Getting there

Planes

EasyJet flies to Nice (half an hour to Cannes by taxi | about €80) from Gatwick | Stansted | Luton | Bristol | Liverpool | Newcastle and Belfast. British Airways also serves Nice | and British Midlands flies there from Nottingham. Nice Helicoptères (+33 (0)4 93 21 34 32) charges about €135 plus tax per person for a return trip from Nice to Cannes.

Trains

The TGV from Paris to Cannes takes five and a half hours; you must reserve seats. Useful railway websites: www.sncf.com; www.tgv.com; www.eurostar.com. Train services along the coast are good.

Automobiles

Spinning along by the sea between Antibes and Juan-les-Pins may be an essential element of the Riviera fantasy but | in reality | the coastal road can get a bit congested around the summer bank holidays | and driving within Cannes itself is a no-no | with fiendish one-ways | and bans during the film festival and big conferences.