Take a walking tour of Cannes

A guide to Cannes, the luxurious city on the French Riviera

Explore everything Cannes has to offer with this travel guide aimed at tourists interested in bucking the typical traps. Includes recommendations for traveling to Sainte-Marguerite, taking in the city's murals, and booking a beach club reservation.

A brief history of Cannes controversies

Cannes is one of the most prestigious festivals in the world, but that hasn’t shielded it from controversies, including inflammatory statements, political protests, and booing audiences.

Venice’s famous statues gave the Cannes Lions festival its name

Despite its current name, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity began in Venice and was named after the winged lions found in the city’s St. Mark’s Square.

The Cannes Film Festival was created as a response to fascism

Initially called the International Film Festival, Cannes was created as an alternative to the Venice Film Festival, which French diplomat Philippe Erlanger believed had been politicized by the influence of Hitler and Mussolini.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Cannes Lions features over 30 different awards

While the classic track is limited to audio and radio, film, outdoor, and print and publishing, Cannes Lions’ many other awards embrace the broad spectrum of the creative fields.

The subtle red carpet war

The dress code for the Cannes Film Festival’s red carpet is conservative by today’s standards, leading to conflict with stylists embracing more contemporary looks. While some rules are Cannes’, others are out of their hands because they’re French law.

51 must-see attractions in Barcelona

Planning a trip to Barcelona? Check out this comprehensive list of the city’s most iconic sites. It’s organized from most well-known to least, so if you’re pressed for time, the authors recommend concentrating on the top of the list.

Cannes Lions winners, after the awards

Rather than focusing on the brands or agencies behind winning campaigns, this list highlights the people who earned Cannes Lions. It’s a fascinating look at what wins awards and what those awards can do for the recipients.

Take an architectural walking tour of the National Mall.

The best Cannes Lions winners of all time

Cannes Lions has been highlighting the best campaigns for over 70 years. This list brings together nine of the best from the festival’s history, with standouts from Mastercard, Adidas, and Burger King.

Take a video tour of Wall Street's historic architecture, guided by a professional architect.

A list of Carnival celebrations from around the world

Mardi Gras might be associated with New Orleans, but cities across the globe also celebrate Carnival with similar festivities. This list breaks down nine of the most popular, including masquerade balls in Venice, Creole celebrations in Cape Verde, and the Battle of the Flowers in France.

Cannes' Sainte-Marguerite was home to the 'Man in the Iron Mask'

Although his identity was never known, the man imprisoned under King Louis XIV and forced to wear a mask—reputedly made of iron, though likely to be velvet—was imprisoned on an island off the coast of Cannes.

Take a visual tour of past Coachellas

This collection of photographs features shots from every year of the festival's history, with portraits of acts like Rage Against the Machine, Oasis, and Lady Gaga gracing its legendary stages.

The inaugural Cannes Film Festival featured legendary directors

The festival’s first year was 1946. It featured 11 films from some of the world’s best filmmakers, including Jean Cocteau, Alfred Hitchcock, George Sydney, and Billy Wilder.

Film festivals are where independent projects find studios

Film festivals are incubators for the movie industry, providing smaller films and their producers with opportunities to screen in front of live audiences, as well as potential investors who may offer wider distribution.

Take a tour of Charles Dickens' London

Much of Dickens' fiction concerns Victorian London and its people. This tour of the city, led by Dickens biographer Simon Callow, walks you through significant sites, like the place where Dickens' parents were married, the shoe-blacking factory where he worked as a boy, and the place where he created his first magazine.

The 100 greatest cinemas in the world

Sure, it's convenient to stream a movie at home, but we believe there's no better way to see a great film than at a great theater. This extensive list explores the best of the best, featuring profiles of a Pennsylvania drive-in, an Icelandic arthouse, and many other amazing venues.

Wander through an Oktoberfest celebration

Feel like you’re in the center of the action with this walk-through video of the modern Oktoberfest experience. A former Munich resident covers everything you could want to know, including how to not anger the locals with boorish behavior. She explains the layout of the grounds, what to wear (hint: not cheap, mass-produced German costumes), and a few vital German phrases. Don’t forget to say "bitte" (thank you) when ordering your next round!

