© Laikingland
Brewing up a storm in Cannes
Well...a storm in a teacup, or maybe a wine glass
Cannes in the wintertime is a delight, with lots of crisp blue-sky days, warm winter sunshine, and the snow piling up on the distant Alps. Of course, there’s the odd gloomy day too, where the palm trees wave under a steel grey sky and kitesurfers fly across the choppy bay of Cannes.
No matter what the weather’s getting up to outside on your Cannes holiday, the cafes and cocktail lounges of Cannes provide the perfect spot to enjoy a drink - whether it’s a coffee on a sunny terrace to start the day, a decadent hot chocolate to warm up after a late afternoon walk on the Croisette, or a memorable apéro experience to ease into the wintry evening.
Here is our selection of the best cafes, apéro bars, and cocktail lounges in Cannes to quench your thirst during a winter break.
Best Cafes
For coffee connoisseurs, France can be a little (or a lot) disappointing, particularly if you’re used to drinking fresh milk in your coffee, or think that the drink of the gods should be served at less than molten lava temperature. To help you navigate the Cannes café scene, we’ve put together a list of Cannes’ best cafes by speciality—whether they use good beans, bake their own croissants, make a delicious chocolat chaud, or have a particularly good heated terrace. However, we can’t find a single place that offers fresh milk, so if you’re a coffee-lover, perhaps avoid the UHT fest that is the café crème and opt for an espresso instead.
Best for coffee beans
Head to Caffe Lalu for an espresso if you know a thing or two about coffee beans. They use the Italian Filicori beans rather than the standard Abaro most cafes use, which can be quite bitter. This place also serves a mean Italian hot chocolate—gooey and delicious, with a strong cocoa hit.
If you’re a fan of the familiar beans you know from home, keep your eye out for the occasional Illy sign. Palacio is one café which serves Illy coffee, and it’s a fair cut above the local brand.
Best for baked good
Lux Café. This café on Rue d’Antibes is a great place to stop and enjoy a fairly decent coffee and a downright heavenly pain au chocolat straight out of the oven. A warm, bustling atmosphere and friendly staff makes this a tempting place to kick off the day.
Coffee and Cookies. It’s hard to resist the delicious smell of baking cookies, donuts, and cupcakes as you walk into this notoriously welcoming café. With a central location, friendly staff, and quick service, this is another excellent choice for a coffee and snack break.
Best for Hot Chocolate
Jean Luc Pele Patisserie. If it’s hot chocolate you’re after, then hurry along to this exceptional patisserie for a thick, gooey, sensational hot chocolate that you’ll remember for a long time to come. And if you can manage to resist the heavenly cornucopia of chocolates, pastries and cakes all around….well, you’re made of tougher stuff than us. This is definitely a place where you should leave your willpower at the door.
Best for Riviera atmosphere
Armani Café. Sit and sip coffee at this super-stylish café on the Croisette, and watch the well-heeled emerge from the Giorgio Armani flagship store just behind the café.
Mocca restaurant. Opposite Palais des Festivals, this rather swish café and restaurant has a heated terrace and is a great place to sit back with a newspaper or watch the world go by.
La Californie. This chic café and restaurant on the Croisette is not cheap, but it is the perfect pavement café to sit on a sunny winter’s day and people-watch while enjoying a leisurely coffee and croissant.
Top apéro bars
An apéro or aperitif in France is traditionally taken with tapas-style snacks, and even in mid-winter you’ll find life and fun in these bars as the locals head there after work. Cannes excels at the bar scene, so you’ve plenty to choose from.
13.31. Sink into the Chesterfields in the bar area in this cool little bar restaurant. The décor is funky, with light fittings made of LP records, and there’s a buzzy vibe and great music. Tuck into the bar snacks with cocktails, and you’ll find it’s rather hard to leave!
L’Enoteca. This small wine bar and restaurant in Le Suquet is a much-loved Cannes institution. With rustic French décor, live music, and plenty of wine and snacks, your apéro can easily extend into a memorable dinner experience.
Brown Sugar. A trendy bar with lots of atmosphere, even in the depths of winter—particularly on live music nights. With books and bikes hanging from the ceiling, leather booths and retro signage, and tapas theme nights with everything from Indonesian to American platters, it’s hard not to have fun here with friends.
La Salsamentaria di Parma. Enjoy a heavenly slice of Italy at this apéro bar and restaurant, where the walls hang with cured meats, exposed brick walls are lined with wine bottles, and platters of cheese and charcuterie accompany wine served in short glasses, Italian-style. Tuck into fried polenta with melted gorgonzola, order off brown paper menus, and just soak up the authentic Italian atmosphere.
Zoa. This classy sushi restaurant is also a hugely popular bar for after work drinks, serving plates of cheese and cured meats along with cocktails. This is a stylish place to hang out, with a great vibe.
YoMO Lounge. Settle back in one of the designer armchairs in the awesome cocktail lounge, enjoying the uber-funky décor of this upmarket bar-restaurant.
Check out more of our favourite Cannes cafes, bars and restaurants and enjoy a warming drink and a cosy atmosphere this winter.
