Le Havre - Crown Princess

[Northeastal]

DW and I are visiting Le Havre on the Crown in October / November of this year.

 

Can anyone please tell me whether it is possible to walk in to Le Havre from where the ship docks?

 

If not, is there a shuttle provided, either free or to pay for?

 

Many thanks in advance

[nhcruiser]

Excellent question, we may be on the same cruise and had a similar question.

[paul929207]

No, we had to take a taxi to town.

[majortom10]

Recently visited Le Havre on Caribbean Princess and it is some distance to walk to the town and when you get there there is not a great deal to see so having visited before we had a nice relaxing stay on the ship. There was a shuttle bus provided by Princess into town and cost $16 pp return.

[tml1230]

Last year we rented a car right next to the ship itself...it was very reasonable and we explored the area. the last poster is correct, there isnt alot to do or see in the city itself. Had you considered the Paris on your own tour off the ship?

[minikiss]

We were on the Grand last year and we walked from the ship to the centre. It is do able but i can't remember how long it took.

We did as we just planned to wonder about on our own.

I agree with above posts there's not much to see there.

When you get out of the port part, turn left at the main road and follow your way round until you get to the information centre. from there they can give you a map with a self guided tour.

There is a shopping centre if you go right but we found not a lot to look at or buy. so don't recommend it unless your bored and need to walk a bit more. we wished we hadn't and were glad to get back on board.

 

Julia

[Pia1913]

Excellent question, we may be on the same cruise and had a similar question.

 

DW and I are visiting Le Havre on the Crown in October / November of this year.

 

Can anyone please tell me whether it is possible to walk in to Le Havre from where the ship docks?

 

If not, is there a shuttle provided, either free or to pay for?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

There's nothing there. Don't waste your time. You need to find something else to do. This is the port for Normandy which seems to interest lots of folks.

[Wavesprite]

We were in Le Havre two years ago. We rented a car right there at the port (80 euros I believe) and drove to the D Day beaches, and then stopped in Honfleur on the way back. It was AWESOME having our own car. (They drive on the same side of the road as we do). We had brought a GPS with global maps on it, but they had them to rent as well.

 

You would have to take a Taxi in to town, it's a very industrial area, and not near "town".

[flamomo]

Are you on the Crown transatlantic Southampton to Ft Lauderdale sailing October 26th?

 

If so, if you have not already done so, please come join the roll call. There's a fairly large group posting, and sharing information and plans.

 

(I don't recall seeing your screen name on the roll call.)

[pshaze]

We were in Le Havre two years ago. We rented a car right there at the port (80 euros I believe) and drove to the D Day beaches, and then stopped in Honfleur on the way back. It was AWESOME having our own car. (They drive on the same side of the road as we do). We had brought a GPS with global maps on it, but they had them to rent as well.

 

You would have to take a Taxi in to town, it's a very industrial area, and not near "town".

 

Did you have to reserve the car ahead of time?

[shoreham01]

We were in Le Havre on a Sunday and it was awful. Very ugly town and hardly anything open. Even the restaurants were closed. Would not bother to go back there again. If I remember correctly and have not got mixed up with the ports, there was a supermarket and cinema complex quite near where the ship docks. When I say near, it is still quite a long way so you will need taxi or shuttle.

 

Best to take an excursion or stay on the ship.

[Wavesprite]

Did you have to reserve the car ahead of time?

 

Yes, I reserved it in advance....it was through "rentacar".

[Northeastal]

Many thanks for your quick responses.

 

The trips to Paris require a three hour coach ride there and three hours back. This is perhaps worth it if this is your only opportunity to visit Paris. We live in the UK and can fly to Paris in just over an hour for a long weekend.

 

Taking the advice on the board, we are going to go on the tour to the Normandy beaches.

 

Once again, many thanks for everyone's help.

[kayelbee]

Sorry to disagree with you but I walked from the cruise port into Le Havre, OK it took about 30 mins but a flat walk on pavement all the way. The city itself is fairly modern, after it was heavily bombed during WW2, mainly by Allied Forces. There are pleasant squares with restaurants and coffee shops. The new Cathedral is worth a visit to have a look up through the centre of the spire, there is also an old cathedral in the centre which is lovely from the outside but I didn't see the inside. I liked Le Havre when I visited last year and was surprised that I did as I had heard 'bad' things about it, my advise, have a wander round, whether you walk in or not, with an open mind, you might well be surprised!

