Cannes 7 Day Itinerary
Cannes 7-Day Itinerary
Most visitors to Cannes spend their week walking La Croisette between the same three hotels and the same two beach clubs, convinced they are experiencing the French Riviera. The actual Cannes, the one locals use, starts about 200 metres uphill in Le Suquet, the medieval quarter, where the food costs half as much and tastes considerably better. This itinerary tries to cover both.
Getting There
The nearest airport is Nice Cote d’Azur (NCE), 30-45 minutes from Cannes depending on traffic. Bus 81 (Lignes Express) runs directly from Terminals 1 and 2 to Cannes train station and costs EUR 20.50. A taxi costs a fixed EUR 80 from the airport but adds motorway tolls and night surcharges, putting the realistic total at EUR 90-110. The bus is fine and drops you centrally. Book return transport to the airport in advance during July and August when taxis are scarce.
The train from Nice city (not the airport) to Cannes runs frequently and takes 27-35 minutes, costing around EUR 7. If you’re moving between Riviera towns on any day, the train is always the right answer.
Where to Stay
Hotel Barriere Le Majestic and the InterContinental Carlton are the iconic choices, with rooms starting from EUR 400-600 per night in summer. Both are on La Croisette and the address is part of what you’re paying for. If you want to actually sleep in Cannes rather than perform it, mid-range hotels behind Rue d’Antibes cost EUR 100-180 per night and are a short walk from everything. The Palms Hotel on La Croisette offers a sensible middle ground.
Day 1: Arrival and First Impressions
Walk La Croisette immediately, not because it’s the best thing in Cannes but because it frames the rest of the week. The 1.8-kilometre promenade runs from the Palais des Festivals west to the Palm Beach Casino, with private beach clubs (sun loungers EUR 30-80 per day) on one side and Belle Epoque palace hotels on the other. The Palais des Festivals, where the film festival red-carpet ceremonies happen each May, has handprints of major directors outside. Worth five minutes of your time, no more.
Dinner: Aux Bons Enfants on Rue Meynadier, a family-run Provencal restaurant that has been operating since 1935. They accept cash only, no reservations, and open at noon and 7pm on the dot. The daube (beef stew) and ratatouille are cooked by the same family using the same market produce they’ve bought from Marche Forville for decades. Two courses with wine, around EUR 30. This is the meal that will recalibrate your expectations for the week.
Day 2: Le Suquet and the Market
Start early at Marche Forville, the covered food market just below Le Suquet. Local producers set out tomatoes, white peaches, olives, fromage de chevre, and fresh fish from around 7am. The atmosphere is genuinely local and a significant contrast to the polished boulevard below. Buy things to eat.
From the market, walk uphill into Le Suquet. The Musee de la Castre at the top occupies a 12th-century castle and has a competent collection of Mediterranean and Oceanic artefacts alongside paintings. Admission is EUR 6. More importantly, the tower terrace offers the best panoramic view of the bay, the Lerin Islands, and the Esterel hills to the west. Take a clear morning for this.
Lunch: Le Mesclun in Le Suquet. Bistronomic, Michelin-recommended, EUR 30-50 per person. The cooking uses Provencal ingredients with slightly more technique than the traditional spots but without the theatrics of fine dining.
Afternoon: The public beaches scattered among the private concessions are free and clean. Plage Mace, just west of the Palais des Festivals, has free sections. Zamenhof municipal beach rents sunbeds and parasols at EUR 10-15 per day, which is a fraction of what the private clubs charge for the same stretch of Mediterranean.
Dinner: Rue Meynadier for a more casual evening. The pedestrian street has cheese shops, bakeries, and affordable restaurants. Budget EUR 25-35 for a meal here.
Day 3: Lerin Islands
This is the day most itineraries get wrong. The original Ile Saint-Honorat and Ile Sainte-Marguerite are two different islands with two entirely different characters, and you should not rush through both in one morning.
Ferries leave from the quay (Quai Laubeuf) opposite the Palais des Festivals. Shuttle tickets to Sainte-Marguerite cost around EUR 16-20 return, with the crossing taking about 15 minutes.