On an island off Cannes, monks make their own wine

Saint-Honorat Island is home to the Lérins Abbey, where an order of monks makes wine, liqueurs, and olive oil—when they’re not praying.

Take a series of virtual tours of Biosphere 2

The videos provide a 360-degree view of the indoor rainforest, ocean ecosystem, Landscape Evolution Observatory, and underground technosphere. A Google Maps Street View option is available to explore additional biomes, with each associated with a different floor level on the bottom right.

Only 9 directors have won Cannes’ top prize more than once

Cannes’ Palmes d’Or award is one of the highest distinctions in film. The select few who have earned the award more than once include the most iconic names in filmmaking, including Francis Ford Coppola, Billie August, and Emir Kusturica.

Does winning a Cannes Lion matter?

It’s easy to become cynical about awards, but a study shows winning at Cannes Lions financially benefits agencies. Of course, snagging an award also helps boost creatives' egos.

Explore the French palace royals fled from during the 1789 revolution

This virtual reality tour lets viewers explore the Palace of Versailles, which King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were forced to flee during the French Revolution. Versailles was later made a public establishment by order of King...

Take a virtual tour through the White House interior

This immersive 360° tour from the White House Historical Association lets you explore key rooms and see historical details not visible during in-person visits.

Every winner of the Cannes Palmes d’Or

It’s one of the most prestigious awards in all cinema. Winning not only guarantees significant buzz but also means you’re a part of film history, with past winners including “Pulp Fiction,” “Taxi Driver,” and “La Dolce Vita.”

The Madison Avenue Walk of Fame

In Hollywood, the most prominent celebrities get “stars” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now, industry events producer Advertising Week has created a virtual walk of fame for the biggest stars of the ad world, from the Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Bear to the Energizer Bunny.

The world’s most beautiful cinemas

Oakland, Madrid, and Mexico City are home to some of the most beautiful movie theaters in the world according to this extensive list. This resource compiles photos and interesting tidbits from 50 stunning cinemas, located in historic buildings and glistening modern structures.

Visit global national parks from your living room

Get your fill of incredible scenery with this collection of 17 different virtual tours of national parks. Catch the Northern Lights over Abisko National Park in Sweden, or explore the famous red sand dunes of Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia.

Renaissance Faire's provide an escape into the late medieval world

These cultural events (roughly 300 distinct fairs in the US) stem from the original festival in Los Angeles in 1963. Long viewed as a hippie festival, the fests attract eclectic fans—historians, craftworkers, dramatists and drinkers. Listen to a quick survey of the festival's surprising origins.

Pictures of paintings: a virtual art museum

If you can't get to the art museum, maybe try bringing the art museum to you. This independent project presents photographs of select classic, public-domain paintings in an interactive format so you can get the full museum effect from home. Note:...

Tennis' Grand Slam tournaments take place at some of the sport's most storied venues

There are over 50 events on the WTA calendar, but the tour's four Grand Slam tournaments are the ones both professionals and fans look forward to every year. This Eyes on the Stands video takes you on a journey from Melbourne Park, to Roland Garros, to the All England Club, and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to learn the rich history of each venue.

A visual guide to Hollywood dystopias and their real-world locations

Even the most dire dystopias are grounded in the real world. That's especially true with dystopian movies, which turn real cities into near-future nightmares. This guide from Atlas Obscura takes readers on a tour through some of the most recognizable, from "Blade Runner" (filmed in Los Angeles) to "Total Recall" (Mexico City, Mexico), "The Matrix" (Sydney, Australia), and more.

The history of Solvang, California's little Danish village

Just north of Santa Barbara sits a curious California gem: Solvang, a small town constructed in the Danish Provincial style. This video tour of the village provides a fascinating history of how the town became a miniature Copenhagen and does so in a unique way: by trying to recreate vintage photographs of the town. It makes for an entertaining and educational tour.

