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4. Cannes

Cannes

Today it is hard to imagine that the quintessential, glamorous French Riviera holiday resort of Cannes was for centuries a simple, sleepy fishing village whose only visitors were the monks and wealthy pilgrims who came to visit the monastery on the nearby Island of St Honorat. All this changed in 1834 when Lord Henry Brougham, former British Chancellor of the Exchequer, arrived and established Cannes as a popular upmarket holiday resort for the British upper-classes.

Soon the French and later the Russian aristocracy also flocked to Cannes to while away their summer holidays. Each May the world's media descend in droves for the annual Cannes Film Festival, which draws the international celebrities and super-stars along with the paparazzi and expectant fans hoping to glimpse the rich and famous at the Palais des Festivals. One of the top film festivals in the world, the Cannes Film Festival hosts the premieres of many top studio and independent films.

Hundreds of less exceptional international conferences take place here each year as well, making rooms hard to find and restaurants hard to book for much of the year. Cannes is busy all year long, frequented by hosts of business travellers off-season and besieged by tourists on holiday in the summer, when the long sandy beaches, glitzy nightclubs, chic shops and famous promenade are abuzz with beautiful people flaunting the latest designer wear. Despite the city's pretensions and massive over-development, Cannes is still an international city of charm and good cheer, a great holiday destination.

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