Making the most of Cannes
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
A few smaller cruise ships can dock but most have to anchor and tender (a very nice ride!) the passengers into a quay which also handles the local ferries. The tender quays are all very close to town next to a busy square with colorful market stalls in front of a line of open air cafés and restaurants.
Located on the world-famous Côte d'Azur, this resort town boasts an impressive collection of museums and art galleries, botanical gardens, Gothic-style churches and a theater district that hosts the renowned international film festival. Those less interested in the arts can check out the casinos, discos, and nightclubs that make nightlife in Cannes legendary. Sandy Mediterranean beaches draw sunbathers from all of Europe, and the shimmering blue waters fill with sailboats in the summer. It's no wonder Cannes is known as the "star" of the French Riviera.
Cannes can easily be explored on foot. Just west of the Vieux Port is the oldest part of town, Le Suquet, an area with narrow streets with shops, restaurants, a medieval church, and a 12th-century castle, which now houses the Musée de la Castre.
The thing where the action is, lies in the opposite direction: the palm tree-lined Boulevard de la Croisette: eastwards from the Palais des Festivals (the Cannes Film Festival in may) with luxury hotels, casinos and marinas full with expensive yachts. Just have a drink at one of the many cafés and restaurants here and watch the beautiful people who as always come to Cannes.
Covered Market (Marché Forville) For a spectacular eating and viewing food experience, no other market in Cannes beats this for scale and variety. The market itself is at the west end of rue Meynardiers, one of the Cote's best gourmand streets.
Cannes Tourist Office
Getting around
The Train of Cinema Initially the Palace of Festivals, side beaches, the Cinema Train offers two guided tours to the discoveries of two facets of Cannes: History Tour (Suquet, historical centre) and the Croisette round (Croisette, Palm Beach).
Turn left outside the terminal and immediately left again and you are in the market square with the bus station at the far end.
The railway station is a 5 min walk in the other direction (behind the Palais des Festivals and Boulevard de la Croisette).
Most of the places the organized tours go to, can be done easily by bus and/or train.
Nearby places
by bus: Nice, Villefranche, Monaco, and Grasse.
by train: Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, Nice, and Villefranche within 1 hour and Monte Carlo just over one hour. Train Schedules
Îles de Lérins, Two islands in the bay that are definitely worth visiting. The smaller is St Honorat, which has a monastery and ruined castle. The monks sell monastery-made food/drink products like wine which make unique souvenirs. The larger island is Ste Marguerite which also has a castle, shops, bars, and restaurants. Find a quiet cove, some shade from palm trees, and a cheap snorkel before you swim around the rocky coves. A return ticket to Ste Marguerite is €11 with ferries departing every hour roughly from 7 in the morning until about 05:30 at night - timetable. The ticket to St Honorat costs €13, and visiting the fortified monastery…
Food and shopping
The shops in Cannes are concentrated between La Croisette and rue d'Antibes.
Money
Euro
Staying connected
Local emergency number: 112
Opening Hours and
Most shops, businesses, information services, museums and banks in France stay open all day. The exceptions are the smaller shops and enterprises, which may close for lunch sometime between 12.30pm and 2pm. Basic hours of business are from 8 or 9am to 6.30 or 7.30pm Monday to Saturday for the big shops and Tuesday to Saturday for smaller shops (some of the smaller shops may open on Monday afternoon). You can always find boulangeries and food shops that do stay open, however, on days when others close – on Sunday normally until noon.