Cruise Port Overview
Cannes, France
For cruise ships, Cannes, France is a tender port. The port serves as a gateway to Cannes, Nice, and Monaco on the French Riviera.
The classic expression for the bright blue water of the French Riviera is Côte d’Azur, which translates directly to the “Azure Coast”. It is beautiful to see!
For our day in the port of Cannes, France we chose the NCL excursion “Nice and Little Train”. After our tinder boat ride into the port, we boarded a bus and toured through the city of Cannes to the nearby city of Nice which is about a 30–45-minute ride depending on traffic. Once the bus dropped us off in Nice, we had a short walking tour of the harbor front area, a war memorial area, and then a little free time shopping in an open-air flower market area. We then boarded a little electric train and toured around the town of Nice starting from the Promenade des Anglais — also known as the Avenue of Angels and stopped at a lookout on top of Colline du Château — also known as Castle Hill. Tour narration was provided through ear buds in several languages. Excellent tour!
My wife and I only speak English or Spanish, so French is not in our repertoire so to speak, pun intended. Most of the vendors in the open-air markets spoke enough English or some Spanish words were close enough to French words that we could communicate effectively. Cannes and Nice were neat ports for a visit, but it did not end up being one of our favorite ports of the trip compared to other ports in Italy or Spain. Just our personal preferences I guess.
Cannes, France is mainly known for the International Cannes Film Festival held every year in May. It should be more well known as a beautiful sparkling gem in the French Riviera.
1. The scenic views of surrounding Nice and the Mediterranean Sea from the top of Colline du Château — also known as Castle Hill are just spectacular.
Living the French Riviera dream for a day and the vibrant blue waters are worth the visit.
2. The Promenade des Anglais — also known as the Avenue of Angels, walking along the Nice, France harbor area.
