You probably already know that Cannes is one of the most famous and expensive towns in the French Riviera. But what to see and do in Cannes and to experience the very best that this lovely town has to offer?
In this post, I will tell you what we did on the day we spent in Cannes and give you some ideas of what to do.
Another peaceful night was spent at Villa Prétorina in the “La Boca” neighbourhood in Cannes. See the post Saint Tropez, Port Grimaud and Grimaud, where I describe our arrival and our accommodation in Cannes.
Subscribe to my blog, so you will not miss any of my posts published every week.
After another excellent breakfast, we set out for the day. This time, we left the car in the garage and took bus no. 1 to the centre of Cannes as the bus stop was very close to the villa. We didn’t want to stress about parking in the centre and opted for the bus. It was a good choice as buses are very frequent and never too busy.
We were travelling independently in France with a car as we are confident travellers and speak a bit of the language. However, if you prefer to be part of a tour and to have everything organised for you, I advise you to book a complete tour with Tourradar.
Tourradar has different kinds of tours that will fit your time and budget. If you book it via my links you can get a discount by using this code: RoseG50.
The bus journey was about 25 minutes, and we got off at Promenade de la Pantiero, in front of the Town Hall of Cannes.
Below is a map showing the places we visited on that day:
Before telling you what we visited, let’s learn a little bit about Cannes…
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CANNES
Cannes started as a small Ligurian fishing village before the Romans took control around the 2nd century BCE. In the Middle Ages, it was a quiet outpost dominated by monks from the Lérins Islands, who built the iconic tower on Île Sainte-Marguerite and controlled much of the region.
It was only in the 19th century that Cannes started to become famous. This was because rich British and Russian aristocrats chose it as their winter retreat. The arrival of the railway in 1863 also contributed to its growth.
Cannes started hosting “The Cannes Film Festival” in 1946 and has been cemented as a cultural hub for the festival. Cannes is now synonymous with luxury, cinema and tourism, attracting the famous and wealthy to the area.
VISITING CANNES
When we arrived in the town centre with the bus, we first explored the streets in the Old Town, known as “Le Suquet”. We looked at Rue Saint-Antoine and wanted to visit the “Marché Forville”, but it was closed for refurbishment at the time, so we couldn’t see it. It was a shame because it is famous for being a very nice market, and we love to explore food markets!
From there, we climbed to the top of “Le Suquet” where we could visit the “Eglise Notre-Dame d’Esperance” which replaced the old “Chapel Saint Ann”. That is where the “Château de la Castre”, now the “Musée de la Castre” is. There are lovely views of Cannes from the top of the hill.
Once we were happy with the visit on the top of the hill, we started the descent back to the Old Port. At the port, we bought ferry tickets to go to “Île Saint-Marguerite”. It takes about 15 minutes to cross to the island from the Old Port in Cannes.
To buy ferry tickets to Île Saint-Marguerite in advance if you are going at a busy time, book HERE.
“Île Saint-Marguerite” is the largest of the Lérins Islands. The island itself is a nature reserve, largely untouched, with no cars and only a handful of restaurants near the pier.
However, the most famous landmark is “Fort Royal”, which housed one of France’s most enigmatic prisoners – “The Man in the Iron Mask”.
“The Man in the Iron Mask” was an unidentified man who was a prisoner of state during Louis XIV reign. He was imprisoned for 34 years, and his identity remained a mystery. Although there are many theories debated by various historians, little is known about the prisoner. He was the subject of a novel by Alexandre Dumas in 1850, “The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten years later”.
When we arrived at the island, we went directly to “Fort Royal”. We visited the prison cells, including the one occupied by “The Man in the Iron Mask”. The fort houses the “Museum of the Sea” with many items from ancient Roman and Saracen shipwrecks. There is also a Roman cistern room within the museum. We saw everything and afterwards walked around the grounds of the fort.
After the visit, we explored the roads around the fort, which was full of trees. We came across steps going down to the beach and to what looked like to be a restaurant. Taking the steps down, we arrived at a beautiful restaurant called “La Guérrite” on the bay.
It was a big restaurant with dining areas and a bar. On the road leading to it, there were also a few boutiques selling clothes. The restaurant was full, and the bay was packed with yachts.
We realised that all those people were people from the yachts that stopped there for lunch. It was a beautiful place, and there was live music with a very lively atmosphere. We didn’t feel like eating, so we sat at the bar for some beers instead.
We sat in front of one of the boutiques and noticed that the boutiques were very busy. I told my husband, when we arrived, who would come for a beach day on this island to shop for clothes? While sitting there, we could see who. All the rich ladies from the yachts that might have been suffering from shopping withdrawal symptoms and were happy to spend a fortune on those boutiques.
The boutiques were on the way to the ladies’ toilets, and there was not a single lady that didn’t stop to at least look at the window shop. I think we sat there for about an hour, and during this time, we watched three big sales where the ladies left with various shopping bags full. Who thought a boutique in an isolated island was going to be so busy?
