Cannes

Set right on the famed Boulevard de la Croisette, the Palais des Festivals is modern Cannes in concentrated form: glamorous, slightly theatrical, and always in motion. Originally built for the Cannes Film Festival in the late 1940s, the current glass-and-concrete structure—erected in the 1980s—hosts the red-carpet premieres and deal-making that define each May’s cinematic circus, but its calendar is packed year-round with conferences, concerts, and TV festivals that keep the Riviera in perpetual motion. Approach it along the palm-lined Croisette and you’re flanked by yachts, designer storefronts, and graceful Belle Époque facades; stand on the broad terrace and the Bay of Cannes arcs out in a shimmering semicircle, while the Esterel hills haze into the distance. At the base of the Palais you’ll find the Allée des Étoiles, Cannes’s own Walk of Fame, with palm prints and signatures from a revolving cast of international stars; hunt out favorites or leave your own handprint in commemorative cards from the tourist office. Even outside festival time, it’s a magnificent spot to perch on a bench, watch windsurfers dodge between yachts, and soak in the spirit of a town built on spectacle and self-invention.