Going from UK to Le Havre

[RTLS]

Hi there,

 

I'm in the process of finding a short river cruise to add on to a European vacation and the TA is suggesting an Avalon one that starts in Le Havre and ends in Paris. She said that as we are already in the UK, it should be no problem getting to Le Havre.

 

I'm not sure that is correct. The train from London goes to Paris and then we would leave Paris from a different station to get on the train to Le Havre.

 

Has anyone done this in a more straightforward way. I'd really appreciate any input.

 

Thanks.

[RDC1]

Hi there,

 

I'm in the process of finding a short river cruise to add on to a European vacation and the TA is suggesting an Avalon one that starts in Le Havre and ends in Paris. She said that as we are already in the UK, it should be no problem getting to Le Havre.

 

I'm not sure that is correct. The train from London goes to Paris and then we would leave Paris from a different station to get on the train to Le Havre.

 

Has anyone done this in a more straightforward way. I'd really appreciate any input.

 

Thanks.

 

There is always the ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre

[notamermaid]

Ferry it could be, yes. You would need to check the times of course and I have my doubts as to whether you would find a ferry arrival time that is close to embarkation for your river cruise. Still, worth looking into if you like ferries.

 

 

The more puzzling thing is the Le Havre - Paris idea. I have so far not heard any river cruiser mention a one way trip on the Seine. They are all doing Paris return. Have you got more details from your TA? Do you mean AvalonWaterways?

 

 

 

Can you find that cruise on here: https://www.avalonwaterways.com/River-Cruises/Seine-River/

 

 

notamermaid

[kentchris]

Hi there,

 

I'm in the process of finding a short river cruise to add on to a European vacation and the TA is suggesting an Avalon one that starts in Le Havre and ends in Paris. She said that as we are already in the UK, it should be no problem getting to Le Havre.

 

I'm not sure that is correct. The train from London goes to Paris and then we would leave Paris from a different station to get on the train to Le Havre.

 

Has anyone done this in a more straightforward way. I'd really appreciate any input.

 

Thanks.

I can see a cruise on Avalon's UK site that fits that general description: the southbound 'Reflections of the Seine'. It begins with a night in Paris before a transfer to Le Havre so your TA may be a bit confused about the itinerary.

[Hoyaheel]

If you "have" to travel from the UK to mainland Europe for a river cruise, something departing Amsterdam might be easy. Mainly because those itineraries actually leave from Amsterdam. Paris itineraries are sort of all over. But if you're going to do a short flight to AMS, you could do a short flight almost anywhere that looked interesting to start a cruise. Honestly, I'd pick more for the itinerary and what you want to see than what is easiest to accomplish - I think any river cruise itinerary where you're starting in the UK is going to be pretty much the same amount of steps you'll need to take to get to the start.....

 

(alternatively you could look at something like small barge/canal cruising in the UK? Not at all a river cruise but it's something that's been on our list a while ;-)

[CPT Trips]

Notamermaid - in fact, at least one cruise line does a oneway Seine cruise. Grand Circle goes Paris to Honfleur or the reverse. I believe it is 13 days, two overnights on the ship in both Paris and Honfleur and an overnight and n Rouen.

[notamermaid]

Thanks, CPT Trips. Interesting, it sounds more intensive than your regular 8 day return cruise.

 

 

I have just thought: apart from a ferry one could of course self-drive from the UK to Normandy. London to Le Havre is certainly a distance doable in a day.

 

 

notamermaid

[kentchris]

Notamermaid - in fact, at least one cruise line does a oneway Seine cruise. Grand Circle goes Paris to Honfleur or the reverse. I believe it is 13 days, two overnights on the ship in both Paris and Honfleur and an overnight and n Rouen.

The Avalon itinerary I mentioned earlier is 9 days in one direction, operating both north and south bound. The first night of the southbound cruise is spent in Paris before a transfer to the boat in Le Havre: based on OP mentioning Avalon I suspect that is the cruise they're talking about. If that's correct then there isn't any fiddling around involved to get to Le Havre independently.

[RTLS]

Thanks everyone. Yes that is the Avalon waterways deal that starts in Paris and then goes to Le Havre by coach for the start of the cruise. There is also an option of Cruise Only starting in Le Havre and my TA is suggesting that might be easy for us to do and then we could spend the money on a few more days in Paris at the end.

 

However I'm thinking that Paris to Paris might be the way to go.