Cinema, glamour and luxury could well define this wonderful city on the French Riviera. Any mention of the name Cannes conjures up some of the media highlights of the year, like their film festival, when the city is decked out in all its finery and peopled with the most famous faces of the seventh art, as well as many a socialite eager not to miss such a worthy spectacle. But, cinema is not everything and Cannes is much more than film stars and millionaires to be gawked at. We urge you to discover both facets of this fantastic city.

Strolling Along the Promenade de la Croisette is De Rigeur

This boulevard, once known as the Chemin de la Petite Croix (Road of the Little Cross), as it had – and still has – a small cross, could well be rechristened the “Promenade of the Stars”. Replete with haute couture stores, luxury restaurants and fantastic hotels, and thronging with all kinds of celebrities, it is the perfect place for wandering about and soaking up the glitter of everything that’s going on. On your walk you will come across such iconic hotels as the InterContinental Carlton, housed in an elegant palace dating from 1911, the Art Deco Hôtel Martinez and the Majestic, before finally reaching the legendary Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. As you may have guessed, this is where the Cannes Film Festival is held each year. Those eager to see the facilities where such a prodigious event is hosted can satiate their curiosity by booking a guided tour of the premises. Another classic on La Croisette is theChemin des Étoiles,located opposite the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, which features the handprints of numerous great film stars, directors and other prominent figures from the world of cinema.

In addition to the foregoing, remember that this promenade runs along the seafront, so be sure to visit the beaches and delight in the panoramic views of the bay – it is well worth seeing. What you should know, however, is that most of the beaches lining the promenade are private; that is, the space is taken up by deck chairs belonging to luxury hotels, although you can of course rent them. There is also a small public beach near the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.

Discover the “Other Cannes” in the Vieux Port and Le Suquet

As we intimated in the introduction, apart from the cinema scene, Cannes offers a lot to see and do that will surprise you, albeit on a far grander scale. To this end you should head for the Vieux Port where, in addition to big luxury yachts, you will come across the locals going about their daily business. From here, we recommend venturing into Le Suquet, the city’s old quarter, characterised by narrow streets and charming public squares. One of the best views of Cannes is to be had in this area, from the vantage point of the Castre Museum, located in the Place de la Castre. You will not regret the climb to the top when you see the panoramic view of La Croisette and the Palais des Festivals stretching out at your feet.

Book your Vueling to Nice, which lies just 33 kilometres from Cannes, and discover one of the most glamourous cities in the Mediterranean.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Daniel70mi Falciola

Marlys Schuermann, the other half of the @ParisBuFF team on Twitter

Montmartre may not have a world-famous or a Michelin starred restaurant to boast of, but it certainly has a lot to offer visitors on a budget when it comes to eats and treats. Restaurants and bistros offer tasty meals at reasonable prices. You just have to know where to go to avoid being trapped in one with bad food (and bad service to boot.)

Here are a few suggestions of where you can go if ever you find your tummy grumbling for a meal or even for just a simple treat when visiting Montmartre:

1. Au Cadet de Gascogne

4, Place de Tertre – It can’t get more touristy than in Place de Tertre, but this restaurant serves a full breakfast till 11 a.m. for €10, which consists of a glass of orange juice served with your warm croissant and jam, an omelette or 3-egg sunny side up with salad, coffee or tea and baguettes. You can’t get a better deal than that anywhere in Paris, where breakfast in a cafe could easily cost you €6 for a slice of baguette with thinly spread jam, orange juice and a cup of coffee.

2. Coquelicot

24, rue des Abbesses – This boulangerie is also a restaurant and just a few steps away from metro station Abbesses. It is a favourite of locals who take a late breakfast or brunch there. Prices of their breakfast offerings might be slightly off-putting, but you go there to sit outside, watching busy life passing by while you leisurely sip from your bowls of hot coffee or chocolate and munch on your pain au chocolat. It also offers a variety of cakes and French pastries that you can take with you to the park.

3. Le Relais Gascon

6, rue des Abbesses, is a restaurant we’ve been recommending to friends and family for years. And each one enjoyed the food so much, they return during the duration of their visits or when they return, and recommend it on to their friends and family. Tip: Order one of their warm salads, served any time of the day. But if you have a big appetite, their week-day lunch menu is great value for money.

4. Trattoria Pomodoro

20, rue de la Vieuville, has one of the best pizzas we’ve tasted in Montmartre. It is located in one of the remaining streets that will still give you an idea of how cobblestoned Montmartre looked like before boutiques and numerous souvenir shops mushroomed in the area.

5. Le Grenier à Pain

38, rue des Abbesses, – This boulangerie shot to fame (was even featured in the New York Times) because its chief bread maker baked the best baguette in Paris in 2010. The baguette is well and truly good, but what got the international press in a flurry is the fact that this particular boulanger happened to be a Senegalese. But don’t just try their baguette, with which they make their freshly made sandwiches. Their cakes are moist temptations, too.

6. Les Petits Mitrons

26, rue Lepic – You can’t walk by this little patisserie in the market street of Montmartre without drooling over the hand-made fruit tartes displayed in its shop windows. Chances are, you’ll go in there and get yourself a slice of one of their delectable cakes. If sweet tartes aren’t your thing, they also have savoury ones.

7. Au Grain de Folie

24, rue de la Vieuville – There was a time, vegetarians had difficulty finding a Parisian restaurant serving meat-free dishes. This restaurant was one of the very first dedicated to providing vegetarians an excuse to go out for a meal and it’s still going strong.

Author: Marlys Schuermann, the other half of the @ParisBuFF team on Twitter

Image: Au Cadet de Gascogne

A perfect idea for travelling with friends! Check out our flights and off you go!

