La Croisette, Cannes

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At the end of La Croisette one finds nice gardens with palm trees. One is called "Jardin d'Arménie" (photo 1) the other the "Roseraie" of the Square de Verdun. There is a beach called "Bijou Plage" (photo 2). The views are nice on the Bay of Cannes with the Esterel hills on the other side.
Spectacular are the enormous cruise ships on anchor in the bay.

Walking towards the centre there are two yacht harbours "Port Canto" (photo 3)and "Second Port" (photo 4). All this eastern part of the Croisette is less crowded than the central part closer to the Palais des Festivals with a garden at Square Hahn.

This eastern part of La Croisette is the one we prefer for a "promenade". It’s a rather quiet part and you can find some shadow under the trees while on the Croisette itself in the afternoon there is no shadow from the trees on the pedestrian walk fully exposed to the sun. You will see some persons taking a seat (they are free and you can move them) to sit at the border of the road where they find some shadow.

One of the most well-known promenade in the world is Cannes La Croisette, stretched from the Palace of Festivals up to the Palm Beach casino. From port Kanto with numerous yachts through the bridge and parkway of a name of Alexander III you can get in Russian quarter, where Russian aristocracy lived in exile.

The Palace of Festivals - the most known place in Cannes. Everyone visited Cannes is obliged to be noted on avenue of Stars where the set of celebrities was left with prints of the hands.

You can watch my 2 min 13 sec Video Cannes out of my Youtube channel.

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More and more cruise ships have Cannes as a port of call.
They are large ones with about 2000 passengers. They can not enter the harbour and stay at anchor at a short distance from the Croisette.
The passengers are brought on land by shuttle boats at the longest pier called Quai Croisière of the Vieux Port - Old Harbour.
Sometimes there are two at the same day (photo 1) so that the surroundings of the Croisette and the Palais des Festivals are crowded with these one day tourists.
The ships leave in the evening (photo 3) and things get quiet again (photo 4).

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At the eastern end of the bay of Cannes and also the end of the Boulevard de la Croisette one will find the Casino Palm Beach and behind bordering the sea a cape called Pointe de la Croisette.
I recommend visiting this place because it is rather quiet, fine views on the Iles des Lérins at less than 1 km. If you came by car there is a large parking and the tourist bus line 8 stops at the Casino.
In 2010 a small chapel was build here to remember the cross called "Crouseto" in Provencal which according to tradition was standing at this cape where pilgrims would assemble for the crossing by boat to the St-Honorat Island. This small cross would be the origin of the name Boulevard de la Croisette.

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Most buildings on la Croisette are modern ones as you can see from my photo taken from the east part of the boulevard de la Croisette. The hotel Martinez, the Palais Miramar and the Hotel Carlton (with its two towers) distinguish themselves by an architectural style of the begin of the 20th c.
As what concerns the architecture of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès it is for me difficult to feel enthusiast when I look at it from the Suquet.

It would be difficult to say that you had been to Cannes if you did not visit La Croisette. It is a little boulevard which runs through Cannes, along the shore with the Mediterranean on one side and "The Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous" on the other. It is lined with flowers and palm trees year round. (Of course, the palm trees would be there perennially but the city fathers and merchants assure that fresh flowers are always there as well. The "Lifestyles" side is home to Dior and Cartier shops, grand hotels, the Palais de Festival, etc. The Palais is the official site of the Cannes International Film Festival but I was told the nearby Hotel Carlton is the actual epicenter of the festival excitement.

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I was on a cruise and only had a day in Cannes but what a day it was!!

We went to La Croissette and dandered around there for a couple of hours. It is basically this huge long street lined with palm trees and on one side you have the sea and all the private beaches with lovely yachts and cruiseliners in the distance and on the other, unbelievably beautiful fancy hotels and expensive shops like Chanel and Dolce and Gabbana. The atmosphere is great and it is really picturesque. If you cross over and go down any of the streets of La Croissette you will find more affordable shops like Zara and Mango and shoe shops and cafes. The shops are great, loads of variety and affordable.

At the beginning of La Croissette is the public beach which is free unlike the privately owned hotel beach. The sand is golden and the sea is crystal clear. Right beside it is the Palais for the film festival. You can also get a little road train tour right beside the public beach. This Petit Train takes you two different ways - €7 up Le Suqet which is the old town and stops at the bell tower for you to take photos - good if its roasting hot and you dont fancy a very steep walk, the other way is also €7 and takes you round La Croissette or do what we did and pay €10 which takes you on both on one continuous journey. The train has a roof so its nice and cool and there are headphones if you want a guide.

The promenade in Cannes is pretty similar to the one in Nice, a little bit smaller but still very long and enjoyable to walk on. No trees on the sea side so attention in summer days you need absolutely to wear sun shades and a hat to avoid the heat directly in the head.

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La Croisette is the street that runs from the Palais des Festivals down past all the luxury hotels. Along the way, you can find shops from all of the top designers and luxury good providers.

No outlet stores to be found here.

I enjoyed walking along the promenade and looking at all the glitz and splendour of the hotels on one side, and the beautiful beach and sea on the other. Cannes is an affluent city and you may well see celebrities and film stars if you linger near the expensive hotels.