Visiting Cannes on foot: the Croisette, the Forville market and Le Suquet

Where to start

The route begins in front of the Palais des Festivals, which the locals call the Bunker: a concrete block delivered in 1983, and the twenty-four steps that thirty thousand people climb each year during the twelve days of the Festival. Outside events, the steps are freely accessible. The Murmure audio tour starts at their foot.

The Chemin des Étoiles, at the foot of the Palais and on the Pompidou esplanade, keeps in its concrete some four hundred and fifty handprints left since 1981, open to all at any hour. Look at the ground before heading east.

What you will see on the way

The Croisette lines up three palaces that the route views from outside: the Carlton, opened in 1913 with its two domes, where Hitchcock shot To Catch a Thief in 1955; the Majestic, from 1926, whose suites host the Film Market; and the Martinez, born in 1929, one of the finest Art Deco façades on the Riviera.

Two streets back, the Forville market has belonged to the locals since the hall opened in 1934: fish from the harbour, herbs, tomatoes, and prices that do not change during the Festival. The climb that follows leads to Le Suquet, the old Cannes, a fishermen’s hill inhabited since the Middle Ages.

At the top, the tower of the Château de la Castre, raised in 1370 by the monks of Lérins abbey, houses the Museum of World Explorations. From up there the Croisette reads like an architect’s plan, and the Lérins islands close the horizon: Sainte-Marguerite with the prison of the Man in the Iron Mask, Saint-Honorat with its abbey.

How much time to allow

The published route is 2.2 km long with eight stops. The Croisette is flat; the climb to Le Suquet is short but steep, by staircases. Allow an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, more if you enter the museum or climb the tower, which has one hundred and nine steps and admits only fifteen people at a time.

The Museum of World Explorations (6.50 € per adult, free under eighteen) is closed on Mondays except in July and August; outside summer it also closes between 1 pm and 2 pm. Note that it is closed for works from 14 September to 30 October 2026.

The Forville market opens from 7 am to 1 pm, Tuesday to Sunday from September to June, and every day in July and August; on Mondays the hall hosts a flea market from 8 am to 4 pm. Leave early if you want to see it in full swing.

Practical tips

Comfortable shoes for the Suquet staircases, water and a hat in summer on the Croisette, which offers little shade. The route is not guaranteed step-free: the hill is climbed on foot, and the town documents no gentle-slope alternative, only a shuttle for people with reduced mobility.

During the Cannes Film Festival, whose next edition runs from 11 to 22 May 2027, the steps and the surroundings of the Palais are closed to the public and the Croisette is very crowded: choose another time for the walk.

To listen on site, bring headphones, battery and an internet connection.

Getting there and parking

Cannes station is five minutes’ walk from the Palais des Festivals, downhill towards the sea. Palm Bus services run along the Croisette and to the harbour; boats for the Lérins islands leave from Quai Laubeuf, west of the Palais.

By car, the Palais des Festivals car park lies beneath the starting point, and the Forville car park next to the market; both are paying.

The eight stops of the route

1. The Palais des Festivals and its twenty-four steps
2. The Chemin des Étoiles
3. The Carlton
4. The Majestic
5. The Martinez
6. The Forville market
7. Le Suquet, the old town
8. The Suquet tower and the Museum of World Explorations

Plan your visit

Information checked in September 2026 on the websites of the town of Cannes and the Festival: Museum of World Explorations · Forville market · Chemin des Étoiles · car parks in Cannes · Cannes Film Festival. Opening hours and prices may change: check them before you leave. The Murmure audio route is an independent offer.

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