Day Trip to Île Saint Honorat: Everything you Need to Know!
Île Saint Honorat (Saint Honorat island) is a SMALL island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the South of France. Though it lacks in size, it doesn’t lack in beauty and history!
Île Saint Honorat is mostly known for its monastery and Lérins Abbey where 21 monks currently reside. The history plus the beauty of the island make for a great, quick day trip option!
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History of Île Saint Honorat
The history of Île Saint Honorat and its abbey dates back to the 5th century! Saint Honorat founded the abbey in 410AD and had a group of followers that joined him; there has been an monastic community on Île Saint Honorat since then!
The Lérins abbey was built and added on to over a period of about three centuries, with the last floors being added in the 17th century, and it is beautiful!
Where is Île Saint Honorat Located?
Île Saint Honorat is located off the coast of Cannes in the French Riviera. It sits next to its larger sister island, Île Saint Marguerite, only about 6.6 km (little over 4 miles) from the coastline.
How to Get There
To get to Île Saint Honorat, you have to take a ferry from Cannes, France. Therefore, if you plan to take a day trip from Nice or from Antibes (like us,) take a train to Cannes first.
The train ride to Cannes from Nice is about 38 minutes and from Antibes is about 15 minutes.
The ferry port is about a 15 minute walk from the Cannes train station.
About the Ferry from Cannes to Île Saint Honorat
- Ferry Ride Time: About 20-25 minutes long
- Tickets for the ferry can be purchased at the ferry port or online
- Purchase tickets in person at the Planaria ticket office (Address: Quai Laubeuf, 06400 Cannes)
- Book online tickets here
- Ferries run 7 days a week
- Departures are every 2 hours starting at 10am during the week
- Departs every hour starting at 8:00am on Saturday and Sunday and public holidays
- Return schedules from the island back to Cannes are 30 minutes after the scheduled times from Cannes (beginning at 10:30am during the week and 8:30am on the weekends)
What to Do on Île Saint Honorat
The entirety of the island can be walked in about an hour and a half (WITH stops!) Here are some things you don’t want to miss on your walk around the island.
Walk the Loop Around Île Saint Honorat
Many of the main sites on the island are found along the coastline, which has a nice path that circumnavigates the island. The loop is about 2 miles and flat making it easy for most fitness levels.
- 90% of the highlights of the island are found on this loop!
Visit the Lerins Abbey (Abbey de Lérins)
This is the highlight of the island, after all, so don’t miss it! Lérins Abbey is a 5th century (!) abbey and is incredible beautiful! Though parts of it aren’t open to the public, you can enter the monastery tower (fortified monastery) and church free of charge.
If you wish, you can attend a mass which are usually held Monday to Saturday at 11.25 a.m. and Sunday at 9.50 a.m. Times vary depending on holiday and events going on.
Visit the Chapels
There are several chapels on the island, 5 of which that are public. They are dispersed along the coastline.
- Trinity Chapel/Chapelle de la Trinité (east side of the island)
- Chapel of Saint Sauveur (Just west of the ferry port toward the restaurant)
- St Michel Chapel (Just east of the ferry port toward the Trinity Chapel)
- Chepelle St. Pierre (located near the abbey)
- St Caprais Chapel (west side of the island)
Stop by the Monastery Fort
The fortress located on Île Saint Honorat is located just south of the abbey along the coastline. Though it was under construction when we visited, it is still a cool fortress to see built in the 11th century to help protect the island from attacks.
Stop by the Cannonball Furnaces
Along the coastline path you will come across two cannonball furnaces which were built in 1794 under the orders of General Bonaparte. They are actually well preserved and you can still see the cannons.
Shop at the Boutique Store at the Abbey
Here you can purchase wines, liquors and olive oils that are produced by the monks on Île Saint Honorat!
Located just outside the Lérins Abbey.
See the Vineyards and Olive Trees
Though many of the highlights are located around the coastline path, the vineyards are located inland.
You can see some while walking along the coastline path, but there is also a path directly from the abbey, inland down the center of the island toward the ferry where you can walk by vineyards and olive trees on either side of you!
Do a Wine Tasting
Every first Friday of the month you can do a guided wine tasting tour. The ticket includes round trip ferry tickets, a 15 minute tour of the vineyard plus a tasting for 25 euros.