Go to Ile Sainte-Marguerite first. Fort Royal, the 17th-century fortress on the island, is where the Man in the Iron Mask was held for eleven years. Nobody knows for certain who he was, which is part of the appeal. Entry is EUR 6.50 for adults, free under 18. The cell is authentic and the fort’s ramparts look directly back at Cannes across the bay. Spend two hours here.
Ile Saint-Honorat, the smaller southern island, is run by Cistercian monks who have occupied it since 410 AD. They produce wine, lavender, and a herbal liqueur called Lerins, which you can buy at their shop near the landing dock. The island has no cars, limited crowds outside summer, and a medieval tower monastery reachable by foot path. Lunch at the monk-run restaurant La Tonnelle, which serves simple Mediterranean food at reasonable prices given the location.
Return ferry in the late afternoon. Dinner in Le Suquet.
Day 4: Aix-en-Provence Day Trip
Aix-en-Provence is 1.5 hours from Cannes by train, changing at Marseille Saint-Charles. The journey is straightforward and worth making at least once.
Aix is the city Paul Cezanne refused to leave. His studio, the Atelier Cezanne on Avenue Paul Cezanne, is preserved exactly as it was on the day he died in 1906. His coat is on the hook. His unfinished canvases are stacked against the wall. Admission is EUR 7.50 and you should book ahead in summer. The experience is one of the most effective artist-biography moments in France precisely because nothing has been redesigned or interpretively enhanced.
The Grand Musee Paul Cezanne, which opened in 2021, holds the largest public collection of his work. Budget two hours.
Lunch: Any cafe on the Cours Mirabeau, Aix’s main boulevard, lined with plane trees. The city has a good food scene relative to its size. Le Zinc at 22 Rue Rifle Rafle does reliable market-driven cooking for around EUR 20-30.
Return to Cannes by early evening.
Day 5: Perfume, Art, and a Long Dinner
Grasse, the perfume capital of the world, is 30 minutes from Cannes by bus (Bus 600, roughly EUR 1.50). The Fragonard perfumery in town offers free factory tours in multiple languages that explain the distillation process with reasonable depth. You are not required to buy anything. The town itself has a medieval centre with good views and a covered market worth an hour.
Back in Cannes: the Musee d’Art et d’Histoire de Provence (more commonly found by looking for MAMAC) has rotating contemporary exhibitions and a permanent collection covering the region’s modern art history. Check what’s showing before committing.
Dinner: Table 22 in Le Suquet. Chef Noel Mantel’s restaurant is Michelin Guide recommended and does proper Mediterranean tasting menus using local fish and Provencal produce. EUR 50-80 per person excluding wine. This is the dinner to book in advance and dress for. Stuffed courgette flowers and freshly-caught sea bass are regular menu presences.
Day 6: Beach Day and La Croisette Properly
You have spent the week moving around. Today, slow down. Commit to a private beach club for one day. The experience, sun lounger, parasol, and waiter service in front of the sea, costs EUR 30-80 depending on the club and the season. Plage du Martinez at the Hotel Martinez is one of the more visually impressive. La Mouette, a smaller club, is slightly less expensive and has better food.
Afternoon: Rue d’Antibes runs parallel to La Croisette one block inland and is where Cannes residents actually shop. The street has international fashion brands at one end and independent French shops toward the old town end. More practical and less performative than La Croisette.
For a final splurge, the Carlton Terrace bar in the late afternoon does cocktails with a direct sea view. The prices are exactly what you’d expect and the setting is genuinely spectacular.
Dinner: Somewhere informal on the port side of town. Le Comptoir des Vins in Le Suquet has good natural wine and small plates at EUR 20-30 per person.
Day 7: Departure
Marche Forville is open for a final breakfast pass if you’re leaving mid-morning. Buy local lavender honey, savon de Marseille, or Lerins liqueur from Saint-Honorat. All are available here at local prices rather than souvenir shop prices.
Bus 81 back to Nice Airport is the reliable choice. Allow 60 minutes from central Cannes to the terminal, more in summer. The bus leaves from Cannes train station.
One practical note that saves money most visitors don’t discover until day six: the public beaches between the private concessions are free, clean, and have outdoor showers. There is no quality gap. The private clubs sell atmosphere and a sun lounger; the free sections offer the same Mediterranean water. Go to a private club once if you want the experience. Use the public sections for the other days.