[boca7]

I was there 1st week in May & it was freezing, everyone coming back said not to bother & the ones that took a taxi said it was less than the bus. Couple who went to the fishing village liked the trip.

[NearEnough]

You can walk into town. We took a cab because there were four of us - went to the bus station and took the bus to Honfleur - a BEAUTIFUL old villiage about 20km approx. away. It's where a lot of Parisians go for weekends. It has quaint buildings and a beautiful harbour. I'd practiced exactly what I'd wanted to say in French beforehand with regard to getting there and buying tickets. Lady in the ticket office was extremely helpful (and amused). We had a great day. I thought the three hour trip into Paris was not worth it.

[katisdale]

You may find individuals on your roll call who have set up independent tours. Our stop in Le Havre was a highlight of our cruise. We went to both the American and British cemeteries as well as the D-Day beaches. They were so moving, and so different. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Fletch1]

You must try and get to Honfleur....such a beautiful little seaside village....one of those that always features on travel shows and in travel mags.

 

We did a ship tour there which was reasonable priced, but as earlier posters have said, you can public transport it to there as well.

[RASHOPPER2]

There is a wonderful art museum in Le Havre - the Malreaux Museum. They have some lovely French impressionist work there as well as other genre's. It is a small museum - the art is very well placed, and it is a lovely way to spend a few LeHavre hours. We cabbed there and back - not terribly expensive.

[Chloe1500]

You must try and get to Honfleur....such a beautiful little seaside village....one of those that always features on travel shows and in travel mags.

 

We did a ship tour there which was reasonable priced, but as earlier posters have said, you can public transport it to there as well.

 

We just visited Honfleur from Le Havre on our own by local bus two weeks ago. It wa a great day! Just a word of caution about traveling there by local bus: there are few buses and there may be too many cruisers hoping to get on (two ships in port that day). We walked to the station in Le Havre and bought tickets early, queued early and got on. At some point, the station agents stopped selling tickets and the bus we took quickly filled to capacity, leaving many to wait an hour for the next bus or revise their plans. On the way back, we noticed people started queueing at least 30 minutes before the bus arrived in Honfleur.

By the way, the station agent spoke English, and the two drivers we had did not. One driver did know one word, "Stop!" which he had to use many times as passengers attempted to get on without validating their tickets.

[Host CJSKIDS]

We took a taxi into town and then took the train to Rouen and really enjoyed our day. Beautiful train ride, under an hour. Great town with lots of history.

[chloe kitty]

We will be in Le Havre in August. We have been to Paris several times and did the Normandy beaches last year. We were going to just do into Le Havre, but from what I am reading here, that sounds like a mistake. I did contact the tourist office in that area, and now have a schedule for the bus to Honfluer. We were planning on walking from the ship to the bus station, as we like to walk off our meals, now I'm not sure.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for the day?

[Times Prince]

I was there 1st week in May & it was freezing, ....

This year (2013) was unseasonably cold in Europe. We were there around April 29 and a cold front had just come in - it was in the 50's but we had a nice day in Rouen.

 

We took a taxi into town and then took the train to Rouen and really enjoyed our day. Beautiful train ride, under an hour. Great town with lots of history.

Princess has a tour that takes you there, with a guided walk then about an hour on your own. This is where Joan of Arc was burned, there is a fascinating city clock, several 100's of years of architecture present, and a beautiful Cathedral of Notre Dame painted by Monet many times.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/France/Haute_Normandie/Rouen-94667/Things_To_Do-Rouen-NOTREDAME_CATHEDRAL-BR-1.html

 

Visiting a nice coffee shop on a cold day rounded the trip out well and left some local color in our minds.

[Big Chippy]

Previous posts have mentioned taking a bus to Honfleur, we visited there last year on a cruise tour and it was delightful. We are in Le Havre again in July and would like to return to Honfleur probably by Taxi has anyone done this? Whilst the bus sounds ok it may be problematic getting back and my DW doesn't like stress :rolleyes: