The Beasley stairs in Le Havre, Normandy

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 and partially on top of the cliffs that adjoin the sea. In the old days (“old” is relative since Le Havre is only 500 years young, a baby compared to cities like Paris) the workers lived on top of the cliffs while their work was below in the harbours, city centre and at the seaside. This meant going up and down the steep cliffs, everyday! To stop people from slipping and falling, the authorities over the years installed several stairways; 89 in total! The stairs were needed to enable people to climb or descend for up to 100 meters at a time, often quite steep!

NOTE: On the map below you will see many pink numbers. Each number is associated to a photo and description of a stairway. You can click on he number for a short explanation on the map, click on the “for more information” to jump directly to the description or just scroll down the page to see much more information. You can also zoom into the map, or move it left, right, up or down.

NOTE: On the map below, when you zoom in, you will notice dotted lines. Those lines represent the stairways.

Map of Stairways

You’ll notice on the above map between number 14 and 15 there is a big gap. That is because the “Jenner” tunnel is there, joining the lower part of the city with the higher part. The Jenner tunnel is nowadays used only by vehicles, trams and buses.

Below are a few of the stairs that, if you are so inclined, you can go up or down. If you prefer just walking down, there is a funicular that will bring you to the top. There used to be another way on the other side of the city, but it was stopped in 1984 (more about that later on).

TIP: If you don’t really feel like climbing to heaven, but want to see one of the stairs, take the funicular (there are no intermediary stops, just the lower end and upper end, so you can’t go wrong), and at the top turn left and walk for a few hundred meters until the “Escalier Beasley” (see above photo) and go down those stairs (Reuben Beasley was a Consul to the United States between the 1700’s and 1800’s, and was credited with starting the first steam ship service between Le Havre and Honfleur). Or you can take any of the stairways on the “Felix Faure” road, just keep reading and you’ll discover all the big ones.

To give you an idea how long and steep these stairs really are, here is a video inside the funicular while it was going up. The speed is normal (i.e. not slowed down), so it’ll give you a good idea how long it’ll take you to climb the stairs. The funicular does it in 2 minutes and 30 seconds…. can you do it faster on foot??

In June of 2017, the city organised a foot race, called the LH Urban Trail, which consisted of running a 42 kilometres marathon, including 4500 steps on the many stairways of the city. A gruelling race which could be run alone, in duo or in team.

Now let’s have a look at some of the stairs in Le Havre (and the adjoining city of St. Adresse).

The photo at the top of this article is the “Escalier Beasly” (taken from the bottom). Some of the stairs are very steep and narrow, while others are wide and easy. Many of the stairways have railings you can hold onto, handy if it’s wet and slippery.

The “Escalier Beasly” and the following stairways all go up to the “Rue Felix Faure“, the same road where the Funicular also ends.

TIP: If you want to try these stairs but don’t feel the energy to climb up, take the funicular and then walk down one of the many stairs here.

The photo below is that of the stairway named “Escalier de la Cote Morisse” which lies to the left and close to the one you can see on the photo at the top of this article (Escalier Beasly):

The stairs named Escalier de-la-Cote-Morisse in Le Havre, Normandy
The stairs named Escalier de-la-Cote-Morisse in Le Havre, Normandy

The stairs do go further than what you can see in the photo. At the top of what you can see in the photo, the path turns left and continues climbing. It crosses a road, and then starts climbing again. [back to the map]

A couple of hundred meters further to the right on the map, you’ll find this stairway:

The stairway "Escalier-des-Noyers" in Le Havre, Normandy
The stairway “Escalier-des-Noyers” in Le Havre, Normandy

This is the stairway (in French “Escalier”) that is named the “Escalier des Noyers“, or translated in English, the Walnut Stairs. Although I can not see any walnuts here, it’s probably an historical name.    [back to the map]

A bit further to the right you will find the “Rue Germaine Coty” stairways, and although part of it is a real road (hence the word “Rue”), most of it is a stairway. These stairs are used a lot, winding down towards the city centre.    [back to the map]

The "Rue Germain Coty" stairway part road and a lot of stairs brings you towards the Le Havre city centre. This is the top end view.
The “Rue Germain Coty” stairway part road and a lot of stairs brings you towards the Le Havre city centre. This is the top end view.

