Things to do · Cannes · France
15 best things to do in Cannes
15 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Quick answer
The essential sights in Cannes are Boulevard de la Croisette, Palais des Festivals et des Congrès and Le Suquet old town. Of the 15 picks below, 10 are free, 3 work on a rainy day and 4 suit children. Allow about 4 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Boulevard de la Croisette
- Free sights
- 10
- Good on a rainy day
- Musée des Explorations du Monde
- Time to see the highlights
- 4 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boulevard de la Croisette | La Croisette | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Palais des Festivals et des Congrès | La Croisette | 30–60 minutes | Free |
| Le Suquet old town | Le Suquet | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Musée des Explorations du Monde | Le Suquet | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Marché Forville | Le Suquet | 1 hour | Free |
| Île Sainte-Marguerite | Lérins Islands | Half a day | Low cost |
| Île Saint-Honorat and Lérins Abbey | Lérins Islands | Half a day | Low cost |
| Underwater eco-museum | Lérins Islands | 1 hour | Free |
| Vieux Port and Quai Saint-Pierre | Le Suquet | 1 hour | Free |
| Plage du Midi | La Bocca | Half a day | Free |
| La Malmaison | La Croisette | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Musée Bonnard | Le Cannet | 1–1.5 hours | Mid-priced |
| Russian Orthodox Church of Saint-Michel-Archange | La Californie | 30 minutes | Free |
| Rue Meynadier | Centre and Rue d'Antibes | 45 minutes | Free |
| Cinema murals walk | Centre and Rue d'Antibes | 1–2 hours | Free |
The 15 best things to do
Street · La Croisette
1.Boulevard de la Croisette
The seafront boulevard curves for about 2 km from the Palais des Festivals to Pointe Croisette, with palm trees and blue chairs on the promenade, beach clubs below and the façades of the Carlton, Martinez and Majestic hotels across the road. Walking its length is the classic Cannes outing, best in the late afternoon light.
Grab one of the free blue chairs along the promenade at sunset, when the light turns the Esterel hills across the bay red.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Couples
- Views
- Photo spot
Landmark · La Croisette
2.Palais des Festivals et des Congrès
The concrete festival palace by the old port hosts the Cannes Film Festival and big trade fairs such as MIPIM and MIPCOM. Outside festival weeks you can climb the famous red-carpeted steps for a photo, and the Allée des Stars around the building has the handprints of film stars set into the pavement. The tourist office is on the ground floor.
Ask at the tourist office inside about guided tours of the Palais, which take you behind the scenes of the Lumière auditorium on certain dates.
- Time needed
- 30–60 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Photo spot
Neighbourhood · Le Suquet
3.Le Suquet old town
The medieval core of Cannes climbs the hill above the Vieux Port through narrow lanes and stairways to Place de la Castre, the 12th-century Tour du Suquet and the church of Notre-Dame d'Espérance. From the terrace in front of the church, the view takes in the old port, the Croisette and the Lérins Islands.
Climb up via Rue Saint-Antoine and come down the stairways on the seaward side towards the Plage du Midi.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Views
- Couples
- Photo spot
Museum · Le Suquet
4.Musée des Explorations du Monde
Housed in the old castle of the monks of Lérins at the top of Le Suquet, this museum (long known as the Musée de la Castre) holds ethnographic collections from the Pacific, the Himalayas and the Americas, antiquities and Riviera landscape paintings. The ticket includes the climb to the top of the Tour du Suquet for the best view in Cannes.
Save the tower climb for the end of your visit and time it for late afternoon, when the bay is at its clearest.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Views
- Rainy day
- Art
Market · Le Suquet
5.Marché Forville
Cannes's covered market at the foot of Le Suquet sells Provençal produce, cheese, olives, flowers and fish landed by local boats. Stalls sell socca and other snacks, and the surrounding cafés fill with stallholders and locals mid-morning. On Mondays the hall usually turns into a flea and antiques market instead.
Go before 11am, when the fish stalls are at their fullest, and buy picnic supplies for an island trip.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Food
- Free
- Shopping
Island · Lérins Islands
6.Île Sainte-Marguerite
The larger Lérins island, about 15 minutes by boat from the old port, is covered with eucalyptus and Aleppo pine and ringed by footpaths and small rocky coves. Its 17th-century Fort Royal holds the cell where the Man in the Iron Mask was imprisoned and a museum of underwater archaeology. There are no cars and only a few cafés.
Take a picnic and walk the shoreline path to the quieter southern coves facing Saint-Honorat.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Low cost
- Outdoors
- Kids
- History
- Nature
Religious site · Lérins Islands
7.Île Saint-Honorat and Lérins Abbey
The smaller island belongs to a community of Cistercian monks who have lived here in some form since the 5th century. Visitors can walk the vineyards and lanes, visit the abbey church and the fortified medieval monastery on the shore, and buy the monks' own wines and Lérina liqueur. Separate boats serve it from the old port.
