The covered market, the pedestrian street where you fill your basket, the tables that cook from the stalls. And what you need to know in 2026: the hall is a building site, the market is on two sites.
Between the Old Port and the hill of Le Suquet there are a few flat streets where Cannes does its shopping. The Forville market is the centre of them. Rue Meynadier, pedestrianised, runs east from it. Around them, rue Bivouac-Napoléon, rue Félix-Faure, the Allées de la Liberté. This is not an administrative district, it is a habit: the belly of the city.
Our view is clear-cut: if you do only one thing in Cannes apart from the beach, do your shopping here one morning and have lunch in the next street. But in 2026 there is one thing to know before you come: the Forville hall is a building site, and the market is split in two. Anyone who does not know that looks for the producers in the wrong place.
This portrait covers the commercial streets at the bottom, not the hill. The climb, the tower and the view are in our article on Le Suquet and the Old Port.
The market is a five-minute walk from the Palais des Festivals and about ten minutes from the station, on flat ground. The town hall and the bus station, which most Palm Bus lines pass through, are next door. The car is the bad idea: the streets around the market are narrow, partly pedestrianised, and busy in the morning. Come on foot or by bus, with a bag.
The present building was constructed between 1929 and 1932, in masonry and reinforced concrete, on the site of a first market opened in 1884. The Cannes architect Henri Bret had won the competition in 1930. The hall covers almost 3,000 square metres and occupies a whole block, with regionally inspired façades. It holds the Ministry of Culture's "Architecture contemporaine remarquable" label. So it is a monument as much as a market, and it is that monument the city is renovating.
Since 16 April 2024, according to the city, the local producers and the fishermen have been set up in the large hall on the Allées de la Liberté, opposite the bandstand. The retailers (caterers, butchers, cheesemongers, specialities) remain on the east side of the Carreau Forville. The project includes a garden of about 2,900 square metres on the roof, which has been closed for more than twenty years. A call for tenders published in May 2026 for the second phase announces sixteen months of works, with an indicative start in mid-October 2026. We found no official reopening date.
Hours published by the city, identical at both sites: Tuesday to Sunday from 7 am to 1 pm from 1 September to 30 June, every day at the same hours in July and August. Outside summer, Monday is flea market day, according to the tourist office; its hours are to be confirmed. Fruit and vegetables, fish from the bay, dishes of the day, flowers: this is a market where people buy, not a backdrop. Do not turn up at 12.45 pm.
Rue Meynadier is pedestrianised and devoted to food. Three addresses from our notebook sit within a few numbers: Signorini Tartufi at 27 for truffles, Au Pays du Citron at 32 for citrus, and the Ceneri cheese shop, which the guides place at 22. On the history of the street, the sources contradict each other, both on its date and on the origin of its name: we do not settle it. What is certain is its clock: the morning, then the late afternoon. The full selection is on our fine food page.
At 80 rue Meynadier, Aux Bons Enfants is a family house opened in 1935, holding a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide at the time of our check. It takes cash only and closes on Monday, according to the guide; to be confirmed. On rue Bivouac-Napoléon, two addresses from our notebook: La Cantine Provençale at 9 (4.8 on Google) and the Thai table Chaï Dee at 17 (4.7). On rue Félix-Faure, Astoux et Brun remains the reference for seafood. We have not tested any of these tables: they are sourced notebook entries. More in market tables.
For a short stay without a car, and for those renting a flat with the intention of cooking. Everything is on foot: the market, the port, the boats to the islands, the Palais, the station. It is not the right choice if you have a car to park, nor if you sleep late: a market sets up early. And until the works on the hall are finished, ask your landlord which street the windows face. The other options are in our guide to where to stay in Cannes.
What we'd skip: looking for the market gardeners in the old hall. In 2026 the producers and the fishermen are at the Allées de la Liberté, a few minutes' walk away. The Carreau Forville keeps the retailers. Do both, in that order, starting with the producers.
What we'd also skip: coming in the afternoon. The market closes at 1 pm, and rue Meynadier has its hours in the morning and then in the late afternoon. This district lives in the morning.
Finally, outside summer, do not come on a Monday hoping for tomatoes: it is flea market day. And do not arrive at Aux Bons Enfants without cash, or on a Monday.
Between 8 am and 10 am. The stalls are full, the residents are doing their shopping, and you have time to go on to rue Meynadier before lunch at noon in a nearby street.
All year round. The market does not depend on the season: it runs in January as in August, with different produce. In July and August it also opens on Monday. Before you travel, check the state of the works on the city's website: the split between the two sites may change as the works progress.
At the foot of Le Suquet, a five-minute walk from the Palais des Festivals and the Old Port. In 2026 it occupies two sites: the Carreau Forville, rue du Marché-Forville, for the retailers, and the large hall on the Allées de la Liberté, opposite the bandstand, for the producers and the fishermen.
Tuesday to Sunday from 7 am to 1 pm from 1 September to 30 June, and every day from 7 am to 1 pm in July and August, according to the city of Cannes. Outside summer, Monday is given over to the flea market.
No, it is running, but the historic hall is being renovated. Since April 2024 the producers and the fishermen have been moved to the Allées de la Liberté. A second phase of sixteen months is announced from autumn 2026. No official date for a full reopening had been published at the time of our check.
Things to eat: cheese, truffles, citrus and specialities, wine, deli dishes. It is a pedestrian street that starts at the market. Two addresses from our notebook are there: Signorini Tartufi at 27 and Au Pays du Citron at 32.
In the neighbouring streets: rue Meynadier (Aux Bons Enfants, at 80, cash only), rue Bivouac-Napoléon (La Cantine Provençale, Chaï Dee) or rue Félix-Faure (Astoux et Brun for seafood). Book when you can, or arrive early.