Shore Excursions From Le Havre
From Paris to Mont-Saint-Michel and the D-Day Beaches, there are some fantastic shore excursions from Le Havre to consider if your cruise docks in the French port city.
Le Havre is within two hours of both Paris and Le Mont-Saint-Michel, the fortress monastery and island that’s one of the most famous landmarks in France. It’s also on the doorstep of the D-Day Beaches where the Normandy landings took place in 1944, and there are options to visit the American, British or Canadian landing beaches on a shore excursion from Le Havre.
I’ll also show you other possible tours from Le Havre, from the stunning medieval city of Rouen to the white chalk cliffs of Étretat, or you could explore the cheese and calvados – Normandy’s famous apple apéritif – in the countryside of the Pays d’Auge. And the gorgeous port town of Honfleur is also close by. Honfleur is one of several places in Normandy with a rich art history, inspiring Claude Monet and contemporary Impressionist painters in particular.
In this guide I’ll show you a selection of tours from Le Havre geared specifically to cruise passengers, with pick-up and drop-off at the terminal and all transport included. I’ll offer my views on how good each package is, suggesting a few things to look out for at each destination. By clicking on the links, you can then proceed to booking the tour.
I hope that you find it helpful.
Disclosure: I may receive a small percentage of your booking fee as an affiliate provider. This comes at no extra cost to you, and is included within the stated ticket price.
D-Day Beaches
The D-Day Beaches – where US, Canadian and British forces landed on June 6th 1944 – are one of the biggest draws for visitors to Normandy, and among the most popular shore excursions from Le Havre. The furthest beaches from Le Havre are the American landing beaches of Utah and Omaha, a 90-minute drive west from the cruise port. The British and Canadian landing sites, on the coast to the north of Caen and Bayeux, are around an hour’s drive from Le Havre.
This D-Day Beaches Shore Excursion from Le Havre covers the US landing sites to the west, including Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc and the German and American Cemeteries nearby.
This Le Havre to D-Day Beaches and Overlord Museum tour is another long day excursion, taking around ten hours, which also includes a visit to the Overlord Museum in Colleville-sur-Mer.
Canadian visitors may well want to visit Juno Beach, where their compatriots landed in 1944. This Juno Beach Canadian D-Day tour visits the beach, Juno Beach Centre and the two Canadian war cemeteries at Reviers and Bretteville-sur-Laize.
And this Normandy D-Day Beaches excursion has a flexible itinerary, with the option of a visit to Arromanches-les-Bains, where some of the remarkable artificial Mulberry Harbour, which was towed across the Channel from England, can still be seen.
Mont-Saint-Michel
Le Mont-Saint-Michel is one of the most famous landmarks in Normandy, a rocky islet in a vast tidal bay where, improbably, an abbey and fortress were built following a local bishop’s vision of St Michael the Archangel in the 8thcentury.
It is surrounded by ever-shifting sands and the estuary of the River Couesnon, the historic boundary between Normandy and Brittany, hence the fortifications. It withstood many English attacks during the Hundred Years War between England and France in the Middle Ages, and a stunning Gothic Abbey crowns the hill, its spire visible for many miles around.
This Mont-Saint-Michel Shore Excursion from Le Havre includes a guided tour of the village on the lower part of the Mont, giving you around two hours (ample, from my experience of three visits) to climb the hill to the Abbey, where there is a €16 entry charge.
It’s a magnificent place to visit, one that belongs on any France bucket list.
Paris
The French capital is a three-hour drive down the autoroute (highway or motorway) from the cruise port at Le Havre, and even though you only get four to five hours travelling around the French capital, and you haven’t visited before, Paris is not to be missed.
I visited Paris for the first time on a day trip back in 1982, and can still recall every minute of that amazing day. In a few hours we got to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, spend a cursory hour in the Louvre, then for the grand finale drive up the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe as the sun started turning golden for sunset.
This trip has a slightly different itinerary, with something that should be on any Paris bucket list, a cruise along the River Seine, the focal point. It’s an unforgettable experience, and a few hours in Paris will leave most of you wanting a whole lot more.
Paris Shore Excursion From Le Havre
Honfleur
Honfleur is the closest shore excursion from Le Havre, a half-hour hop across the Seine estuary from the port and cruise terminal. This historic port has one of the most beautiful harbours in Europe, and is one of several places to have inspired many Impressionist artists in the late 19th century.
Honfleur is small, packed with places to see, and an easily manageable day trip from Le Havre. The historic Vieux Bassin, with its tall, narrow townhouses, steep slate roofs and pavement cafes, is a great place to start.
Beyond there, climb the narrow hilly streets lined with half-timbered houses, where you’ll find Église Sainte-Catherine, the largest wooden church in France, begun in the 15th century and with a separate belltower. There’s also a fascinating Maritime Museum and the small, intriguing Musée Eugène Boudin, which has a collection of around 90 works by the Honfleur artist, and many other works from the late 19th century.
This Honfleur round trip from Le Havre is a pick-up and drop-off package, leaving you with four hours to explore Honfleur by yourself – plenty of time to see the Vieux Bassin, church, a couple of the Museums and lunch in one of the restaurants around the town.
Honfleur and Deauville
Le Havre is ideally placed for exploring the Normandy coast in either direction. Honfleur – which I describe in the previous section – is less than half an hour away across the Seine estuary and the Pont de Normandie. And the proximity of Le Havre to the Côte Fleurie, home to some of the best beaches in northern France.