Dress modestly and keep noise down; this is a working monastery, and the island is calmest on weekdays.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Outdoors
- Couples
- Nature
Experience · Lérins Islands
8.Underwater eco-museum
Off the southern shore of Île Sainte-Marguerite, six large sculpted heads by artist Jason deCaires Taylor rest on the seabed in shallow water, inspired by portraits of local residents. They are reachable with a mask and snorkel from the shore in calm weather, inside a marked swimming zone.
Bring your own snorkel and water shoes; the shore is rocky and there is nowhere to hire equipment on the island.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Active
- Art
- Outdoors
- Kids
Waterfront · Le Suquet
1.Vieux Port and Quai Saint-Pierre
The old harbour between the Palais and Le Suquet mixes fishing boats with superyachts, and Quai Saint-Pierre is lined with seafood restaurants under the old town. The Allées de la Liberté behind it have plane trees, pétanque players and a weekend flower and flea market.
Watch the evening pétanque games on the Allées de la Liberté before dinner on the quay.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Food
- After dark
- Photo spot
Beach · La Bocca
2.Plage du Midi
This long public sandy beach starts just west of Le Suquet and runs towards La Bocca along Boulevard Jean Hibert. It is where local families swim, with free sand, a few beach clubs and sunset views towards the Esterel hills.
Come in the late afternoon, when the sun sets over the Esterel directly in front of the beach.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
Gallery · La Croisette
3.La Malmaison
The last remaining part of the 19th-century Grand Hôtel on the Croisette is now a municipal art centre that stages temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, often focused on artists linked to the Riviera such as Picasso or Matisse.
Check what is showing before you go; it closes between exhibitions.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- Rainy day
Museum · Le Cannet
4.Musée Bonnard
A Belle Époque villa in Le Cannet devoted to Pierre Bonnard, who lived in the town from 1926 until his death in 1947 and painted its light and gardens. The museum shows his paintings and drawings alongside temporary exhibitions about his circle.
Combine it with a wander through the old streets of Le Cannet and lunch on Rue Saint-Sauveur.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Religious site · La Californie
5.Russian Orthodox Church of Saint-Michel-Archange
Built in the 1890s for the Russian aristocrats who wintered in Cannes, this church on Boulevard Alexandre III has a blue onion dome and an icon-filled interior. It is a reminder of the town's 19th-century role as a winter resort for European nobility.
Visitors are welcome outside services; cover shoulders and keep quiet inside.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Architecture
- History
- Free
- Off the beaten path
Street · Centre and Rue d'Antibes
6.Rue Meynadier
This narrow pedestrian street between the old port and Marché Forville was once the main road through Cannes. It is now lined with delis, cheese and olive-oil shops, pasta makers and inexpensive clothes shops, a cheaper counterpoint to the designer stores on the Croisette.
Pick up fresh pasta and Provençal olive oil here to take home.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Shopping
- Food
- Free
Experience · Centre and Rue d'Antibes
7.Cinema murals walk
Painted walls across Cannes celebrate cinema, from a mural of Marilyn Monroe to scenes featuring Charlie Chaplin and other screen legends. The tourist office has a map that links more than a dozen of them into a self-guided walk through the centre, La Bocca and Le Cannet.
Pick up the mural map at the tourist office in the Palais and walk the central section in about an hour.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Art
- Photo spot
- Kids
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Musée des Explorations du Monde, Underwater eco-museum, La Malmaison and Musée Bonnard |
| History | Le Suquet old town, Musée des Explorations du Monde, Île Sainte-Marguerite and Île Saint-Honorat and Lérins Abbey |
| Views | Boulevard de la Croisette, Le Suquet old town and Musée des Explorations du Monde |
| Outdoors and nature | Île Sainte-Marguerite, Île Saint-Honorat and Lérins Abbey, Underwater eco-museum and Plage du Midi |
| Food and markets | Marché Forville, Vieux Port and Quai Saint-Pierre and Rue Meynadier |
| After dark | Vieux Port and Quai Saint-Pierre |
| With children | Île Sainte-Marguerite, Underwater eco-museum, Plage du Midi and Cinema murals walk |
| On a rainy day | Musée des Explorations du Monde, La Malmaison and Musée Bonnard |
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Cannes?
Boulevard de la Croisette. The seafront boulevard curves for about 2 km from the Palais des Festivals to Pointe Croisette, with palm trees and blue chairs on the promenade, beach clubs below and the façades of the Carlton, Martinez and Majestic hotels across the road.
+What can you do for free in Cannes?
Boulevard de la Croisette, Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Le Suquet old town, Marché Forville and Underwater eco-museum. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Cannes when it rains?
Head indoors to Musée des Explorations du Monde, La Malmaison and Musée Bonnard.
+What is there to do in Cannes at night?
Vieux Port and Quai Saint-Pierre are best after dark.