Vintage Bus City Tour of Cannes

La Croisette, the seafront of Cannes

La Croisette is the elegant boulevard that follows the Bay of Cannes for about 2 km, lined with palm trees, flower beds, sandy beaches and grand hotels from the Belle Époque and Art Deco eras. Driving along it in a vintage bus is one of the most enjoyable ways to discover Cannes, and your guide explains how a small fishing village became one of the most famous resorts in the world in the 19th century.

The tour continues to the Pointe Croisette at the eastern end, near the marina of Port Canto, where the views open up toward the Lérins Islands and the Esterel hills. If you are wondering what to see in Cannes in one morning or afternoon, La Croisette is the essential first step, and the bus lets you see it all without walking its full length.

The Festival Palace and the Old Port

The Festival Palace, opened in the early 1980s, hosts the international film festival every May along with many congresses and events through the year. Its wide red-carpet steps are one of the most photographed places on the Riviera, and nearby the Walk of Stars displays handprints set in the pavement. Your guide shares stories of the festival and of the city's long love affair with cinema.

Right next door lies the Old Port, where fishing boats, tour boats and large yachts share the quays, and the ferries leave for the Lérins Islands. Behind it, the covered Forville market sells fruit, vegetables, flowers and local produce every morning except Monday. The contrast between glamour and everyday Provençal life is one of the charms of Cannes.

Le Suquet, the old town of Cannes

Rising above the Old Port, Le Suquet is the historic heart of Cannes, a hill of narrow lanes, stairways and colourful houses where the first fishing village stood. At the top, the medieval castle and its square watchtower now house a museum of world cultures, and a stone church completed in the 17th century overlooks a terrace with one of the best views of the city.

The vintage bus climbs as high as the lanes allow, and your guide points out the details of this quieter, older Cannes, far from the luxury of La Croisette. Is Le Suquet worth visiting? Absolutely: it gives you the best panorama over the bay, the port and the islands, and many visitors come back later on foot to enjoy its small restaurants in the evening.

La Californie and the hills of Super-Cannes

East of the centre, the residential hill of La Californie is lined with Belle Époque villas, palm gardens and winding roads built when wealthy travellers made Cannes their winter home. Here you also see the onion domes of the Russian Orthodox church, a reminder of the many Russian families who settled on the Riviera in the 19th century.

Higher up, the roads of Super-Cannes offer sweeping views over the whole Bay of Cannes, from the Lérins Islands to the red Esterel cliffs and, on clear days, the Alps behind the coast. The guide stops for photos at the best viewpoint before the bus winds back down to the Old Port. This hillside loop is the part most visitors never see on their own, and the highlight of a Cannes city tour.