DAY TRIPS
A Lérins islands day trip from Cannes
Fifteen minutes by boat from the middle of Cannes, the Lérins islands sit in plain sight of the coast — and most of the people on the Croisette never go. The two islands are car-free, the water around them is the clearest on this stretch of coast, and the crossing itself, out of the old port with the town falling away behind the boat, is half the pleasure.
This is a guide to taking that day from one specific house: a quiet red house with a private pool above the bay of Cannes, at the end of a cul-de-sac in Golfe-Juan. The islands by day, the pool by evening, the whole stay booked exactly the way any Airbnb stay is — there is nothing to arrange on this site.
The crossing
The boats to the islands leave from the old port of Cannes, beside the Palais des Festivals. The ride to Île Sainte-Marguerite takes fifteen to twenty minutes; the services run all year, and in the off season they leave roughly hourly — more often in summer. The coast train stops a short walk from the port, which makes the day simple from the house: a walk down through the pines, a train ride, a boat.
One honest correction to a story guests hear: the small summer shuttle that runs from Golfe-Juan itself does not run in the cooler months. Off season, the islands belong to the Cannes port — and the train to Cannes takes minutes.
Sainte-Marguerite: the forest and the fort
The larger island announces itself before the boat has tied up: a band of pine and eucalyptus the whole length of the shore, with the sea visible in slivers through the trees. There are no motor vehicles on the island, and the walk from the landing goes straight from the jetty into the forest on paths that shade the water.
At the island’s seaward end sits the Fort Royal, whose most famous prisoner was never named — the Man in the Iron Mask spent years in a cell that is now part of a small museum in the fort. The museum keeps limited days in the cooler months, so check before you build the day around it; the ramparts, the forest and the water need no opening hours at all.
Saint-Honorat: the monks’ island
The smaller island is the quieter one, and it is lived on: the Cistercian monks of Lérins have been here, with interruptions, since the fifth century, and the monastery and its vineyards still work the land today. The fort-monastery on the hill is closed to visitors, but the island itself is an unhurried loop of shore and pines.
In the monastery shop, the monks’ own wine and liqueurs are sold — a bottle of Saint-Honorat makes a better souvenir than anything on the Croisette. There is no boat between the two islands, so Saint-Honorat gets its own crossing from Cannes; in the off season, book the return in advance.
Back to the house before the light goes
The last boat back leaves you in Cannes with the afternoon left to spend — the market, the old quarter, or simply the train back along the coast to Golfe-Juan and the path up through the pines. The pool is yours until dark, and dinner happens on the terrace or at the long oak table, depending on the weather and nobody else.
Everything happens on Airbnb: the calendar, the exact price for your dates, the booking and the payment. The house rents for roughly 250 to 400 euros a night depending on season — the number you see on the listing for your dates is the real one. Check-in is from 15:00 to 22:00, check-out before 11:00. The host is a Superhost with a Guest-favourite listing rated 5.0 across 37 reviews.
The islands first, the pool after
Pick your day, see the real price, and book the way you would book any stay. The crossing is short and the house is real — and the site itself, and the business behind it, is run end to end by AI agents on NanoCorp, which is why this guide can stay current.