At the bottom of the “Rue Germain Coty” stairs, it looks like this:

The "Rue Germain Coty" stairway part road and a lot of stairs brings you towards the Le Havre city centre. This is the bottom end view.
The “Rue Germain Coty” stairway part road and a lot of stairs brings you towards the Le Havre city centre. This is the bottom end view.

The stairways (and the next one) end up the closest to the the city centre.     [back to the map]

A long and winding stairway can be found a few hundred metres to the right from the previous one, it is called the “Escalier des Marchés” (translated it means the Market Stairs).

Le Havre Stairway "Escalier des Marches".
Le Havre Stairway “Escalier des Marchés”.

The stairs were used primarily to go to and from the city markets, the stairs are wide allowing you to carry your heavy grocery bags (imagine hauling your heavy groceries bags up these stairs).     [back to the map]

A few hundred meters to the right from the “Escalier des Marchés“, there is another very long and winding stairway, called the “Rue du Grand Escalier” (meaning the Big Stairway Road).

The top end of the "Rue du Grand Escalier" in Le Havre, Normandy
The top end of the “Rue du Grand Escalier” in Le Havre, Normandy

The “Rue du Grand Escalier“, as you can see above, starts life as a very narrow stairway and winds itself through some interesting views of the city. If you need to pick a stairway to visit, this should probably be the one.     [back to the map]

Parts of the “Rue du Grand Escalier” are quite wide, but the stairs end up as narrow as it started:

The bottom end of the "Rue du Grand Escalier" in Le Havre, Normandy
The bottom end of the “Rue du Grand Escalier” in Le Havre, Normandy

This is the bottom part of the “Rue du Grand Escalier“. But most of the stairway is more interesting, including wider parts and with great views of the city and several interesting houses along the way. The stairs change into difference types, with some long steps, shorter steps or just a path.     [back to the map]

The following photo shows part of the wall that holds the “Rue du Grand Escalier” stairways. It was taken close to the bottom of the stairway, but it clearly shows you a part of the infrastructure that was put in place for the stairs.

Part of the wall of the "Rue du Grand Escalier" in Le Havre, Normandy
Part of the wall of the “Rue du Grand Escalier” in Le Havre, Normandy

The “Rue du Grand Escalier” brings you right onto the road that after a few hundred meters turns into the Le Havre city centre.     [back to the map]

Towards the right of the “Big Stairway Road” is, as can be expected, another stairway. And since the previous one was called “the Big Stairway Road“, it goes without saying that this one is called “Rue du Petit Escalier“, or “The Small Road Stairway“.

The top end of the "Rue du Petit Escalier" in Le Havre, Normandy
The top end of the “Rue du Petit Escalier” in Le Havre, Normandy
[back to the map]

All the stairways mentioned above end at the top at the road called “Rue Felix Faure“, which is a residential area (with some interesting and beautiful villas and manors). If you go towards the beginning of this road (towards the right on the map), cross the busy road that intersects with Felix Faure, you’ll see a steep hill. And of course, there is a very long and winding stairway & path going downhill (or uphill if you start at the bottom).

The Escalier Lechiblier stairway seen from the top.
The Escalier Lechiblier stairway seen from the top.

It is the “Escalier Lechiblier” that winds up & down the steep hill from the start of the Felix Faure road to the city centre. Sometimes it’s just a path (like at the beginning of the photo above), but then it turns into steep steps.     [back to the map]

Here is the same stairway seen from below:

The Escalier Lechiblier stairway seen from the bottom.
The Escalier Lechiblier stairway seen from the bottom.

Do you see the green sign on the left of the wall (towards the top)? That sign says “Circuit des Escalier” meaning “Stairways Circuit“, since there is a circuit of stairs you can follow, up and down the city.     [back to the map]

A few meters further to the right you’ll find another stairway:

The "Impasse-du-Beau-Site" stairway that brings you to one of the big high schools of Le Havre
The “Impasse-du-Beau-Site” stairway that brings you to one of the big high schools of Le Havre

The “Impasse du Beau Site” stairway does not wind as much as the previous one, but it ends up very close to one of the more famous and bigger high/middle schools in the Le Havre city centre, the “Collège les Ormeaux“.     [back to the map]

The "Escalier-Olivier-Senn" stairway is short but joins the "Impasse-du-Beau-Site" stairway. At the top you'll find one of the famous Gouzou art work.
The “Escalier-Olivier-Senn” stairway is short but joins the “Impasse-du-Beau-Site” stairway. At the top you’ll find one of the famous Gouzou art work.

