Honfleur in France - medieval town in Normandy

Honfleur in France is not far from Le Havre in Normandy, and the road to Honfleur runs along the beautiful Cote d'Alabatre, or Alabaster Coast. This coast is dominated by the white limestone cliffs that have given the coast its name. Honfleur is a medieval town with a charming fishing harbour, where you can buy seafood or sit with the French in a café.

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Honfleur in France

Honfleur is located on the coast in north-west France and its inhabitants are called honfleurais. This is a wonderfully picturesque town with a charming fishing harbour where the fishing boats come and go, and with all the medieval houses framing it.

Many of the houses are slate covered and painted many times by several famous artists Courbet, Boudin, Monet and Satie. Called the cradle of Impressionism, this area attracted many artists and writers, and these men founded the Honfleur School (Honcole Honfleur) together.

Churches, shops and museums

The church St Catherine is the largest in France made of wood and has escaped fire for hundreds of years. The church also has a bell tower next to it, which is different from the main building. There are also old salt warehouses to visit that we didn't have time to visit ourselves. Honfleur is characterised by antique shops, cafés, seafood restaurants and art museums such as the Musée d'Art Eugène Boudin.

READ MORE: The Normandy landings in France
READ MORE: Veulettes-sur-Mer in Normandy - seaside caravan site

Port of Honfluer

Honfleur looks so utterly enchanting, it's hard to believe that the town was once built just for trade. The harbour was the perfect starting point, and many ship owners got rich here hundreds of years ago. This ranged from trade with Quebec and the slave trade, to cod fishing off Newfoundland. Samuel de Champlain was the most famous explorer in Honfleur.

With their fortunes, wealthy Honfleur families built their high-rise buildings, packed tightly together, especially in the centre of the harbour known as the Vieux Bassin. The more you lived in the centre overlooking the ships, the richer you were. Today the Vieux Bassin attracts yachts and anyone with money. The eastern side around the church of St-Etienne is full of interesting buildings. The west with the Sainte-Catherine church and art pavilions. To the south is the St-Léonard church and renovated beautiful fountains.

Along Honfleur's river passage, you can stroll through gardens to the beach. Visit the Notre-Dame de Grâce chapel and enjoy great views of the River Seine. From Honfleur you can also take boat trips out onto the great Seine estuary.

Honfleur i Frankrike — Honfleur in France with its old harbour

Parking space for motorhomes

In Honfleur, there is a large and central caravan park with good services such as electricity, water and tank emptying. Right now it's almost completely filled with some kind of travelling fairground though. The whole area is filled with trucks with slot machines, caravans stuffed with toys, small rolling barbecue kiosks, washing machines and dogs running loose. It's a little hard to feel completely at home ...

We and some other "regular" motorhomes have found our own little corner where we stand together. From here it is only a short walk to the city centre, and we have just come back from our little tour around the city.

Now we will soon have to deal with our little problems. We have a fridge and a drain that are not working properly, unfortunately. And of course we will eat some fish and mussels, which we bought in a supermarket here in town. Tomorrow we head for Arromanche along la Côte Fleurie ("the flower coast") and the Pays d'Auge, where the finest calvados are produced.

Alabasterkusten — The route to this place was along the Alabaster coast.

Franska småvägar — We drove very small roads along the coast

Facts about Honfleur in France

What country? France (Republic)
Language? French (some also speak English)
Residents? 8000 in Honfleur (2009)
Currency? Euro
Price point? As in Sweden
Time difference? None
Emergency number? 112
El? Like Sweden
Water? Drinkable

Travelling to Honfleur in France

Flight: For example, you can fly to Caen, which is about an hour from Honfleur.
Car: It takes about 11 hours by car from Kiel in Germany, counting pure driving time.

Restaurants in Honfleur

There are plenty of seafood restaurants serving fresh fish straight from the sea. Examples include L'Hippocampe, Le Bacaretto and L'Endroit.

READ MORE: 5 tips for an extraordinary experience in Paris

Helena

03 December 2014 17:39

France

Motorhome holiday France, nature, attraction, Experiences in Europe

Helena

Administrator

21 Comments

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Katarina Wohlfart says:

But how lovely! 🙂

03 December 2014 - 18:11

Reply
Ditte says:

Nice! And good that you have found your own corner, perhaps a little quieter than the fairground.
Both fish and mussels sound delicious.
That's part of the deal in these parts.

03 December 2014 - 18:22

Reply
Eva Lundström says:

Hello there!
I have been following your blog for some time.
I think it's wonderful what you do, that you dare, this is what many people dream of!!!
I am a motorhome owner since last spring and have made many small trips around southern Sweden. Planning and above all dreaming of doing like you.Will follow you on your great journey. Have a wonderful time and take care of yourself.
MVG Eva and Ulf in Ronneby

03 December 2014 - 19:45

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Maggan och Ingemar says:

We have already dealt with fridge problems and drain problems. Being without refrigeration is probably the worst, especially when it's hot outside, in our house there was a fuse that burned due to a cross connection. The drain was clogged and we (the husband) had to take down the entire shower to access and remove the plug, No food leftovers in the sink anymore 🙂.
I hope that your problems are not the same and that you can solve them in a simpler way.
Nice pictures
Enjoy the rest of your journey.

03 December 2014 - 20:21

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Comment by post author

admin says:

Katarina, this is great! Although it will probably take a while before we get down to business...
😉

Ditte, we just had the fish and mussels. Oh, how delicious! I wish I knew what kind of fish it was...
😉

Eva, how nice that you follow us, and thank you for writing! I hope we can inspire you! We will try to share our experiences as best we can!