One of the classic routes to discover Andalusia’s essence is the white villages one, which runs through about 20 locations in the provinces of Malaga and Cadiz.

Traditionally, Andalusian houses are painted white or whitewashed to avoid,as far as possible, the hot Andalusian summer. This way to relieve the heat, joined with the affection their inhabitants use to decorate streets, squares and balconies with flowers and plants, make these towns picturesque postcards.

The route of the white villages heads to special beauty and natural environment areas as the Parque Natural de la Sierra de Grazalema -Biosphere Reserve. The ideal is to try to visit all the beautiful villages, since each has its attractions and special characteristics. But if you only have two or three days, there are some stops that, in our opinion, are of main interest.

Arcos de la Frontera is one of the most common places to begin the route, as it is located near Cadiz and the Jerez airport, while the beautiful Ronda would be the natural endpoint. In Arcos de la Frontera you can admire the Basilica of Santa Maria from the Plaza del Cabildo and continue with a walk through the steep and narrow streets with baroque facades scattered through the town, up to the walls of the Castle of the Dukes.

Another town that should not be missed is El Bosque. It lies at the foot of the mountains, starting the stretch of the Sierra. It is a good place to gather information about the Grazalema Natural Park in the Tourist Center and an excellent area for trekking.

Although it requires a little detour, Ubrique is a worthwhile stop. It is the leather city, where you can buy a nice piece of tanned leather done as in the Arabic tradition.

Along the way, we find other locations that do not belong to the official route, but that are worth a visit. For example the strech to Benmahoma, that passes through forests of pine and eucalyptus and whose top rewards us with spectacular views. Before arriving in Ronda, we can not miss places like Zahara de la Sierra and Alcalá del Valleo or Setenil de las Bodegas, with their houses carved into the mountain and along the river.

Ronda, the Dream City - like the poet Rilke called it-, is the usual destination to complete the route; an ancient city seated on a stone plateau.. Worth walking calmly to appreciate all its nooks and monumental works. It preserves traces of its Moorish past, being one of the last strongholds before the Reconquista, which are reflected in the so-called ancient Arab city or Arab Medina, along the Guadalevin shore.

It is divided by a gorge over 100 meters above El Tajo and crossed by three beautiful bridges. Dating from the eighteenth century, the main one is the most iconic landmark of the city.

Besides its cultural interest, this Andalusian architectural gem has many restaurants where you can enjoy delicious recipes and products from the Serrania.

Picture Zahara de la Sierra vy Grez | Olvera by Tomas Fano | Villaluenga by El Pantera

Makes you want to go, right? Do it! Check out our prices here!

 By Marlys and Michael Easy Hiker

Let’s be totally honest about this: The best thing about Deutsche Bahn’s Across-the-Country 1-day rail pass (the “Quer-durchs-Land” ticket or QdL for short) is that it’s very cheap. 48 Euros for two people on any regional train in Germany: that’s an unbeatable offer.

Journeys take a little longer than on the fast IC trains, that much is for certain, and their trajectories may be slightly more convoluted, but that can be a benefit, too.

Recently, on our way back from a hike in the Mecklenburger Seenplatte, for example, we took the opportunity to break up what would otherwise have been a very long train journey to make a two-hour stop in Hamburg. Two hours in Hamburg are not a lot for such a big city, Germany’s largest after Berlin, but we had been there several times and knew where to go. In the end, we were surprised how many of the city’s main sites we were able to cover.

From the central train station, head straight (down Mönckebergstraße) for the so-called Binnenalster, Hamburg’s poshest mile. Along its banks, you can find some of Germany’s biggest private banks, most expensive hotels and fanciest restaurants.

The huge and opulent building on the artifical lake’s southern shore is Hamburg’s City Hall, built in the 19th century with the era’s typical sense for flash and grandeur.

Walk down past the Alsterfleet canal, underneath the Alsterarkaden colonnades, before turning right on Stadthausbrücke and heading for St Michael’s Church, Hamburg’s main landmark since it was built in the 17th century – famous not least because it was the first building of the city that many of her visitors, coming from the sea, were able to spot in the distance.

The church may look rather austere from the outside, but the interiors are as tacky as a West End theatre. (Entrance is free, but you are encouraged to donate €2 when you leave. Alternatively, you can squeeze by the burly lady who guards the exit door. Best to wait, probably, for one of the other tourists to distract her with a question – that’s what I did, anyway.)

The street on the right hand side of the church, by the way, leads you straight to St Pauli – Reeperbahn, Star Club and all that. (Unfortunately, we had no time for that.)

Instead, we turn left out of the church, past the modern offices of Gruner & Jahr, one of Germany’s largest publishing houses, in the direction of the harbour, one of the ten largest in the world.

Turn left to head for the Speicherstadt (“warehouse town”), my favourite part of Hamburg and one of Europe’s greatest works of 19th century architectural engineering, grand and graceful at the same time, a cross between Venice and London’s old docklands. The buildings were all warehouses once, of course, but are today mainly occupied by theatre companies, museums and tourist attractions such as the “Hamburg Dungeon”.

I could easily have spent the rest of the day walking from canal to canal, but there was no time. Instead, we took the subway train back to the city centre (if you have a Länderticket or a QdL Ticket, you are also free to use subways and S-Bahn trains) and had just about enough time for a quiet cup of coffee outside in the April sun on Mönckebergstraße, the city’s main shopping street, 5 minutes away from the central train station.

By Marlys and Michael Easy Hiker

 How about going to Hamburg? Have a look at our flights here!