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 the building is not new. It is the former transatlantic terminal building from the glory […]

Cherbourg, or as it is known officially Cherbourg-Octeville (after having merged with its neighbouring town), can be described as “quaint”. That’s the word I would use if I were to be positive. The real words that come to my mind are “drab”, “rundown” and “uninspiring”. NOTE: Click on the top photo for a bigger panorama […]

Transport Getting There Train: There are no direct trains to Honfleur. The closest train station is Trouville/Deauville‘s station. Click here to find out train distances. Ferry: Although large cruise ships arrive here, no ferries. The closest ferry harbour is Le Havre. Air: The international airport for Deauville is very close by with regular flights to […]

Following Normandy’s best kept secret (Veules-Les-Roses), here’s the least best kept one; Honfleur. Honfleur is one of the prime tourist destinations in Normandy, second only to the Mont St. Michel. It’s not only popular with the foreign tourists but also with local French ones. Day trippers from Paris, even from within Normandy, will be visiting this […]

No visit to Marseilles is complete without a visit to the famous, even notorious, fortress called Chateau d’If (it’s like visiting Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower). For those of you who do not know what this castle represents, let me remind you of a very famous book written by Alexandre Dumas called the […]

Marseilles is France’s 2nd largest city in population (over 800,000 inhabitants in the city), and France’s biggest harbour. It is also one of the oldest dwellings in France, with cave painting found dating back 30,000 years BC. It doesn’t get any older than that.   NOTE: Below you’ll find an impression of Marseilles, but it’s […]

St. Malo in Brittany is one of those cities (population around 50,000) that shows very well why France is the #1 tourist destination in the world. It’s a medieval city, well maintained with an enormous walled city, enormous fortress towers, a big harbour, many old and majestic houses and cobblestone streets lined with restaurants. Definitely […]

Transport Getting There Ferry: from the UK: Daily ferries from Portsmouth, Jersey, Guernsey, Weymouth and Poole. Air: The airport, close to Dinard, is shared with Saint-Malo and offers international flights, particularly those of Ryanair. Other international destinations will require changing in London. Click here to access the airport’s website. Restaurants More than you can handle. […]

Every two years, the epic yacht race from Le Havre to South America is held. Called the Transat Jacques Vabre, the first ever race was held in 1993. The race is also called the “Route du Cafe”, since it joins Le Havre with the historical coffee growing places in South America. The main sponsor of the race, […]

Although Perros-Guirec is a real beachside resort, many people go there for the incredible and wild nature hikes alongside the picturesque seaside (English Channel). The town is cute but not exactly tourist worthy; you don’t go there to visit the town itself. The earliest recording in history of the town can be found in the […]

Every five or six years, Rouen receives world’s tall ships, those sail ships with enormous masts often used by different country’s navy as training ship. Some 50 ships, not all of them sail ships since there are also a few modern warships, gather at the Rouen harbour and docks.   For some ten days, all […]

Etretat is Upper Normandy’s most popular tourist destination, particularly with the Parisians and locals. It is a small town (some 1500 inhabitants), but very picturesque and it has survived World War II almost intact. Its age can not be determined, but it is believed that it was there before the Vikings. Like most coastal towns […]

Dieppe is a small harbour city (some 40,000 inhabitants) with an active fishing fleet, a ferry to the United Kingdom (Newhaven), an enormous fortress/castle and a nice looking inner city. Dieppe was founded in the year 1060 as a small fishing village, but already in 910, the Vikings started a settlement.   Dieppe, like most of […]

Transport Getting There Ferry: from Newhaven, UK, there are 2-3 daily return sailings. Within Dieppe Dieppe is rather small and mostly flat, so no transportation is needed. If you are in the city centre, you can walk up to the castle. If you have come via ferry, there is a shuttle bus that brings you […]

Trouville-sur-Mer, Lower Normandy, suffers from a perceived lack of glamour because of its more famous neighbour, Deauville (known for its casino, conference centre and international star-studded film festival). But they have nothing to be ashamed of. Big and long white sandy beaches, beautiful mansions, great restaurants and also a big casino, Trouville is the prefect beachside […]

Transport Getting There Train: There is a train link between Paris and the shared railway station of Trouville-sur-Mer and Deauville. There are several daily direct (and ones where you need to change) trains. Fastest time is 2 hours. Ferry: Closest ferry harbours from the UK are Ouistreham (Caen) and Le Havre Air: Deauville has an […]

Transport Getting There Getting to Fecamp requires your own transportation. There is a railway station, but the majority of arrivals/departures is done via bus which can take a long time. There is an occasional train, but it only goes as far as Bréauté-Beuzeville, and from there you need to change to the Paris-Le Havre rail line. […]

Fecamp is a small coastal city with an active fishing fleet. The fishing fleet is central to the city, since the fishing boats have been going to Newfoundland for over a century to fish for cod, and another large portion of the fleet fished for herring.   The city used to have several herring smoking factories, […]

Le Havre, founded in 1517 by King Francois I, is a coastal city on the west of France, in the Normandy region. It is France’s 2nd largest harbour (after Marseilles) and Europe’s 5th biggest in terms of container ship movements.   Apart from the container ships, there are many oil and gas tankers, cruise ships […]

The harbour of Le Havre is France’s second largest, second after Marseilles, and the biggest in France for containers (and Europe’s 5th largest). Every day you can see many big cargo ships arrive or depart from this port.   In fact, there are two main harbours; the “historical one” and “Port 2000“. The first one […]

Transport Getting there Ferry: From Southampton and Portsmouth direct to Le Havre, or from Newhaven to Dieppe and then the A29 to Le Havre. Click here to read more about the ferry station. Air: There is an airport, but there are no scheduled flights anymore, just charters. Within Le Havre Within Le Havre, there is […]