasses, stars are tangled in the rigging. Sails billow upwards as they catch the breeze beyond the breakwater, and soon we're off into the Mediterranean.
Our departure point at Civitavecchia is an overture to the historic opera of small ports in this corner of the Mediterranean. Most are relatively minor towns, yet still layered in swashbuckling history. Civitavecchia is a place in point, inhabited since the Bronze Age, favoured by the Etruscans, chosen by the Romans as the port for inland Rome. Later, Mediterranean powers squabbled over Civitavecchia for centuries. Its 500-year-old harbour bastions were built by popes. I find it a very Italian town, with its archaeological museum, weeping Madonna and market piled with hairy mussels and glittering fish. Locals in freshly ironed shirts promenade along the waterfront, slurping at gelato and chittering like lorikeets.
This cruise is a meander through such underrated delights. By next afternoon we have approached the southern coast of Corsica, whose jagged mountains are topped by dramatic, stormy clouds. A four-metre swell prevents us from entering Bonifacio harbour, our scheduled port of call. Instead, we sail past Pointe de la Chiappa lighthouse and anchor in the gulf at Porto-Vecchio. The bay is gorgeous, wrapped in pine forest and bleached beaches. The water has turned mauve in the glowering, late-afternoon light. Porto-Vecchio's old town, founded by the Genovese in 1539, squats on a cliff, its church spire threatening to pop the rain clouds.
Star Flyer off Santa Margherita on the Italian Riviera.Credit: Brian Johnston
The rain never comes, and Porto-Vecchio turns out to be a pleasant evening diversion. The waterfront is lined by seafood restaurants overlooking a marina of chic French yachts, and the walled town above – though perhaps unremarkable in the grand European scheme of things – is lively with boutiques and cafes. A fortified gate provides framed views to the sea and valley farmland below as I sit over a glass of rough local wine.
Next day, a quick coach ride takes us to Bonifacio through a countryside pretty with poppies and silvery olive trees. We have all day here, which is just as well. Bonifacio's narrow harbour entrance is hidden behind the citadel, and has the feel of a pirate lair, although its attractive promenades are lined not with rum stores but restaurants in which visitors enjoy crepes and ice-creams.
It's a steep climb upwards into town, but over my shoulder constant photo-worthy vistas keep getting better. This is quintessential Corsica, wildly scenic and rather introverted. The town merges with golden limestone cliffs from which I can see all the way to Sardinia; at one point some mad king of Aragon cut steps into the cliffs to the shrieking, pleasurable fear of modern tourists. Chapels and shadowy houses are knitted together by narrow, up-and-down streets where secrets seem to lurk. There is surprisingly little tourist tat. This isn't so much a port for sightseeing as just soaking up the ambience. Bonifacio is a town of unexpected pleasures, not least a cemetery of sparkling blue views between pastel-coloured tombs.
Ropes and rigging on Star Flyer's deck.
Next day we're exploring the Tuscan island of Elba, but the day after Star Flyer is sailing back to Corsica at its commercial centre, Bastia. In the Middle Ages it developed as a wine port. We anchor below the honey-coloured fortifications of its citadel. The old Terra Vecchia quarter is a huddle of lurching streets that bring me past baroque churches where saints weep and candles flicker. Itsshabby charm reminds me of Italy, but its finely laid-out squares in the newer town beyond are very French. Place St-Nicholas is shaded by palm trees and graced with a statue of Napoleon dressed as a Roman emperor, laurel wreath replacing bicorn hat. Behind the square I find Bastia's main shopping streets, a collision of dog poo and designer fashions.
Corsican towns have a brooding, monochrome quality. Next day, Santa Margherita on Italy's Ligurian coast offers romance of a different kind: sunny, open and pastel-coloured. Rich Genovese have been summering here since the 18th century in grand villas beneath scented Mediterranean pines. The waterfront is lined by turn-of-the-century hotels and palm trees cheerful as cocktail umbrellas. Above is a basilica where gold leaf riots. Middle-aged Italians canoodle on adjacent garden terraces as oleander blossoms fall.
Star Flyer runs a shuttle into town and further along the coast to Portofino. A squint at my map reveals Portofino is only five kilometres away around an improbably beautiful coast, so I resolve to walk. It's easy to see why the Italian Riviera is famous for its coastline and faded, early-20th-century glamour. Italy's fashion designers have villas in the pine trees. Water in the bays is a peacock palette of blues and greens between craggy outcrops. Sunbathers flop on the rocks as if they've been washed up from a shipwreck. I stop halfway at Baia di Paraggi for a gelato on a pocket-sized stretch of sand that leads into green water so limpid every pebble is a shimmering jewel.