Maggan and Ingemar, our fridge works on electricity... but not on gas. And we have to solve that! We have a blockage in the shower drain, but not the other drains...

03 December 2014 - 20:44

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BP says:

What a cosy village! The region where Honfleur is located is called Calvados - have you already tried it?
Otherwise, Le Havre's bouillabaisse is very famous and really good!
I hope your "little" problems will be solved tomorrow.

03 December 2014 - 21:24

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Bosse och Gerd says:

How nice to read that you chose our tip to visit Honfleur - I hope you like the mussels !!!!

03 December 2014 - 23:06

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Steve says:

Despite your "small" problems, it sounds like a very bearable existence.

03 December 2014 - 23:59

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Belfina says:

How nice to relive memories by reading about your trip. In Honfleur, we ate delicious mussels, drank calvados and bought a Tarte Normande (local apple cake) for the coffee in the motorhome, which was parked at "your" site. The Eugène Boudin museum is also worth a visit. Eventually, we went on to Bayeaux, the Landing Coast, Mont-St-Michel and Cancale. Oh, so many fun and interesting things to choose from!

04 December 2014 - 0:40

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Casa Annika says:

Oooh, so beautiful! Now we're off! (Yes, I'm in a corner on your trip;-) Will collect Europe tips in a pile!

04 December 2014 - 2:20

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Marina says:

It looks so lovely with these tourist empty pictures, I guess there are both pros and cons with the fact that it is a wintry Europe you meet. Cool to be part of the change to spring later.

04 December 2014 - 3:37

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Anna.Kari says:

hello
How wonderful you have it! I'm actually a little jealous.
You have to try the dish BRANDADE: fish and mashed potatoes doesn't sound like anything special but it's delicious. We found it in a large Carrefour outside Bayeaux.
Goodbye

04 December 2014 - 10:55

Reply
Comment by post author

admin says:

BP, no calvados yet... but we haven't left the area yet.
😉

Bosse and Gerd, thanks for the tip! This is a very cosy town and good service at the campsite. The mussels were really good - the best we've had actually!
🙂

Steve, it's a cool place to travel around! We'll have to figure out the fridge though....

Belfina, oh thank you for all the tips! Really nice to hear from someone who has been here! We ate mussels last night - soooo good!
🙂

Casa Annika, it's great to have you with us and we hope to provide you with lots of great European tips!
🙂

Marina, that's probably the case. It is beautiful this time of year, but the cold requires, among other things, a lot of heating of the motorhome... The tourist office was not open either e.g. ....

Anna.Kari, interesting tip! We will look for it next time we go to Carrefour!

04 December 2014 - 11:14

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Ama de casa says:

Oh! That city is so cosy! Now I'm starting to long for France...
🙂

04 December 2014 - 11:16

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Inga M says:

'Apart from the fairground at the moment, campsites must be pretty spacious at this time of year. Sounds cold and windy after the coast, but picturesque of course in villages where you stay. Hope it works out with the complicated technology.

04 December 2014 - 12:07

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Robin says:

Hello!

Hope everything starts to work out, looks super cosy!
We miss you but know that you will have a great trip, you solve everything on the way, you always do! <3

/Robin & Alexandra

04 December 2014 - 17:09

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Lena i Wales says:

Honfleur is so beautiful! I have been there many times. First time in the late 1980s and last time two years ago. Have sat in the harbour and eaten Moules frites. It is so nice in the old harbour! Enjoy Honfleur, calvados, moules, huitres, white chilled wine, good cheeses and much more!

04 December 2014 - 20:30

Reply
Comment by post author

admin says:

Ama de casa, can only agree! Very cosy city!

No M, there are almost no campsites open... a few maybe, but we haven't found any yet. Instead it's pitches with vending machines for electricity and water, but they work well and yes, there is plenty of space!

Robin and Alexandra, how nice that you write here! Of course everything will work out! Some miscellaneous hassle is part of life. We hear and see you when you come and visit! Hugs
🙂

Lena in Wales, nice to hear that you have been several times in Honfleur! We also liked the town, although it might be a bit different in the summer and now when it's cold. Of course we enjoy mussels, wine and cheeses! We haven't had time for oysters and calvados yet!

04 December 2014 - 22:12

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Åsa says:

Great pictures! Hope you can sort out the problems! / Åsa

05 December 2014 - 10:04

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Renates Reiser says:

Oh how beautiful it was there! Absolutely gorgeous! Have a good trip 😀.

05 December 2014 - 12:17

Reply
Comment by post author

admin says:

Åsa, thank you! We have fixed the fridge (at least for now) and tomorrow we will try to get to a workshop and fix some other things.

Renates Reiser, it's really beautiful here! And thank you, we will enjoy the trip!
🙂

05 December 2014 - 17:30

Reply

Honfleur in France - medieval town in Normandy

Honfleur in France

Churches, shops and museums

Port of Honfluer

Parking space for motorhomes

Facts about Honfleur in France

Travelling to Honfleur in France

Restaurants in Honfleur

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21 Comments

Katarina Wohlfart says:

Ditte says:

Eva Lundström says:

Maggan och Ingemar says:

admin says:

BP says:

Bosse och Gerd says:

Steve says:

Belfina says:

Casa Annika says:

Marina says:

Anna.Kari says:

admin says:

Ama de casa says:

Inga M says:

Robin says:

Lena i Wales says:

admin says:

Åsa says:

Renates Reiser says:

admin says:

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