Day Trips from Cannes: the 10 Best Trips by Train, Boat or Guided Tour

The best day trip from Cannes starts at its own old port: ferries reach the Lérins Islands in 15–20 minutes. On land, Antibes is 10–15 minutes away by train, Grasse 20–30 minutes and Nice 30–40 minutes; heading west, the same railway runs along the red cliffs of the Estérel. A guided tour pays off for Monaco and Èze (over an hour each way), Saint-Paul-de-Vence and the Provence vineyards — and in summer you can even reach Saint-Tropez by boat.

Below are ten trips worth a day of your stay, with how to get there, how long to plan and what a tour adds. For bookable options with prices and reviews, see tours in Cannes.

Times are typical TER train journeys from Cannes station and ferry crossings from the old port. Train fares along the coast cost a few euros, and timetables change with the season, so check SNCF Connect and the ferry operators before you go.

Getting there: public ferries leave the old port for Sainte-Marguerite roughly every 30 minutes in season (about 15 minutes’ crossing). Saint-Honorat has its own boat, run by Planaria, roughly every hour (about 20 minutes). The two islands are served by different companies, so check the timetable for the last boat back, and note the lunchtime gap on the Saint-Honorat line.

Sainte-Marguerite, the larger island, is covered in pine and eucalyptus woods with footpaths, small rocky coves and clear water. Its Fort Royal, where the Man in the Iron Mask was imprisoned, now houses a small museum. Saint-Honorat is quieter: a community of Cistercian monks lives there, tends the vineyards and sells its own wine and liqueurs; a walk around the whole island takes just under an hour. There are no bins on either island, so bring your rubbish back, and pack water and lunch — food options are limited.

How long: half a day for one island, a full day for both. You don’t need a tour here; the alternative is a private boat with swimming stops between the islands, from around €290 per boat for 3–4 hours, or boat rental in Cannes.

Getting there: 10–15 minutes by train east of Cannes. Juan-les-Pins has its own station one stop earlier.

Antibes keeps a walled old town by the sea, a Provençal morning market on Cours Masséna and the Picasso Museum in the Château Grimaldi, where the painter worked in 1946. Port Vauban, below the ramparts, is one of the Mediterranean’s biggest yacht harbours. Between Antibes and Juan-les-Pins, Cap d’Antibes is ringed by a rocky coastal path; Juan-les-Pins itself has sandy beaches and hosts the Jazz à Juan festival every July.

How long: half a day for the old town, a full day with the cape and a swim. It is easy on your own; walking, food and boat tours are in tours in Antibes.

Getting there: local TER trains run west along the coast, stopping at Théoule-sur-Mer (about 10 minutes), Le Trayas, Anthéor-Cap-Roux and Agay. By car, the Corniche d’Or road follows the same shoreline.

This is the side of the Riviera most visitors to Cannes miss: red volcanic rock dropping into deep blue water, small coves between the cliffs and marked hiking trails up to viewpoints such as Cap Roux and the Pic de l’Ours. Théoule has easy beaches; from Le Trayas or Anthéor you can walk straight into the massif.

How long: half a day for a beach stop, a full day with a hike. Best in spring and autumn: in summer the massif can be closed to walkers on high fire-risk days, so check the daily access map before setting out. The coast is also beautiful from the sea, on a boat trip west from Cannes.

Getting there: direct TER trains take 20–30 minutes, which makes Grasse much easier from Cannes than from Nice. The station is below the old town, so expect a steep walk or a short bus ride up.

Grasse has supplied the French perfume industry for centuries. Fragonard offers free guided visits of its historic factory, the International Perfume Museum explains the craft, and Molinard, Galimard and Fragonard run workshops where you blend your own fragrance in about an hour and a half. The town celebrates its roses in May and its jasmine in early August.

How long: half a day. Combine it with Mougins (next) by taxi, or with a winery on a countryside tour.

Getting there: about 15 minutes by car or taxi up the hill from Cannes; local buses run, but not often.

Mougins is a small medieval village built in rings around its hilltop, with galleries in the old houses and a long reputation for good restaurants. Picasso spent the last years of his life on its outskirts. It is the easiest escape from the summer crowds on the Croisette: come for a slow lunch and a walk round the lanes.

How long: 2–3 hours, or half a day paired with Grasse, 10 kilometres further up the road.

Getting there: there is no station. Take the train to Cagnes-sur-Mer, then the bus up to the village (line 655 at the time of writing); allow about 1 hour 15 minutes. By car it takes around 40 minutes.