Porto-Vecchio in Corsica, France.Credit: Brian Johnston
Portofino is much smaller but more famous than Santa Margherita. Its harbour-flanked piazza is jammed with tourists, but the town – the classic, tumbling Italian fishing village turned resort of jet-setters and billionaires – is so embarrassingly pretty it's hard to mind. The cost of a glass of white wine and scampi at a cafe makes me wince, but I know I'll remember the outlook long after the shock of the bill is forgotten.
Above town, the tourist crowds thin out. Even in the most famous Italian destinations you need walk only 500 metres to find tranquillity, and Portofino is no exception. Barely one in 10visitors make it as far as the terraces of the Renaissance-era Church of St George, whose gorgeous views provide a teaser for heaven. Further on, along alleys scented with honeysuckle, I have Castello Brown almost to myself. From the battlement gardens more sea-scintillating views unfold. Out in the bay, Star Flyer awaits in the autumn sun to carry me onwards.
STAR ATTRACTIONS
Cruising the Med in fine style.Credit: Brian Johnston
Star Clippers, which operates a fleet of tall ships that replicate the age of wind sail, offers a quite different product from mainstream cruise companies.
SETTING SAIL
Star Flyer isn't a floating resort but rather a fully operational four-masted barquentine with 16 sails. About a third of any cruise is made under sail without engine support – a key part of the cruise experience for passengers, many of whom have sailed yachts. The crew work the ropes and at least some sails are unfurled and furled daily. Passengers can take a turn at the ship's wheel, clamber up to the crow's nest and learn the names and functions of the sails.
The harbour of Porto-Vecchio, Corsica.Credit: iStock
CREW ENCOUNTERS
On most cruise ships you barely encounter the nautical crew, let alone stop for conversation. On Star Flyer crew and passengers alike share the open deck where the wheelhouse is located. When there's a problem with the lower topsail at Santa Margherita, the struggles of the two riggers sent aloft grip the attention of passengers, and the captain provides a commentary. Talkative Captain Sergey Utitsyn is a tall-ship fanatic, full of wonderful sea tales. Second officer Vivek will explain how to read a nautical chart, or show you around the engine room.
SMALL SCALE
Visitors admire cliff-top views of Bonifacio in Corsica, France. Credit: Brian Johnston
Don't expect the amenities of a regular cruise ship. Star Flyer carries 170 passengers and is small, with a squeezed-in lounge, outdoor bar, library, restaurant and limited deck space around two tiny pools. Cabins (and especially en suites) are compact; most have only portholes rather than windows or balconies. This isn't a cruise for those looking for razzmatazz and lavish appointments.
SOCIABILITY
Intimate spaces and a lack of mind-numbing distractions such as on-board casinos and entertainment mean that passengers are generally sociable, informal and relaxed. Many are younger than the small-ship cruise norm. (Star Flyer isn't suitable for those challenged by the steep staircases and numerous trip hazards of a sailing ship.) A majority of British and Germans and a smattering of other Europeans provide a pleasant alternative view of the world during afternoon gatherings at the Tropical Bar.
A Star Flyer tender ferries passengers to Bastia in Corsica.Credit: Brian Johnston
SMALL PORTS
Star Clippers ships tend to frequent smaller ports which, for the most part, can't be accessed by large cruise ships. On this Mediterranean cruise, Star Flyer often anchors offshore, with transfers made in smaller tenders that double as lifeboats. Though it operates shore excursions, most ports are easily explored on foot, and many passengers choose their own diversions. The ship lingers in ports: from 9am to 5:30pm on the Italian island of Elba, for example, or from 10am until midnight in Monte Carlo.
TRIP NOTES
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CRUISE
Star Clippers' next seven-night Rome to Cannes cruises are on Royal Clipper departing August 19 and September 16, 2017. Reverse Cannes to Rome cruises depart June 3 and August 26, 2017. Itineraries differ slightly from the cruise described here. There are many other western Mediterranean sailings. Prices from $2990 a person. Phone 1300 295 161. See starclippers.com
FLY
Emirates flies from Sydney and Melbourne to Dubai (14.5 hours) with onward connections to both Rome (six hours) and Nice (6.5 hours). Phone 1300 303 777, see emirates.com/au
Brian Johnston travelled as a guest of Star Clippers but paid for his own flights.
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