The Man in the Iron Mask
His cell in the Fort Royal on Sainte-Marguerite.
Olivier Cleynen — CC BY 4.0 · MOSSOT — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Florian Pépellin — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Florian Pépellin — CC BY-SA 3.0
Pick **one island** for the day: doing both means coming back to Cannes in between, since no direct ferry links them, and you lose half your time on boats. Take the first boat of the morning (quieter and cooler), bring water, food, walking shoes and swimwear, and check **the last return sailing as soon as you arrive** — facilities are few and nothing runs after dusk. Sainte-Marguerite for families and swimming, Saint-Honorat for quiet and history.
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The Lérins Islands are a small archipelago directly facing Cannes, and they are **the best thing to do from the city** for anyone tired of tarmac: two main islands a quarter of an hour away by boat — **Sainte-Marguerite**, the larger, and **Saint-Honorat**, the smaller — with turquoise water, pine and eucalyptus woods and complete quiet, and not a single car on either. **Sainte-Marguerite** is the full-day island: forest walking trails, small rocky coves for swimming, a saltwater lagoon where birds nest, and at its north the **Fort Royal** — the state prison that held the Man in the Iron Mask in the seventeenth century, whose cell is visited today as part of the maritime museum. **Saint-Honorat** is quieter and smaller: owned by Cistercian monks who farm its vineyard, with an eleventh-century fortified tower. Boats leave from Cannes harbour (a different quay and a different company for each island) — bring water and food, as facilities on both are very limited.
His cell in the Fort Royal on Sainte-Marguerite.
Clear water and rocks for swimming among the pines.
Not a car on either island.
Îles de Lérins, Bay of Cannes