Information on Brest and Le Havre

[chatuga]

We will be traveling in April to these 2 ports and have some questions:

Brest-Is there a shuttle from the port into town? Can you get by public bus to the local museums and botanical gardens?
 

Le Havre- Am considering going to Rouen and Givency or just Honfleur. I feeling going to Paris in one day isn’t worth it.  Any feedback from those who were in port for 12 hours on a weekday would be appreciated. 

[edinburgher]

21 hours ago, chatuga said:

- Am considering going to Rouen and Givency or just Honfleur.

There is quite a wide selection of options from le Havre, not itself the most interesting of towns, but a good location for exploring other parts of Normandy.

 

Should you have an interest in WW11 and the Normandy beaches, that would be a longer tour.  Check your Roll Call to see if anyone has already booked a tour and looking for others to join it.

 

Should you have no interest,  Rouen would be a good option, although I very much doubt you could shoehorn in a visit to Giverny on the same day.  Giverny is a longer and more complex journey unless you will have a rental car, a shorex  or a private tour.  Rouen is very easy and a little under an hour by direct train, no changes, and the city is both historic and attractive.There will be many reviews and images online, eg Tripadvisor.

 

Honfleir is only a 30 minute journey by taxi from le Havre or there is an irregular public bus. Cruise passengers will often share with others.(again try your Roll Call or look for others dockside when you leave the ship)  Unless planning a long lunch in Honfleur, you would probably only need 2-3 hours, but that would leave time for a walkaround le Havre itself, although there is little of interest there.

 

Reading past threads might help you decide.

 

Rouen

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=rouen&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=462

 

Honfleur

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=honfleur&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=462

 

 

 

Giverny

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=giverny&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=462

 

Edited March 17 by edinburgher

[Hlitner]

On 3/16/2024 at 1:00 PM, chatuga said:

We will be traveling in April to these 2 ports and have some questions:

Brest-Is there a shuttle from the port into town? Can you get by public bus to the local museums and botanical gardens?
 

Le Havre- Am considering going to Rouen and Givency or just Honfleur. I feeling going to Paris in one day isn’t worth it.  Any feedback from those who were in port for 12 hours on a weekday would be appreciated. 

Going to Rouen, Giverny or Paris can be done on the train (the station is about 1 1/2 miles from the port).  While I agree with you about trying to do Paris during a port day (we love Paris) there are plenty of folks who will do the long trip to Paris (over 2 1/2 hours each way) since it may be their only change to see that city.  We have spent weeks in Paris, and would still return for another few weeks :).  Seeing Paris in 5 hours (which is about when you get on most one-day tours) is, IMHO, a bit sad.  We have spent more than 5 hours in a single museum!

 

We have long suggested that folks who have Le Havre as their last cruise stop (before ending in England) might want to consider an early debarkation and spending a few days in Paris.  There is a good train connection between Le Havre and Paris.

 

Hank