Saint-Paul is a small hilltop village inside 16th-century ramparts, full of galleries. Just outside it, the Fondation Maeght holds one of France’s best modern art collections in a sculpture garden, and nearby Vence has the Chapelle du Rosaire, designed by Matisse.

How long: half a day. With a slow bus connection, this is a good trip to do with a guide: half-day tours from Cannes that combine Antibes and Saint-Paul-de-Vence start at around €155.

Getting there: 30–40 minutes by train to Nice-Ville, about a 15-minute walk from the Old Town.

Nice is a real city rather than a resort: the Old Town’s lanes and the Cours Saleya market, Place Masséna, the seven-kilometre Promenade des Anglais and the view from Castle Hill. Try socca, the local chickpea pancake, at lunch. If you have time left, the Matisse and Chagall museums are in the Cimiez district.

How long: a full day. Nice is easy alone; food tours and Old Town walks are listed under tours in Nice.

Getting there: direct TER trains reach Monaco-Monte-Carlo in about 1 hour 5 minutes, every 30 minutes or so. Èze is harder: the train to Nice, then the Zou! 602 bus up to the village, which continues to Monaco.

In Monaco, start on the Rock with the Prince’s Palace (changing of the guard daily at 11:55), the cathedral and the Oceanographic Museum, then walk down to Port Hercule and up to Casino Square in Monte-Carlo. Èze, perched more than 400 metres above the sea, has car-free medieval lanes and a cliff-top garden with one of the Riviera’s best views.

How long: a full day. Monaco alone works fine by train, but combining it with Èze by public transport takes most of the day in transit, so this is where tours from Cannes earn their price. Most are private: full-day tours covering Antibes, Èze, Monaco and Nice start at around €650 per vehicle. See also tours in Monaco.

Doing it by train and bus from Cannes? Our Monaco and Èze day trip guide has the full loop, step by step.

Getting there: Saint-Tropez has no station, but from spring to autumn a passenger ferry runs from Cannes’ old port in about 1 hour 15 minutes each way. By road it is 1.5–2 hours, much longer in summer traffic.

Unlike from Nice, Saint-Tropez makes a real day trip from Cannes: a morning ferry out and an afternoon one back leave around five hours in town. Walk the old port and its yachts, the lanes of La Ponche, the Citadel above the town and the Annonciade museum of early modern painting. The famous beaches of Pampelonne are in neighbouring Ramatuelle, a taxi ride away.

How long: a full day. Book the ferry ahead in July and August. Walks and boat trips on the spot are in tours in Saint-Tropez.

The Côtes de Provence rosé estates lie an hour or more inland from Cannes and are spread far apart, so this is the trip to leave to a driver. Full-day small-group tours visit two or three estates, often with a village or a market on the way, and start at around €130–180 per person; private days start at around €450 per group. Closer to home, the monks of Saint-Honorat make wine on the island itself, and some tours from Cannes include a tasting there.

Compare the options on the wine tours from Cannes page, and read wine tours from Cannes vs Nice for how the two departure points differ.

Cannes has the widest choice of boats of any town on the coast. Beyond the Lérins Islands, private trips head west under the Estérel cliffs or east to Cap d’Antibes, and sailing yachts and catamarans run half-day and sunset cruises. Browse boat rental in Cannes, and read yacht or catamaran: which to choose and our guide to a sunset yacht cruise.

The Verdon Gorge and the lavender of the Valensole plateau are about two hours’ drive from Cannes, with no useful public transport. Most organised day trips there leave from Nice — see our day trips from Nice guide — so from Cannes it is best done by car, starting early.

As a rough guide: small-group wine days cost €130–180 per person, private boat trips to the islands from about €290 per boat, and private full-day Riviera tours from about €650 per vehicle. Prices are set by the operators and change with the season; the tour pages show the current price.

The Lérins Islands: 15–20 minutes by ferry, with woods, coves and a monastery. On land, Antibes is the easiest, and Grasse the most distinctive.

Yes. Direct trains take about 1 hour 5 minutes. Adding Èze on the same day is much easier on a tour.

Yes, in season: the ferry takes about 1 hour 15 minutes each way and leaves around five hours in town. Out of season you need a car, and the drive is 1.5–2 hours each way.

Antibes, Nice, Monaco, Grasse and Mougins are good all year, and the Estérel trails are at their best outside summer. Ferries to the Lérins Islands keep running in winter, less often; the Saint-Tropez ferry is seasonal.

Ready to book? Compare tours in Cannes, or browse all French Riviera tours.