Anyway, after the drinks and looking around, we made our way back to the top via the steps and back to the port as we didn’t want to miss the ferry back to Cannes.
While waiting for the ferry, we had an ice cream from one of the shops near the port and sat in a beautiful spot. As we couldn’t see any bins around, when we finished the ice cream, I went back to the shop to give them the wrappers of the ice cream, but they didn’t accept it. They said that there were no bins on the island and all rubbish needed to be taken back to Cannes.
Once we boarded the ferry, I discarded the ice cream wrappers into the bin from the bar on the ferry.
Back in Cannes, we walked around the port and went to see the “Palais des Festivals” where the film festival takes place and where the famous red carpet is. After taking various photos, we continued on the promenade of the beach.
This area of Cannes seemed to be going on some kind of refurbishment because many places were boarded or isolated with metal fences. Later, I realised that it might have been because of the Olympics.
Many places in France at that time were boarded or going through refurbishment in preparation for the Olympics that would take place in the following month.
We crossed the road and returned to the Old Port via “La Croisette”, looking at the famous hotels and luxury boutiques on this boulevard.
We didn’t have time to do it, but next time we are in Cannes I will certainly book this activity “Molinard Parfums Cannes: Discovery Perfume Workshop“. This is right up my street and if it is also yours and you have the time, don’t miss it.
You can also explore Cannes in a guided walking tour with a local guide. This tour will take you to all the places we went to and mentioned on this post.
It was late and time to get the bus back to the villa for a shower and to get ready for dinner.
It was my husband’s birthday, and I wanted to book something different for dinner. I found a restaurant that seemed different enough and certainly would surprise him.
I booked dinner at “Black Sails – A Pirate Tavern by Chef Le Chat”. It is a pirate-themed restaurant and claims to guarantee a one-of-a-kind experience with an unforgettable taste. So, I was very keen to try and see his reaction.
It was a lovely surprise for my husband; he was not expecting a restaurant like that and was pleased about it. We had a delicious dinner there.
I had the Black-Sails burger in a black bun, and my husband chose the Captain’s Feast, which was grilled entrecôte of Black Angus. The wine we ordered was also excellent, and the service was first-class.
It was one of the best meals we had in France on this trip. We loved it.
After dinner, we took the bus back to the villa for our last night in Cannes and Villa Prétorina. The following day, we would leave, and our next stop was going to be Aix-en-Provence. Hang on, and I will tell you everything about it in my next post.
Below is a reel of The Travelling Surveyor Instagram account with more photos of Cannes. Check it out and follow me on Instagram.
I hope this post will give you some idea of what can be done in a day in Cannes and will help you plan your own visit there.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP TO CANNES
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Cannes. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
PLEASE NOTE: Every hotel, restaurants and attractions I mention on my blogs are not sponsored reviews and we always paid the full price when visiting. We give our own opinion of the place and detail our experience, good or bad.
THINGS TO DO IN CANNES
ATTRACTIONS IN CANNES
1 – Le Souquet – ***
2 – Marché Forville
3 – Eglise Notre-Dame d’Esperance – ***
5 – Île Saint-Marguerite – ***
6 – Fort Royal – ***
7 – Palais des Festivals – ***
8 – La Croisette – ***
WHERE TO STAY
ACCOMMODATION IN CANNES
1 – Villa Prétorina – 3* – ££ – ***
2 – Hôtel de Provence – 3* – ££
3 – Villa Claudia – 3* – ££
4 – Staybridge Suites – 4* – £££
5 – Le Cavendish – 4* – £££
6 – Carton Cannes – 5* – £££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation, search and book via the below widget:
I use affiliate links such as the links above for Booking.com, Get your Guide, Viator and others. It means that if you use any of my links to make a booking, I will get a small commission from the partners I’m affiliated with without any additional cost to you. Please, use the links provided when making a booking, this is a way of supporting blogs like this so we can continue writing informative and interesting posts. I’m very thankful for that.
BEST PLACES TO EAT IN CANNES
RESTAURANTS IN CANNES
1 – Aux Bons Enfants – ££ – * – Read why on my previous post
2 – Black Sails – A Pirate Tavern by Chef Le Chat – ££ – ***
3 – L’Assiette Provençale – ££ – ***
4 – La Table du Chef – ££
5 – Bào – ££
6 – Gusti Italiani – ££
If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
On this trip to France:
1 – Lyon – Day 1
2 – Lyon – Day 2
6 – Saint-Tropez/Port Grimaud/Grimaud
7 – Monaco
8 – Cannes
9 – Aix-en-Provence and Arles – Coming Soon
10 – Camargue and Arles – Coming Soon
11 – Avignon – Coming Soon
12 – Dijon – Coming Soon
13 – Fontainebleau – Coming Soon
14 – Paris – Day 1 – Coming Soon
15 – Paris – Day 2 – Coming Soon
16 – Paris – Day 3 – Coming Soon
USEFUL SITES
2 – Ville de Cannes
3 – See Cannes
Leave a Reply