A little further up from the previous stairs you find this small stairway, the “Escalier Olivier Senn” which joins up with the previous stairway (Impasse-du-Beau-Site). At the top of the stairway you can admire one of Jace’s Gouzou drawings made specially for the 500 years celebration of the city.     [back to the map]

Further to the right on the busy “Rue du 329eme” road, you will see a massive fort on the left (the “Fort de Tourneville”). This fort can be visited since it part of an artist colony and entertainment area.

But on the other side of this busy road you will find the hill/cliff again, and of course when you say hill, you say stairs. These stairways are named the “Escalier de Tourneville“, named after the Tourneville fort:

The top end of the "Escalier de Tourneville" that brings you from/to the ex-military fort into the city centre in Le Havre, Normandy
The top end of the “Escalier de Tourneville” that brings you from/to the ex-military fort into the city centre in Le Havre, Normandy

The stairs do go on for quite some distance, in the photo above you can not see the bottom of the stairs. Also, it’s very steep. Following these stairs will lead you to the hospital area close to downtown.     [back to the map]

A few kilometres onwards on the “Rue du 329eme“, the road becomes the “Rue Salvador Allende“. There, you will find an enormous stairway called “Escalier de Montmorcency“.

The top part of the "Escalier de Montmorcency" used to be the main stairs which workers took to go downtown. Two side separated by an escalator.
The top part of the “Escalier de Montmorcency” used to be the main stairs which workers took to go downtown. Two side separated by an escalator.

These used to be the main stairs taken by workers/labourers living on top of the cliffs and working in the city or harbour. Many workers used to “commute” daily, so in 1928 the city installed an escalator to help the tired workers. The wall on the left of the above photo is part of the former escalator. At the top and bottom of the stairways, you can still see the structure that housed the escalator mechanism.

In the photo above, you can barely see the bottom part of the stairs (see the cars at the bottom part of the stairs?).

The bottom part of the "Escalier de Montmorcency" used to be the main stairs which workers took to go downtown. Two side separated by an escalator.
The bottom part of the “Escalier de Montmorcency” used to be the main stairs which workers took to go downtown. Two side separated by an escalator.

This is what it looks like at the bottom of the stairway. There are two sides to the stairs, separated by the now-defunct escalator. On the left of the photo you can see part of the escalator mechanism.     [back to the map]

The top part of the "Escalier de Montmorcency" with the housing of the defunct escalator.
The top part of the “Escalier de Montmorcency” with the housing of the defunct escalator.

However, the escalator was stopped in 1984 due to extensive repairs being required. The city had promised that it will reopen, but so far, it has not happened and it probably never will (most people nowadays have a car).

At the bottom escalator housing you will find another one of the Jace’s Gouzou works of art.        [back to the map]

Further to the right on the map, there is another long and steep stairways named “Escalier Legrand“, and further more to the right you can find this narrow stairway:

The bottom end of the "Escalier Jean Valjean" Le Havre, Normandy
The bottom end of the “Escalier Jean Valjean” Le Havre, Normandy

This is the “Escalier Jean Valjean” (one of Victor Hugo’s main characters in the “Les Miserables” novel and subsequent movies and musicals) leading you not all the way up to the higher points, but towards residential areas. But do notice how high it goes.     [back to the map]

There are many more stairways on this side of the cliff; to name a few of the bigger ones – (click on the following named links to have a new window open with Google Maps pointing at the stairways): “Escalier du Pasteur“, “Passage de l’Epargne“, “Escalier de Bocage“, “Escalier LeFort“, “Escalier du Bois Cody“, “Escalier de la Defense Passive“, “Sentier des Genovefains“, “Escalier de l’Abbaye“, “Passage Stanley“, “Rue de la Cote Verte“, “Escalier Claude Lorrain” or “Escalier du Paradis” (which translated in English means “Stairways to Paradis”) .

Just zoom into the map above and look for the dotted lines. Each dotted line is a stairway, and you’ll see them spread around the city.

