A few smaller cruise ships can dock but most have to anchor and tender the passengers into a quay which also handles the local ferries. The quay is at the far corner of a busy square with colorful market stalls in front of a line of open air cafés and restaurants.

Map of the port.

Printable map to take along on your cruise.

Cruise calendar for this port.

Check here for festivals and events in Cannes when you are in port.

Watch a destination video.

Located on the world-famous Côte d'Azur, this resort town boasts an impressive collection of museums and art galleries, botanical gardens, Gothic-style churches and a theater district that hosts the renowned international film festival. Those less interested in the arts can check out the casinos, discos and nightclubs that make nightlife in Cannes legendary. Sandy Mediterranean beaches draw sunbathers from all of Europe, and the shimmering blue waters fill with sailboats in the summer. It's no wonder Cannes is known as the "star" of the French Riviera.

Cannes can easily be explored on foot. Just west of the Vieux Port is the oldest part of town, Le Suquet, an area with narrow streets with shops, restaurants, a medieval church and a 12th century castle, which now houses the Musée de la Castre.

The thing where the action is, lies in the opposite direction: the palm tree-lined Boulevard de la Croisette: eastwards from the Palais des Festivals (the Cannes Film Festival in may) with luxury hotels, casinos and marinas full with expensive yachts. Just have a drink at one of the many cafés and restaurants here and watch the beautiful people who as always come to Cannes.

There's also a trolley service, Le Tour de Cannes en Petit Train, that departs regularly from Croisette, across from the Majestic hotel. It offers three tours: La Croisette (30 minutes) and Le Suquet (30 minutes) and a combination hour-long ride.

With bus line 8, bus stop at Quai Laubeuf, you can tour the Boulevards of Cannes and with the little electric bus, Le Fil Bleu (=the blue thread) you can travel along La Croisette and la rue d'Antibes.

Turn left outside the terminal and immediately left again and you are in the market square with the bus station at the far end.

The railway station is a 5 min walk in the other direction (behind the Palais des Festivals and Boulevard de la Croisette).

Map with buses and train station.

Most of the places the organised tours go to, can be done easily by bus and/or train.

It pays to compare your cruise line shore excursions here.

by bus: Nice, Villefranche, Monaco and Grasse.

by train: Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, Nice and Villefranche within 1 hour and Monte Carlo just over one hour. Train Schedules

The shops in Cannes are concentrated between La Croisette and rue d'Antibes.

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Local emergency number:

Police:              17
Fire brigade:      18
Ambulance:       15 

Most shops, businesses, information services, museums and banks in France stay open all day. The exceptions are the smaller shops and enterprises, which may close for lunch sometime between 12.30pm and 2pm. Basic hours of business are from 8 or 9am to 6.30 or 7.30pm Monday to Saturday for the big shops and Tuesday to Saturday for smaller shops (some of the smaller shops may open on Monday afternoon). You can always find boulangeries and food shops that do stay open, however, on days when others close – on Sunday normally until noon.

National holiday dates:

January 1 New Year's Day
Easter Sunday
Easter Monday
Ascension Day (forty days after Easter)
Pentecost or Whitsun (seventh Sunday after Easter, plus the Monday)
May 1 May Day/Labour Day
May 8 Victory in Europe Day
July 14 Bastille Day
August 15 Assumption of the Virgin Mary
November 1 All Saints' Day
November 11 1918 Armistice Day
December 25 Christmas Day

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