Things to do in Cannes

Cannes is a resort strip with a fishing village behind it. The Croisette carries the palms, the private beaches and the hotels, with the Palais des Festivals at its western end. Le Suquet climbs behind.

Along the bay

• Le Suquet. Narrow stairs to a stone watchtower and a church terrace with the best view over the harbour.
• The Vieux Port. Yachts through the summer, working boats early in the morning, and the quay the island ferries leave from.
• Iles de Lerins. Sainte-Marguerite holds the fort where the Man in the Iron Mask was kept; Saint-Honorat belongs to a Cistercian community that works vines on the island.
• Marche Forville. The covered market a street back from the port, and the reason locals still come down the hill.

Why most bookings leave town

Cannes is walkable in a morning, and the interesting things are scattered along the coast behind it. What sells here is a car and a driver for the day. The town itself needs no ticket.

• East. Eze and Monaco, usually as a half-day along the corniche roads above the sea.
• Inland and west. Grasse, where the perfume trade has stood since the sixteenth century, Antibes with its Picasso collection in the seafront castle, and Saint-Paul-de-Vence on its ridge.
• Off the ships. The same itineraries sold as shore excursions, cut to fit the sailing time.

The bill reflects that. A private day here is priced as a vehicle rather than as a seat, so four people pay what two would. Sharing a minibus is a Nice habit, not a Cannes one.

Practical

• Two speeds. During the film festival in May and the big trade fairs the room rates multiply and the Croisette stops belonging to visitors; the rest of the year it is an ordinary Riviera town.
• Season. January days sit around 12C, July is properly hot, and the sea stays swimmable from June into October.
• Beaches. Much of the sand along the Croisette is concession beach charged by the day, with free stretches at either end.
• Getting in. Nice airport is about half an hour east, and the coastal train is cheap, frequent and easier than parking.
• Prices. Coffee standing at the bar is a couple of euros, lunch on a back street around twenty, and the Croisette terraces charge for the view.
• Islands. Take water and something to eat: Sainte-Marguerite is mostly pine forest and fort, and the boats thin out in winter.