Jardins Suspendu

To get to the “Jardins Suspendu” (hanging gardens) which are located in another old fort, there are several stairways to get you there. They are not as imposing as some of the bigger ones, but can still present a physical challenge;

Click on the following links for a new window with Google Maps loaded, showing you the location of the stairways: “Escalier Henri Matisse” and “Rue de la Cote Verin“. There are some smaller ones, but more difficult to find your way.

Seaside

But not all stairs are to be found between the top of the cliff and the city centre. At the seaside there are a few stairs as well, since often the cliffs end up a few meters from the sea.

This following stairway, “rue Jospeh Morlent“, brings you from the busy “Rue Guillemard” down to the beach road, right at the middle of the beach area.

The "Rue Joseph Morlent" is a busy road taken to go to the Le Havre beach area.
The “Rue Joseph Morlent” is a busy road taken to go to the Le Havre beach area.

These less imposing stairs are busy during the summer season with people arriving by bus and walking to the beach.     [back to the map]

A little bit to the left on the map is another stairway that brings people to the beach, the “Escalier de la Falaise“, or “the Cliff Stairways“. This stairway is much less used.

The "Escalier-de-la-Falaise" is a less busy stairway taken to go to the Le Havre beach area.
The “Escalier-de-la-Falaise” is a less busy stairway taken to go to the Le Havre beach area.

When you are at the bottom of these stairs you will notice a beautiful manor a few meters on your left called the “Villa Maritime“. This is the last surviving villa/manor that could be found before WWII on the beach road.     [back to the map]

Saint Adresse

One real challenge comes for the long ,and often steep, path which starts at the bottom in Le Havre and ends at the top of the cliff at Sainte-Adresse. Sainte-Adresse, a big village that lies to the left of Le Havre, is an upmarket village with many beautiful houses.

Notre Dame des Flots chapel

The Fishermen's church called Notre Dame des Flots in Sainte-Adresse, Normandy
The Fishermen’s chapel called Notre Dame des Flots in Sainte-Adresse, Normandy

At the very top of the cliff lies an adorable fisherman’s chapel with a great view over the Le Havre harbour and city centre. The chapel is quite small but with a pleasant and peaceful garden and decorated with all sorts of model boats and with its walls full of commemorative plaques of fishermen who have perished at sea.

Inside the Fishermen's church called Notre Dame des Flots in Sainte-Adresse, Normandy
Inside the Fishermen’s church called Notre Dame des Flots in Sainte-Adresse, Normandy

To get to the top of the Notre Dame des Flots church and see this magnificent church, you can take the long and winding path/stairways that leads to the top.

The path is called “Sentier du Pain du Sucre“, named for a monument a widow placed at the top after her husband was lost to the sea.

Bottom part of the "Sentier du Pain du Sucre" that brings you from Le Havre to the top of the cliffs at Sainte-Adresse
Bottom part of the “Sentier du Pain du Sucre” that brings you from Le Havre to the top of the cliffs at Sainte-Adresse

The “Sentier du Pain du Sucre” brings you, partially by path, partially by stairs to the top, next to the monument. A few meters up the street you will find the church. The stairs don’t look much, but don’t be fooled!     [back to the map]

At Sainte-Adresse you will also find a very large and imposing building. This building, named “Nice-Havrais“, used to be the Belgium’s government’s building during the 1st World War. Belgium had been overrun by the Germans during WWI, and the French government donated Sainte-Adresse to Belgium to use as their capital-in-exile. The King had a castle, and the government ministers used the “Nice-Havrais” building as their seat of power for Belgium (today the building are private apartment and can not be visited).

From this “Nice-Havrais” building to the beach is, you can guess it, a very long stairway. The stairway brings you not all the way to the beach but to the Le Havre yacht club. After the club is the beach.

The stairs leading to/from the Nice-Havrais building in Sainte-Adresse, Normandy
The stairs leading to/from the Nice-Havrais building in Sainte-Adresse, Normandy

At the top left of the above photo you can see the “Nice-Havrais” building, and the stairs that lead towards the beach.     [back to the map]

Conclusion

If you are into hard physical exercises, walking these enormous stairways is a real challenge, no matter how fit you are. But in the end, the views can be spectacular, and the physical activities rewarding.

Or as I stated in the beginning, take the funicular, and then walk down one of the many stairs (that’s what I do).

If you’ve done several of the stairs climbing, leave a comment how difficult it was and/or rewarding. I’m eager to find out.

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