Resort Guides › France › French Riviera
A glamorous film-festival town with sandy beaches and a genuinely smart harbour.
Overview
Cannes is best known for its film festival, but for most of the year it’s a relaxed, upmarket resort town, built around a genuine sandy beach (unusual for this stretch of coast), a yacht-filled harbour, and the famous Boulevard de la Croisette.
Families & toddlers
The main beach is sandy and gently shelving, several stretches have free public access alongside the paid beach clubs, and the harbour itself is an easy, enjoyable place for children to watch the boats.
Couples, teens & nightlife
A polished, restaurant-led evening scene along the Croisette and in the old Le Suquet quarter, with beach clubs by day, a smart, romantic base for couples rather than a nightlife destination.
Seniors & accessibility
The seafront boulevard is flat and pleasant; Le Suquet’s old town has a hill and some steps, so the seafront is the easier base for less mobile visitors.
Best time to visit
May to September for the beach; late spring is a good quieter alternative given how busy the town gets during the festival in May.