Tickets can be purchased here.
How Much Time Do you Need?
Again, as small as the island is you don’t need much time there. We caught the 11am ferry there and the 1:30 pm ferry back to Cannes and was able to walk the whole island, grab a snack, geochache (😆) and see the main sites.
How long you stay depends on how long you would like to spend at each location, but plan for NO LESS than 3 hours to explore the island plus ferry to/from Cannes.
Food Options on the Island
Though the island is small, there are options for food and drink! It has a sit-down restaurant, a place to purchase snacks and also has wine that is made by the monks for purchase.
Restaurant La Tonnelle
The only restaurant on Île Saint Honorat is Restaurant Le Tonnelle, a Mediterranean restaurant that is open for lunch only.
- It is located down a pathway to the right of the ferry landing with nice views of the turquoise waters.
- The food is a bit pricey if we’re being honest: Salads are in the 20 euro range, main courses are in the 27-45 euro range. Click here for a menu
- You can purchase wine and liquor here that is made by the monks on the island
Per their website, the restaurant is closed for offseason from mid-November to April.
Les Canisses: Grab and Go Snacks
Les Canisses is located just by La Tonnelle Restaurant. You can grab snacks and drinks or have something quick cooked on the grill (panini’s, etc).
Hours: Open 10:30 to 3:30 pm (CLOSED Monday and Tuesday)
We also stumbled upon 6 girlfriends having lunch at a picnic table located by the water, so bringing your own food is also an option!
How Much Does a Day Trip to Île Saint Honorat Cost
A day trip to Île Saint Honorat is an affordable day trip! Expenses include train tickets to Cannes (if you aren’t staying in Cannes), ferry tickets plus whatever you decide to buy while on the island.
- Train tickets to Cannes from Nice: Around 10 euros round trip
- Train tickets to Cannes from Antibes: Around 4.30 euros round trip
- Ferry tickets: 20.5 euros online and 22 euros in person round trip
So, at most, you will spend around 32 euros getting to Île Saint Honorat from Nice.
Île Saint Honorat vs Île Saint Marguerite
There are actually TWO islands off the coast of Cannes, Île Saint Honorat and its sister island, Île Saint Marguerite known as the Lérins Islands.
Île Saint Honorat is a smaller island, about a sixth of the size of its sister island, Saint Marguerite. It is only 1,500 meters long and 400 meters wide with a coastline of about 3.3 km (around 2.1 miles), making it SUPER WALKABLE!
- The walkability was a large reason why we chose Île Saint Honorat
Île Saint Marguerite, again, is about 2 miles long (rather than just under one mile of Île Saint Honorat) and the loop that circumnavigates the island is about 8km (4.5 to 4.9 miles, depending on which hiking app you ask 🙃)
Île Saint Marguerite
Île Saint Marguerite is the largest of the islands and is most famous for its fortress prison, The Royal Fort which housed the infamous “Main in the Iron Mask;” an unidentified prisoner that was held here during the reign of Louis XIV among other
- The fort is now a museum you can enter where you can see some of the cells the prisoners were kept.
Another popular thing that brings people to Île Saint Marguerite is the underwater eco-museum of 7 statues sculptures by artist Jason deCaires Taylor.
Aside from the prison and the underwater museum, there is a lot of nature and swimming areas to enjoy on Île Saint Marguerite.
Seeing Both Islands in One Day
If you want to, you can definitely make both islands work in one day. HOWEVER, you need to plan for it to be a FULL day.
For one, it will take you probably double the time to visit Île Saint Marguerite as it will to visit Île Saint Honorat, especially if you want to snorkel at the eco-museum.
Additional, there is no direct ferry from one island to the other. You have to head back to Cannes to switch ferries for the other island. This process can take about 45 minutes to an hour depending on ferry timing.
Therefore, if you want to see both islands, I suggest:
- Doing it on the weekend when ferries begin at 8am rather than 10:30 am
- Catching the first ferry to Île Saint Marguerite since it is the biggest and takes the most time to explore and then heading to Île Saint Honorat afterward
Is Île Saint Honorat Worth Visiting?
If you are looking for something a little different and more quaint to do on your trip to the French Riviera, then this is a good option! The island is beautiful, it is easy to see in a short amount of time and, bonus, you get to see the French Riviera coastline from the water for an affordable price!
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