Private Sidecar City Tour of Cannes

La Croisette by Sidecar

Your ride begins on La Croisette, the elegant promenade that curves for about two kilometres around the Bay of Cannes, from the Festival Palace to the pine-shaded tip of Pointe Croisette. On one side stretch sandy beaches with their striped parasols; on the other, the grand white façades of the Belle Époque seafront hotels, luxury boutiques and gardens of palm trees and flowers.

Seen from a sidecar, at an easy pace and with the sea breeze in your face, La Croisette feels very different from the pavement. Your driver-guide points out the landmarks and tells you how a small fishing village became, from the mid-19th century, a fashionable winter resort for European aristocracy. Expect plenty of smiles and waves from passers-by: a sidecar never goes unnoticed in Cannes.

The Festival Palace and the Old Port

The tour pauses at the Festival Palace, opened in 1982 at the western end of La Croisette, where the world-famous international film festival is held every May. You can climb beside the steps where the red carpet is laid for the festival and take photos, although the building itself is closed to the public outside events. Along the walkway nearby, the pavement is set with handprints left by film personalities over the years.

Just beside it lies the Old Port, where traditional wooden fishing boats moor alongside luxury yachts and the ferries leave for the Lérins Islands. Your driver-guide can stop for a few minutes so you can take in the view of the harbour framed by the hill of Le Suquet. A private Cannes tour like this is an easy way to see the highlights without long walks in the heat.

Le Suquet, the Old Town of Cannes

Above the Old Port rises Le Suquet, the original heart of Cannes, where fishermen lived long before the city became a resort. Its narrow streets climb between pastel houses to a medieval watchtower and castle built by the monks of the Lérins Islands, which today house a museum of world cultures, and a hilltop church whose terrace looks over the whole bay.

The sidecar takes you through the lower lanes and up towards the top where traffic allows, saving you the steep climb on foot. From the viewpoint you see La Croisette, the yachts of the Old Port, the Lérins Islands offshore and the red cliffs of the Esterel to the west. Nearby, the covered Forville market and the lively shopping lanes below the hill are good places to return to later on foot.

Hidden Corners and the Hills of Cannes

What makes this tour special is the part most visitors never see. Depending on traffic and your interests, your driver-guide can take you into the quiet residential streets of the hills above the bay, lined with Belle Époque villas, exotic gardens and Russian, English and Italian-style mansions built when Cannes was a winter retreat for wealthy travellers. From these heights the views over the city and the sea are superb.

The route is flexible, as this is a private tour: tell your driver what you enjoy, whether architecture, photography or simply the sea views, and the hour is shaped around you. Is Cannes worth visiting beyond La Croisette? This ride shows that it is. Departures run from morning to evening, and the late-afternoon slots offer the softest light for photos.