The South of France has been calling my name since I studied abroad in 2011, and after 10ish years I FINALLY answered.
From Lake Como, we jumped on a train and headed straight for Cannes for a few days. At first, it was really difficult to land on a destination in the South of France. We’re living the Airbnb life, and we have pretty specific parameters when it comes to needs — WiFi to work from home, a washer so we can re-up our basic necessities, as close to the train station as possible for easy transit options, AC if we’re super lucky…and from there everything else is a plus.
Originally we weren’t even going to rush to the South of France from Italy because our schedule was so flexible, but when we learned our friend would be in Monaco for the F1 race we quickly came up with a game plan.
The nice thing about the South of France, and anywhere in Europe basically, is that it’s very accessible via train.
I’m very picky when it comes to Airbnb aesthetics, so once I finally landed on one I liked that was in our budget (we figured roughly $120/night would equate to our rent in LA, so we’re doing our best to stick to that average), I acted quickly. And thus, that leads us to our…
CANNES TRAVEL GUIDE
WHERE TO STAY
If you’ve been a long-time follower then you know by now we try to stay in areas that are as “local” as possible. We don’t gravitate to the touristy areas/hotels if we can help it, so I recommend just browsing Airbnb and seeing what you can find in your budget.
If you do prefer hotels, here are 3 I’d recommend in different price ranges:
Hotel Le Suquet Cannes | Hotel Barriere Le Majestic Cannes | Hotel Le Cavendish
We loved the area we were in; it was quiet at night and super walkable to everything in town we wanted to do.
The Cannes film festival was ending the day after we arrived, so we got a slight discount on the Airbnb — it was right in town, super spacious and bright. The only downsides were that we were missing a washer and an AC, which I didn’t realize until we arrived, but we made it work.
Check out our Cannes Airbnb tour on Tiktok.
WHAT WE DID
For our first evening in Cannes we walked to Le Cirque for dinner — highly recommend this spot & general neighborhood for shopping, eating, and wandering around.
We were able to walk in without a reservation, but we did have to eat inside. It was still a lovely experience, even better since there was no wait time, but the action definitely was happening on the outside patio. Either way, 10/10.
The Saturday we were in town we took a train down to Monaco for the F1 qualifying rounds. It was such an experience to see Monaco during this exciting time. It’s such a tiny town, and has some really beautiful aspects — I wouldn’t recommend going at this time if you want a more relaxed experience obviously, but it was cool to see.
In Monaco went to an Italian restaurant called Polpetta and it was amazing — get the Truffle Ravioli and thank me later.
On Sunday we headed to the beach to lounge at a beach club. These are definitely more expensive than your average beach day, but the experience was amazing. We went to the Carlton Beach Club and paid for 2 loungers on the pier (60 euro a piece) — and got lucky because we walked in with no reservation. It ended up being perfect — they only had pier loungers left, and after surveying the beach crowd, we felt being on the pier was actually better. It was more spacious, and people walking the beaches trying to sell their products couldn’t easily approach us. It was peaceful.
Disclaimer: if you decide to visit during the Film Festival — there are advertisements and installations all over. Watch my Tiktok here to see what we stared at most of the day lol.
GETTING AROUND
Getting around in Cannes and the South of France beach towns in general is really easy by train, but if you want to go into the outskirts you’re going to need to rent a car or a scooter. In each place we’ve rented a scooter so far, we’ve just asked our Airbnb host or hotel for a recommendation of where to rent from. You’ll often find they have partnered with a local shop for a lower rate and you can rent them for a few days at a time.
Taking taxis is slightly convenient on the way to your destination, and they do typically take credit cards, however it’s the getting back home that can be challenging. You can always ask a restaurant or hotel to call them for you, but if you prefer to be more independent, I highly recommend a scooter!
10 RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OUR AIRBNB HOST
- Go to Marché Forville (provencal market with fresh products). Everyday during morning hours (except on Monday’s as it will be the day of book sellers and antique collectibles). It’s really a must if you want to have a glimpse of how the locals really live. Some nice cafés and bistrots around. But only in the morning. After 1pm it’s totally empty. If you like oysters, have them for breakfast with a glass of white wine opposite Marché Forville and you will be a real Cannoise 🙂
- Rye Meynadier: traditional shopping street with local products. Cute and you will find some specialized shops like Ceneri (a typical French formagerie with a selection fo the best cheeses from France). Rue Meynadier will be on your way to Marché Forville.
- Le Suquet: the cutest part of Cannes. It’s the old town. Go til the top and you will have an amazing view all over Cannes. Visit the old church and the museum. On your way up you will see a street full of restaurants (quiet during the day but super busy in the evening). If you want traditional French food, I would recommend Chez Vincent et Nicolas (at the beginning of the old town). For traditional Italian food (we are super close to Italy after all…) I would recommend Tredici: nice food, great friendly service on a quiet street. If you want a fine dining experience, then go for Da Bouttau: the same family runs the place since 1860. Last thing to see in Le Suquet: one of the most impressive bougainvillea you will ever see. Finally, try to find the Iron Mask jail.
- Rue d’Antibes: the main shopping street
- La Croisette and Le Palais de Festivals: a glamorous street throughout the year. Beach clubs are all overpriced but could be a fun experience.
- Rue Hoche: nice street with many restaurants and cafés
- Les Iles de Léreins: take a boat (cheap and fast) and go visit these two islands (1o min away from the coast). One of them has a monastery where (Le Monastere Fortifie) monks produce honey and other products. Take your swimsuit, it’s gorgeous. One of the islands is home to the jail where the man with the Iron Mask was detained (two jails: one in the old town and one on the island).
- If you have a bit of time and you are close to the train station, you should definitely go to Antibes. 15min by train. There you should visit the old town, the old provencal market (maybe the cutest of all France) and the Picasso museum.
- With the sam train you can keep on and go to Nice and then Monaco
- If you want to experience what we call l’arrière pays (the inland part of the French Riviera) try to go to Grasse, the world capital of fragrances and visit the Fragonard factory.
I would also suggest a fun Provence wine tour, a day trip to Monaco and Eze, a private tour of the French Riviera coast, or a yacht sailing day in the bay.
The best part about staying in an Airbnb is that you have direct access to a local! I highly recommend striking up a conversation with your host to find out what the locals do. Our Airbnb host was from Cannes, so he had the best insight on what we should do, which made planning our days that much easier!
If you enjoyed this Cannes Travel Guide, be sure to pin it for later, share it with your friends, and as always, feel free to leave your own experience & recs below 🙂
