Cannes

Cannes was a fishing village until Lord Brougham was stopped here by a cholera quarantine in 1834, liked it and built a villa; the British followed and the resort grew. La Croisette runs about two kilometres along the bay with palms, hotels and private beach concessions. The film festival, first held in 1946, takes over the town for eleven days each May, and its Palais des Festivals stands at the west end with handprints set in the pavement. Above, Le Suquet is the old quarter with a watchtower.

History

By the 2nd century BC the Ligurian Oxybii had a settlement here called Aegitna, a fishing village and port of call for the Lérins Islands; in the 10th century it was known as Canua, perhaps from "canna", a reed, and Roman tombs suggest an outpost on the hill of Le Suquet, where an 11th-century tower overlooked the marshes. After a Saracen raid in 891 the monks of Lérins settled on the mainland at Le Suquet, a castle fortified the town in 1035, and around 1530 Cannes broke free of the monks who had ruled it for centuries. Lord Brougham bought land at the Croix des Gardes around 1838, when it was little more than a fishing village, and built the Villa Eléonore-Louise; the English aristocracy followed, and in the late 1860s casinos, villas, hotels, roads and a railway arrived, bringing Paris within 23 hours, with the Hôtel de Ville completed in 1876 (Wikipedia, Cannes).

The main sights

• La Croisette - a two-kilometre palm promenade along the bay.
• The Palais des Festivals - the festival building with its red steps and handprints.
• Le Suquet - the old hill quarter with a medieval tower and museum.
• The Forville market - a covered produce market behind the port.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the festival in May fills every room at high prices and is not open to the public. Beaches are mostly private concessions with charges.

Good to know

Festival week is closed to the public and makes the town impossible for ordinary visitors. Most of the beach is paid concession rather than free sand. Prices are high year-round.

Nearby

The Iles de Lerins lie offshore; Antibes is east.

Key facts