Cannes

The city of Cannes is centered around the old port, with the central part quite compact. The famous “Croisette” is the boulevard and the beach that extends around the bay to the east of the port, in the protected “Rade de Cannes”. Out around the point at the west side of the port, the Boulevard Jean Hibert runs along the coast to the west, with even more fine sandy beaches. The Rue d’Antibes is the main street running east-west through the center of the city, becoming the Rue Félix Faure at the bottom end, past the Allée de la Liberté and the port. The Boulevard Carnot runs north out of the city, through residential-shopping areas, to the A8 autoroute, and inland towards Grasse. The closest thing to an “old town” is “Le Suquet” overlooking the west end of the port. The 12th-century Tour de Mt. Chevalier, ramparts and 12th-16th-century church Notre-Dame-de-l’Espérence give a touch of medieval flavor to the city. The Le Suquet area has narrow streets climbing up and around the hill, with a fine view from the top. Standing on the ancient rampart wall in front of the church, you can see east across the city, the port and the bay to the Cap de la Croisette, and to the west across the Gulf of La Napoule to the Massif de l’Esterel mountains.