Cannes

Cannes curves its way around the shoreline of the French Riviera in a medley of dazzling white condominiums, unabashed luxury hotels and palm-dotted promenades; the turquoise waters of the Golfe de la Napoule shimmering and glittering in the Mediterranean sun in the foreground; the rising hills of the Alpes-Maritimes criss-crossed by James Bond roadways in the back.

Every spring this star-studded cityscape of Chanel-clad fashionistas bursts onto the global stage when Hollywood moves in for a week, and its eponymous film festival showcases the cream of the international silver screen. For the rest of the year the celeb-spotters are just a little thinner on the ground but the soft beaches of La Croisette are no less speckled with bronzing bodies, the fine-dining joints no less meticulous in their creation of bouillabaisse, and the the winding helter-skelter of alleyways and squares in the Le Suquet no less juxtaposed with the bobbing outlines of millionaire yachts.

And while the highlife certainly remains Cannes’ biggest draw, with its boulevards forever adorned with Maseratis and haute couture, there’s also a whole load of natural hotspots along the coastline and on the islands of the Med. A host of Cannes tour guides are at hand to reveal these wonders of the Côte d'Azur.