Take a tour of Google's headquarters

With its vibrant and cutting-edge design, the so-called "Googleplex" is synonymous with Silicon Valley and surrounds employees with lush green space and unique artwork. Amenities include massage therapy, a medical clinic, and nap pods to inspire creativity.

Take a virtual tour inside Stonehenge, the stone monument built roughly 5,000 years ago.

Prehistoric visitors approached Stonehenge along a processional route known as the Avenue, where the sunrise of the summer solstice aligns with the sarsen stones. This interactive 3D tour recreates that experience with explainer videos and detailed sidebars.

Take a virtual tour of St. Andrews

The Old Course at St. Andrews is one of the oldest in the world and became the gold standard for modern golf course design. Using drone footage, this Golf Digest video gives an aerial view and detailed description of every hole. Learn how the links course features common fairways and greens for some holes. And learn the bunker names at the courses' most notorious holes.

Get lost in these historical libraries

The internet has changed a lot about how we learn, explore new ideas, and conduct research, particularly when it comes to the spaces we learn in. While few of us would trade our smartphones for a walk in a historical library, a walk through some of the beautifully designed cathedrals of learning could remind us to put them down sometimes. Explore 10 of the world's magnificent libraries with this quick video survey.

Watch how wild animals are projected into a mall

Centered around a dynamic, ever-changing watering hole, the experience allows you to meet a diverse range of animals from Africa to the Arctic as they graze, drink, and interact with the environment around them.

The Canadian side of Niagara Falls has many tourist attractions

The Canadian side features Ripley's Believe it or Not, Louis Tussaud's Waxworks, tunnels behind the Falls and more. A short walk from the falls leads to Clifton Hill, packed with arcades, mini golf, haunted houses, and carnival-style attractions.

A Mardi Gras alternative takes place in southwest Louisiana

Courir de Mardi Gras, or Cajun Mardi Gras, harkens back to a medieval "feast of begging," when rural French people donned costumes (often mocking the aristocracy) and went from door to door, performing in exchange for gifts.

Take a virtual tour through the Amazon Basin

Thanks to Google Maps’ Street View feature, people can virtually explore the Amazon River basin and its surroundings—part of the Amazon rainforest that is under the protection of the Brazilian government with restricted access to the public. The...

Take a virtual tour of the International Space Station

The ISS is the largest human-made object in space. Its modules were meticulously connected by robotic arms and astronauts during slow, careful spacewalks, creating a structure with over eight miles of electrical wire.

See how CES comes to life with a massive setup across Las Vegas

This behind-the-scenes video shows crews assembling the sprawling CES show—filling more than 2.5 million square feet of exhibition space with booths, lights, and tech from around the world ahead of the event’s opening.

What do the Lascaux cave paintings look like?

The Lascaux cave paintings, initially discovered in 1940, hold a special place in the hearts of archaeologists and art historians alike. Examine the Paleolithic art in this virtual tour that takes users through the different segments of the cave and...

A trip to Burning Man offers many once-in-a-lifetime experiences

Burning Man operates on a de-commodified, gift-based economy and allows drugs, nudity, and other unconventional practicers. Burners return to their normal lives with wild stories that can't be replicated outside of the festival.

Abandoned malls prompt 'liminal' vibes of being stuck in time

A Toronto-area tour of empty malls brings participants face-to-face with the past. Part nostalgia, part archaeology, this meditation on the "liminal" spaces of a bygone era provokes eerie reflections on our relationship to time and place.

Things to avoid doing in Barcelona

Everyone gets told about the places they should visit, the food they should try, and the activities they should do. But what about the things one shouldn’t do? Here’s that list. The authors are journalists and tour guides in Barcelona, so you can suspect they know what they’re talking about when they say “Don’t treat tapas like fast food.”

A virtual tour of Philadelphia’s American Revolution Museum

Philadelphia’s Old City hosts one of the largest museums on the American Revolution. This virtual tour allows you to view the museum’s exhibits as if you were there by zooming in on descriptions, browsing images, and learning about artifacts, portraits, and more.