These beaches are long, wide and sandy, and the resorts along this stretch of coast – which also include my favourites Trouville and Cabourg – have long been popular with Parisians.
The best-known seaside resort on the Côte Fleurie is Deauville, with its glamorous casino and elegant Belle Époque villas and hotels. It’s also well-known for its horse racing and high end boutique shops. And this Seaside Charms of Honfleur and Deauville shore excursion from Le Havre gives you a few hours at each of these very different seaside towns. A great way to spend your day onshore.
See Also: 10 Best Things To Do In Honfleur
Rouen
Rouen is one of the most beautiful medieval cities in France, with an extraordinary historic centre, three outstanding Gothic churches and some of the finest half-timbered houses and streets in Europe.
The city is best known for Rouen Cathedral, a gargantuan Gothic masterpiece built over more than 600 years, with a spire that was once the tallest building in the world. The west front was famously painted many times by Claude Monet, but the interior is also well worth seeing.
Rouen’s other main claim to fame is that it was here that French heroine Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) was burned at the stake by her English captors in 1431. A cross on Place du Vieux Marché (Old Market Square) marks the spot where she died, and the remarkable 1979 Church of Jeanne d’Arc commemorates her. The modern exterior contrasts with the fine wooden interior, flooded with light from centuries-old stained-glass windows.
This Rouen and Joan of Arc tour from Le Havre takes you the hour and 10 minutes from Le Havre to Rouen and back, with a guided tour of the Cathedral and Old Town. The schedule also leaves you two hours free time, with the option of lunch or further exploration of one of the most beautiful cities you’ve never heard of.
Giverny
This tour from Le Havre is possibly the best option for art lovers, especially aficionados of Claude Monet, as it visits both his former home and one of his favourite muses, the west front of Rouen Cathedral.
Monet lived in Giverny, just outside Paris and inside. Normandy. His house includes his recreated studio, while the gardens, with the famous red Japanese-style bridge and lily ponds, are just as they were when he died a century ago. None of his original paintings are held at Giverny, but this doesn’t matter – after all, by visiting Giverny you get to walk through his paintings rather than simply look at them in a gallery.
This Giverny Gardens & Rouen Private Tour also stops at the medieval city of Rouen, best-known for its monumental Cathedral. Monet painted a series of over 30 impressions of the west front of the Cathedral in different lighting conditions, and these are among his most famous works.
Étretat
Étretat is the most famous resort on the Côte d’Albâtre, thirty miles of spectacular stratified chalk cliffs to the northeast of Le Havre. It’s one of the most dramatic and beautiful coastlines in Europe, which many of you will see from your cruise ship as you pass along the English Channel.
As you’ll have limited time onshore, this Étretat return trip from Le Havre is the most convenient option. Like the Honfleur round trip mentioned earlier in the article, this package consists of transport from the cruise port to Étretat and back, with four hours to enjoy the beaches or a coastal walk by yourself.
The latter would be my recommended option, with superb views northeast along the coastline towards the ferry port of Dieppe.
Rural Normandy
Normandy is a wonderful food and drink destination. The region is well known for its cheeses – it’s the home of Camembert and Pont-l’Évêque, both of which are produced in the Pays d’Auge a short distance south of Le Havre and the Seine estuary.
Along with neighbour Brittany, it’s also renowned for its cidre (cider), and for its unique apple liqueur, calvados, which is also the name of the département (the French equivalent of county) that takes up much of Lower Normandy.
This Normandy Cheese and Calvados Shore Excursion is a great introduction to rural, backwoods Normandy. It begins with a traditional cheese producer at Livarot where you learn how they make the local cheese and the Pont-l’Évêque variety.
You then spend an hour at Beuvron-en-Auge, a beautiful medieval village full of half-timbered houses, before continuing to a calvados factory and a tour and tasting.
The tour then returns to Le Havre via a one-hour stop in Honfleur, the historic port across the Seine estuary which also inspired some of the great Impressionist artists.
Best Shore Excursions From Le Havre – Final Thoughts
I hope that you’ve found this article informative and helpful.
I’ve travelled extensively around northern France and even lived in Paris one summer, so have written numerous articles abput the city and region.
Normandy Articles
Things To Do In Rouen – the wonderful ancient capital of Normandy
Paris Articles
Best Eiffel Tower Views – 28 best places to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Arc de Triomphe Paris – all you need to know before visiting this great Paris landmark
Things To Do In Montmartre – the hilltop village that inspired so many artists in the 19th and 20th centuries
Sunset in Paris – the 15 best places to see one
Things To Do In The Latin Quarter Paris – exploring the historic Left Bank
Visiting Place de la Concorde Paris – one of the most iconic squares in Paris
Pont Alexandre III Paris – stunning Belle Epoque Parisian bridge
Famous Churches In Paris – 22 stunning Parisian churches to seek out
Icons of Paris – from the Mona Lisa to the Moulin Rouge, the Arc de Triomphe to Art Nouveau Metro signs, and many more
La Sainte Chapelle Paris – one of the most beautiful Gothic churches ever built
Southern France
South of France Road Trip– a 10-day itinerary across Provence and Occitanie
Things To Do In Albi – stunning red-brick World Heritage city with outstanding Toulouse-Lautrec Museum
One Day In Arles – Roman monuments aplenty, anda chance to follow in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh
One Day In Avignon – 24 hours by the Rhone in the City of Popes
Best Day Trips From Avignon – 14 fantastic day trips from the City of Popes