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Honfleur & Étretat
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Honfleur & Étretat

The Impressionists' Harbour and the White Cliffs Monet Painted

Plan this trip
2 daysIdeal stay₹10,650From / night₹2,980Food / dayFreeEntry

Two sides of the Seine estuary on the Normandy coast. Honfleur is a 17th-century port of tall slate-hung houses round the Vieux Bassin, with Sainte-Catherine, the largest wooden church in France, and the light that drew Boudin, Monet and the Impressionists. Across the Pont de Normandie, Étretat's white chalk cliffs, arches and needle rise either side of a pebble beach, with clifftop paths both ways; it is about 45 minutes from Honfleur by car, or a bus from Le Havre. Deauville's boardwalk and Trouville's fish market are 15 km west of Honfleur. Neither town has a station: trains from Paris Saint-Lazare reach Le Havre or Trouville-Deauville in about 2 hours, then a bus (from about 3 h 10 in all). Seafood, cider, Calvados and Camembert country. A car makes it far easier.

Highlights

  • Vieux Bassin harbour at dusk
  • Sainte-Catherine, France's largest wooden church
  • Étretat's cliffs, arches and needle
  • Clifftop walk to the Porte d'Aval and the Manneporte
  • The views Monet and Boudin painted
  • Deauville boardwalk and Trouville fish market
  • Cider and Calvados farms of the Pays d'Auge

Things to do

  • Honfleur: the Vieux Bassin, Sainte-Catherine church and the old lanesMorning · 2h 30m
  • Étretat cliffs: walk to the Porte d'Aval, the Needle and the ManneporteMorning · 4h
  • Côte de Grâce chapel and viewpoint above HonfleurAfternoon · 1h 30m
  • Deauville boardwalk and Trouville fish marketAfternoon · 3h
  • Pays d'Auge cider and Calvados farm tastingAfternoon · 2h
  • Seafood dinner by the harbourEvening · 2h

Tours & tickets

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When to go

Best time: April – June, September – October

Heads up

Summer Holidays on the Channel Coast

July and August are French school holidays: Saint-Malo, Honfleur, Étretat and Deauville are at their busiest, with full car parks and rooms that sell out. Book ahead, or come in June or September, when the days are long and the towns quieter.