Cannes Beyond the Film Festival: What a Local Guide Shows You

A town with a festival, not a festival with a town

For two weeks in May, Cannes is the centre of the film world. For the other fifty, it is a handsome, prosperous Mediterranean town of about 75,000 people with a medieval hill, a famous market and two islands twenty minutes offshore. Most visitors see the Croisette, photograph the handprints outside the Palais des Festivals and leave. I understand why, and I also know they have missed the best of it.

Le Suquet, the hill Cannes grew from

Before the Croisette there was Le Suquet, the fishing village on the hill above the old port. Its lanes climb past small restaurants to a square with a church, a medieval tower and a view that explains at a glance why Lord Brougham stopped here in 1834 and never really left. I start Cannes here, early, when the light comes across the bay and the Esterel hills are red in the distance.

The Forville market

Below the Suquet, the covered market of Forville is where Cannes actually shops: fishermen's stalls, the vegetable growers from the hills, cheese, olives, flowers. It is smaller than the Cours Saleya in Nice and, to my taste, less performed. Closed on Mondays, best before eleven. This is where I buy the picnic if we are taking the boat to the islands.

The Lerins islands

A short crossing from the old port takes you to two islands that feel a century away from the Croisette. Sainte-Marguerite is pine forest, quiet coves and the fort where the Man in the Iron Mask was held. Saint-Honorat belongs to a community of monks who have been there since the fifth century and who make wine and liqueur between the services. Half a day on either island, with a swim, is the Cannes that residents keep for themselves.

The Croisette, done properly

The Croisette is worth walking once, early or late, when the palaces catch the light and the beach clubs are setting up or packing away. The Carlton, the Martinez and the Majestic are part of the history of the town, and the view back toward the Suquet from the far end is the postcard. What I would not do is spend the whole day there, or lunch on the beach at festival prices in August.

How I pair Cannes

Cannes works beautifully with Antibes, twenty minutes along the coast: the Picasso Museum in the castle, the Provencal market, the ramparts. A half day of Antibes and Cannes together costs 450 euros for your group; a full day adds Saint-Paul-de-Vence and its art village in the hills for 750 euros. If you are staying in Cannes itself, I can also build the day from your hotel toward Nice and the villages, in my vehicle, with pickup included.

Live It With Me

These private experiences are the natural next step after this article. Prices are per group, never per person.

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