Cannes

Look south from the Croisette and the horizon is interrupted. Two wooded islands lie across the mouth of the bay, a short crossing out from the old port, and between them they are the part of Cannes that nobody sleeps on. The town's reputation rests entirely on the land side — the promenade, the carpet, the hotels facing the water — and that reputation is accurate as far as it goes. It is also about half of the place.

A seafront, a hill and a market

The Croisette runs the length of the bay with grand hotels along one side and sand and beach concessions along the other. At its western end stands the congress hall that keeps the town working outside the summer, which is why Cannes has a business season as well as a holiday one and why a given week in November can be harder to book than a week in July. Behind the promenade the streets turn ordinary and commercial, a surprise to anyone who has only seen the photographs.

Walk west and the register changes completely. Le Suquet, the old quarter, climbs the hill above the old port to a stone tower, and its lanes are steep, narrow and properly lived in. The covered market sits at the foot of them. An afternoon spent between the market stalls, the lanes and the terrace at the top is the closest this town comes to reading as a Provençal one rather than a seafront.

The islands are the answer to the crowds

Sainte-Marguerite is forested, walkable end to end, and carries a fort that once held state prisoners; you swim off rocks and eat what you carried over. Saint-Honorat belongs to a monastic community that works vineyards on it, keeps it free of cars and closes it early in the evening. Neither island has a resort, a road or a nightclub, and the crossing from the old port is short enough to do on a whim. Travellers who find the seafront airless should treat a day out there as the correction.

When to come

June and September are the months that reward a visit, and May needs a caveat. For a fortnight in May the film festival takes the town entirely — rooms are gone, the seafront is fenced into sections, and unless you are working it there is no version of Cannes worth having that week. Either side of it May is lovely.

June brings warm water without August's density. September suits couples: the sea is still holding its summer heat, the beaches have emptied and the light goes long and gold. Note that the month carries a large event of its own early on, which fills the hotels much as the film festival does, so the later weeks are the quiet ones. Midweek in late September is the sweet spot.

Is it expensive

It can be, and almost all of that is decided by two choices. The first is how close to the Croisette you sleep — the front row is priced as the front row, and the streets a few minutes behind it are a different market for the same beach. The second is whether you take your days on a beach concession or on the public stretches, which cost nothing and sit between the concessions the whole way along.

Eating follows the same pattern. The seafront charges seafront prices; the lanes of the old quarter and the streets around the market do not. Rates here swing hard with the congress calendar rather than only with the season, so comparing current stay and experience options across your exact dates is worth doing before anything is booked.

What is worth paying for

A room facing the water, if the budget reaches it, because the bay and the islands are the view and they change through the day. A boat out to the islands, which costs very little and buys a different holiday for the afternoon. And one dinner up in the old quarter, where you are paying for a table rather than for a window.

Where to stay

The Aspirational Luxury Pick

A grand house on the Croisette itself, facing the bay, with its own stretch of beach across the road. This is the version of Cannes the town is famous for, priced for the address and the frontage rather than for the floor space, and it suits travellers who intend to use the seafront rather than escape it.

The Mid-Tier Value Premium Selection

A well-run hotel in the streets a short walk behind the promenade, or west toward the old port. You give up the sea from the window and keep the beach, the market and the lanes within minutes, usually with a quieter night than the front manages.

The Smart Entry-Level Option

An apartment or small hotel up behind Le Suquet, or along the coast in one of the neighbouring bays with the train doing the commuting. Rates ease considerably, the walk in becomes part of the day, and you sleep among people who live here.

Cannes at a glance