Cannes
France
A convention town with a sandy bay, a film festival and two islands fifteen minutes offshore
Photo by Jannis Lucas on Unsplash
Photos by Anastasiia Chepinska, Alexis AMZ DA CRUZ and Jim Thirion on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of France
May to June, and September to October — the Film Festival fortnight in late spring triples the price of a room
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 120mm in Oct
Where it is
43.55°N, 7.02°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A long weekend- Check the convention calendar before booking anything
- Take the first boat to Sainte-Marguerite and walk the island’s pine paths before the beach crowd lands
- Swim from the public beaches at the western end of the Croisette or the Plage du Midi rather than paying for a private one
- Climb Le Suquet at sunset for the view across the bay
- If you are here for the Film Festival, go to the free open-air screenings on the beach — most of the festival is closed to the public
Cannes travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget France
Very expensiveCards everywhere. The cost of Cannes is the calendar: the Film Festival, the Lions advertising week, the yachting show and the property fairs fill the hotels and multiply the prices, and a quiet week in October can cost a third of a week in May. Refuse the conversion when a terminal offers to charge you in your own currency.
ATMs & cards
Bank machines along the Rue d’Antibes and around the station. The independent machines on the Croisette are the ones that offer to convert.
Avoid these
- independent machines on the Croisette that offer to convert to your own currency
Use these instead
- BNP Paribas
- Crédit Agricole
- Société Générale
- LCL
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of France
SafeLow crime against people and a heavy police presence, especially during the festivals. The thefts are the usual Riviera ones: bags from the sand while you swim, phones from café tables, and watches in a crowd. Book the week before you book the flight — if it lands on the Film Festival, you will pay several times the price for a room and see the red carpet from behind a barrier.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the Croisette during the Film Festival — dense crowds at the barriers, which is where phones and wallets go
- the beaches — bags taken from the sand while people swim, all summer
- the station forecourt late at night — empty after the last trains, with the occasional hustle; the Rue d’Antibes one street south is busy and lit
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa France visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of France
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodThe Marché Forville, two streets back from the old port, is where the restaurants shop and where lunch is cheapest. The Croisette restaurants charge for the view; the Rue Meynadier and the streets up into Le Suquet feed you better for less. On Saint-Honorat the monks’ restaurant and their wine make a better lunch than anything on the seafront.
Travel tipsNightlife
A smart resort evening: bars in the streets behind the Croisette, beach-club dinners, and clubs that keep festival hours in May and summer hours for the rest of the season.
- Rue du Commandant André — the street of bars and terraces one block behind the Croisette
- Le Suquet — restaurants up the old hill street, for a long dinner
- the Croisette — the hotel bars and the beach clubs
- Port Pierre Canto — the late clubs at the eastern end of the bay
Closing: Bars around 02:00; clubs open late in season and run to about 05:00. Out of season much of it shuts by midnight.
During the Film Festival, the parties worth going to are by invitation, and the beach clubs are booked by companies for the whole fortnight..
Getting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- G7Works here
- FREE NOWWorks here
G7 the taxi fleet, by app
- Against a taxi
- Much the same. The flat airport rate is a taxi rule and the apps price against it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Paris — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for France, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
French
- HelloBonjourbon-ZHOOR
- PleaseS'il vous plaîtseel voo PLEH
- Thank youMercimer-SEE
- Yes / NoOui / Nonwee / non
4 more phrases
- Excuse meExcusez-moiex-koo-zay MWA
- How much is it?C'est combien ?say com-BYEN
- The bill, pleaseL'addition, s'il vous plaîtla-dee-SYON
- Cheers!Santé !son-TAY
Open with bonjour before anything else. Launching straight into a question without it reads as rude, and explains a lot of reputed French coldness.
Travel tipsReligion
Catholic, and strictly secular
Laïcité is a constitutional principle: religion is kept out of public institutions, and conspicuous religious symbols are banned in state schools. Cover shoulders in cathedrals.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Say bonjour before anything else, every single time you enter a shop
- Keep your voice down in restaurants and on public transport
- Keep both hands visible on the table while eating, wrists on the edge
- Dress a notch smarter than you would at home — it changes how you are treated
Don't
- Do not ask for a doggy bag or substitutions; the dish arrives as the kitchen intends
- Do not start with English without at least attempting bonjour, parlez-vous anglais
- Do not tip more than rounding up — service is included by law
- Do not eat while walking; it reads as slightly uncivilised
Where to stay in Cannes
No Holistay rentals in Cannes yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Cannes on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Nice Côte d’Azur NCE
40 minfrom the airport· 20 km as the crow flies
About 40 min by road; the train from Nice Saint-Augustin, next to the airport, takes about half an hour.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
