Cannes
Croisette – Restaurants – Beach – Casino – Shopping & More
More information about Cannes, the Croisette, the sandy beaches, our favorite restaurants, luxury hotels, shopping in Cannes and boating or sailing. Experience Cannes!
Cannes and the Boulevard de la Croisette
Cannes is about 15 km from our villa in Valbonne. For parking we advise to park in the garage under the Palais des Festivals (the Congress of Cannes where many festivals such as Film Festival takes place each year).
Cannes offers a great boulevard called the Boulevard de la Croisette with its famous blue chairs. The Cannes sandy beaches offer many restaurants and beach clubs. One of our favorite restaurants on the beach for lunch is Restaurant Vegaluna (opposite the Carlton Hotel)
Restaurant Vegaluna
Vegaluna is a restaurant with a private beach in the center of La Croisette and 10 minutes from the Palais des Festivals. The restaurant is across the street from the Intercontinental Carlton Hotel, and offers panoramic views of the Lerins Islands and the Esterel Mountains. The burgers with roquefort cheese are especially delicious!
The cozy and informal atmosphere has made Vegaluna a unique restaurant and an indispensable location on the Côte d’Azur in the last 15 years!
For relaxation, Vegaluna offers: sun loungers, a lounge, a kindergarten, aqua gym and water sports.
Restaurants Cannes
When you walk from La Palais des Festivals and pass the marina (Le Vieux Port) of Cannes (with its mega beautiful and expensive boats) towards La Napoule and you turn the corner at the Radisson Blue Hotel you arrive at Boulevard du Midi Jean Hibert. Many new beach bars and restaurants have been added or renewed here in recent years and it is highly recommended for lunch. Here you sit with your feet in the sand and you have a wonderful view of the sea and the Esterel mountains.
One of the many nice restaurants in this area is Restaurant Maema Plage du Midi. Very welcoming, everything super arranged, sun beds on the beach with super service and delicious lunch or dinner.
Cannes Croisette
The Promenade de la Croisette (Croisette) along the Golfe de la Napoule on the Côte d’Azur gives Cannes an extra cachet due to its many palm trees.
The Croisette is 2 km long and runs from the pointe de la Croisette (where one of the two Casinos is located) in the east to the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on the Esplanade Georges Pompidou in the west.
For children there is the famous merry-go-round and a children’s playground. It is a wonderful boulevard to stroll around, enjoy the artists or to look out over the Mediterranean on one of the famous blue chairs.
The beaches in Cannes are sandy beaches. In addition to the many private beaches, there is also plenty of public beach.
Sandy Beaches
Unlike Nice, Cannes only has a sandy beach. Every year the municipality is busy raising the beach because winter storms regularly erode the sandy beach. Cannes beach is no less than 7 km long and has more than 30 beaches that belong to beach clubs and hotels, but also more than 10 public beaches. Often with public showers so that you can rinse off after swimming.
Most beaches are located directly on the Croisette, but if you head towards the harbor to Boulevard du Midi Jean Hibert (towards Cannes Mandileu) then there are also very nice beaches with many facilities for water sports and beach volleyball.
Luxury hotels on the Croisette
On the Croisette you will find the most beautiful and luxurious hotels of the French Riviera with the top hotel of course the “Grand Old Lady” the Carlton Hotel. A famous hotel from the 1920s. Lovely to have a drink on the terrace and to spot the rich and famous. During the annual Cannes Film Festival in May, many celebrities also sleep at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez. Bruce Willis, Eva Longoria and Sienna Miller all slept once during the film festival in the Martinez Hotel.
The hotel has 409 luxury rooms, including 27 suites and one of the largest Penthouse Suites in Europe. Naturally Martinez also has a large private beach for its guests with more than 400 sun loungers and a large pontoon.
Other top hotels include Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes, Hotel Belles Rives, Le Grand Hotel, Hôtel Barrière Le Gray d’Albion and Hotel Splendid Cannes.
Shopping in Cannes
Especially on Boulevard de la Croisette you will find the most expensive and most famous brands in the field of clothing, shoes and jewelry. On the Croisette are the stores of major exclusive brands such as Cartier, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Salvatore Ferragamo, Georgio Armani, Breguet and Chanel. You will also find exclusive shops and art galleries in the side streets of Croisette.
If you want to go shopping but not that expensive, go to Rue d’Antibes and Rue Meynadier or to the market in the market hall Forville, the Marché Forville where there is a market every morning. The Rue d’Antibes shopping street runs almost parallel to the Boulevard de la Croisette, but more in the center of the city. You will find less expensive clothing stores here.
More Cannes: Casino & Sailing
In Cannes you can also go to the Casino. Including at the Casino Barrière Le Croisette on the Boulevard de la Croisette, near the harbor at Casino Barriere Les Princes and the Palm Beach Casino on the Pointe Croisette.
It is recommended to take a sailing trip or rent a boat and sail to the islands off the coast of Cannes. Called the archipelago Lérins-eilanden consisting of a total of 8 islands.The two largest islands in the group are Île Sainte-Marguerite and Île Saint-Honorat. The smaller Îlot Saint-Ferréol and Îlot de la Tradelière are uninhabited.
The closest island is Île Sainte-Marguerite – about 15 minutes by boat. You can enjoy beautiful walks there (see page about Île Sainte-Marguerite ) or enjoy lunch at La Guerite or L’escale. The sea is very clean on the islands, so wonderful for snorkeling and swimming. Moreover, during a boat trip you will also enjoy all the large yachts and cruise ships that call at Cannes.
If you still want to go to Île Sainte-Marguerite and Île Saint-Honorat but don’t want it to be that expensive, there are daily ferries from Cannes to the islands.
Restaurant Cannes: L’Alba – Boulevard du Midi Jean Hibert
In Cannes, facing the sea on Boulevard du Midi Jean Hibert, Restaurant l’Alba welcomes you from June to September. In summer you can enjoy the terrace and beach and in winter the Alba has a closed and heated room to enjoy the view of the Mediterranean Sea. The kitchen is open non-stop from 1 June from 12 noon to 11 pm to 15 September.
Enjoy a truffle ravioli, salad antipasti, risotto with scallops or tuna tartare. Wonderfully fresh and in a beautiful ambiance. Evening with romantic lighting and a view of Theoule sur Mer.
