The Place To Be In 2019: The Big Armada
Every few years, world's biggest (and not so big) tall sailing ships sail into France and head for the city of Rouen. These massive multi-mast sail ships from yesteryears, though many are new, are a sight to be seen. Slow...
Review: Flixbus (Intercity Bus Service)
The Flixbus intercity bus service (and also pan-European service) is the biggest bus service in Europe. Click here to read more about the different intercity bus services in France. Thanks to the many and extended strikes (and often very bad...
Buses – Intercity
A few years back (2015), when the current President of France, Emmanuel Macron, was the Minister of Economy, he made it possible for scheduled bus services between cities in France at low cost. The idea was to make intercity travel...
Railroads – The Railway-Stations
What was once a big and far reaching rail network has dwindled over the last few decades. The French railroads have been closing rail lines and therefore closing railway-stations. Today there are 3029 stations left, but the ones that are...
Railroads – TER – Regional Trains
The High Speed Train (TGV) is the premium fast rail service offered by the French railroads, the SNCF. It's followed by the inter-regional service called "Intercites". And finally there's the regional service called TER (Transport Express Régional). This service links...
Railroads – Intercites
The French railroads, the SNCF, used to have a very extensive rail network linking most cities and bigger towns in France with each other. Apart from the High Speed Train (=TGV), the interlinking of cities was the top service category...
Railroads – TGV: The French High Speed Train
Moving around France is easy. First of all, you have a great motorway network, called the "Autoroutes". Although most of them are toll roads (=Peages), they are well maintained and offer many service areas along the way. But if driving...
Le Havre: Stairways To Heaven?
If you are not someone who likes or wants to climb stairs, this article is not for you. On the other hand, if you like a physical challenge, read on. The city of Le Havre is built partially at sea-level...
Le Havre – Start of the Transat Jacques Vabre Event – Trans-Atlantic Sailboat Race
Although billed as the end of the 500 years celebrations of Le Havre, this is an event that occurs every two years, so on its own, a regular event. The Transat Jacques Vabre is a sailboat race from Le Havre...
Le Havre: Tall Ship Parade for 500 Years Celebration – 3 September
A taste of what will be happening on the 3rd of September. For the 500 years celebration of the city of Le Havre, some 50 tall ships will be gathering starting on the 31st of August. On the 3rd of...
Le Havre – The Parade of Giants of the Royal de Luxe
One of the main events of the 500 years celebrations of Le Havre was going to be the parade of Giants produced by the Royal de Luxe. Although the company is based in Nantes, the appearance of the first giant...
Dieppe – The Ferry
The city of Dieppe has quite an active ferry activity. Up to 3 sailings per day, for the four hour crossing (it used to be half the time when they were operating a fast ferry, but those days are gone)....
Le Havre – Treasure Hunt For Gouzous
Jace, born in Le Havre, is quite an internationally famous street artist. His character, Gouzou, can be found on walls and other places around the world. It's therefore no surprise that Jace worked on doing something special for the 500...
Le Havre – The Ferry
Le Havre used to be a busy ferry station, with two ferry operators going to the UK and Ireland. But that has been reduced to one operator going to Portsmouth in the UK. Which is strange, since Le Havre lies...
Ouistreham – The Ferry
The Ouistreham ferry is the ferry operating for the city of Caen, which lies some 15 kilometres away. There is a whole section of the rather small harbour of Ouistreham dedicated to the ferry. There are 3 sailings daily, taking you...
Pegasus Bridge Memorial and Museum
If there was one essential and strategic point during the invasion of Normandy, also known as D-Day, by the Allied troops, it would have been the capture of the two bridges in Benouville and the neighbouring Ranville. The two bridges were...
Le Havre Installed Its First 360° VR Terminals
Continuing its 500 year celebrations in style, and using the latest technology, the city of Le Havre has installed its first two 360° VR (Virtual Reality) terminals for the visiting public. Le Havre is the second city (after Paris) to...
The 500 Years Anniversary of Le Havre
2017 is a very special year for the harbour city of Le Havre in Normandy. 500 years earlier, the French King Francois I ordered a city and its associated harbour to be built at the mouth of the Seine river....
Utah Beach – WWII Landing Museum
The Utah Beach was one of the D-Day landing beaches, this one mostly staffed with US Army soldiers. It was on the Western edge of the D-Day beaches, and the beach consisted of deep sand and dunes. 3200 soldiers died on the...
Utah Beach – Introduction
The names Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno are names that many WWII buffs will know very well since those are the names of the landing beaches during the D-Day, the Allied invasion of German occupied Europe. 4 years of...
Sainte-Mere-Eglise – Introduction
Normally speaking the village of Sainte-Mere-Eglise should mean nothing to most people. Unless you are a WWII buff or a movie buff. The movie in question is "The Longest Day" starring none other than John Wayne trying to get to...
Cherbourg – Tips
Transport Getting There There is a direct rail line Cherbourg - Paris which makes getting there easy and fast if you are arriving from the capital. By Air Cherbourg has a small airport (Maupertus Airport) but there are no scheduled flights in...
Cherbourg – Cite de la Mer
One of the few things that are worth a visit in Cherbourg, or even doing a detour to visit, is the Cite de le Mer museum. The museum is quite recent, it opened its doors in the year 2002. But...Copyright
Travel France Tips by Mike Werner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
