I was wondering if taxis are readily available in Le Havre and Cherbourg. Our ship pulls into Le Havre on Sunday, September 5th, and Cherbourg on the 6th. We%26#39;re not in either place THAT long, so I was wondering if anyone could suggest small towns or places to go on our own. I%26#39;m really not up for a 2-3 hour jaunt somewhere and have to rush back to the ship. I want a %26quot;taste%26quot; of France, and then perhaps go back on my own when I have more time to spend. Most of the guide companies I have contacted have longer tours. Any suggestions?? And, do taxis run on Sunday, and would that be a good way to go. Thanks!!
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Le Havre:
The CLASSIC visit from here would be to Honfleur, which is just the other side of the Seine Estuary, I would think it would be about 20-30min taxi ride away, but you could probably take a bus, Buses Verts de Normandy, No 50 or 20 go there from Le Havre:
http://www.busverts.fr/
You might find, if you look at the Le Havre website, though, that there is more to this port than meets the eye! It%26#39;s quite possible that you will find a few things to do that interest you, and reduce the need for all that extra travel and %26#39;faff%26#39;!:
http://www.le-havre-tourism.com/
Cherbourg:
Like Le Havre, there is more to this port than you might think, with quite a few good museums and things to see:
http://www.ville-cherbourg.fr/uk/
However, if you really want to get out of town, perhaps go to Barfleur, and look at the wild views from the Pointe de Barfleur.
http://www.ville-barfleur.fr/
Carteret is a pretty enough %26#39;seaside%26#39; town
http://www.barneville-carteret.fr/
and Valognes is an attractive, small %26#39;workaday%26#39; French town with a couple of good restaurants.
http://www.mairie-valognes.fr/uk/welcome.html
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I would definitely go to Honfleur on the Sunday. Most towns are absolutely dead on Sundays, so Le Havre will be pretty boring. Sunday is always buzzing in Honfleur and there are lots of great places for lunch, it%26#39;s extremely pretty and there are lots of art galleries and a couple of churches and museums to look at.
Again, Mondays are a bad day in France, most shops are closed but I too would go to Barfleur or St Vaast.
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As said Honfleur is the place to go from Le Havre. The easiest way to go would be a taxi. They will be lined up at the ship. Ther are usually half day excursions from the ship.
Honfleur went to sleep for a few hundred years when Le Havre was built in 1517 after a place was discovered over the Atlantic. So it still has winding cobbled streets lined with XVI c houses. It also has a wooden church of which there are only two in France.
Le Havre has it%26#39;s interest if you are into architecture. It was rebuilt after being 80% destroyed by the allies. The architect was August Perret who was a concrete specialist. The whole town was built in concrete. The Church and town hall as well. The appartemnt blocks were made in factories and assembled in situ. The columns of the arcades are all 6.25 m part - the size of all the walls. They were very well made for the 1950s. Large rooms, bathroom, well equiped kitchen and central heating.
There is an old house that was a ship owners house that has been restored it called %26quot;La Maison de l%26#39;armateur%26quot;
Ther%26#39;s also an art gallery,
From Cherbourg the ships organise trips around the countryside. The Saire valley which leads to St Vaast, orr the other way to La Hague which is arocky coast line.
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I found Cherbourg to be absolutely charming and we just took the ship bus into the center of town and spent the day walking around the general area (we were there in April). Well actually, we ate our way around the area with croissants, espresso, lunch outside, and then back for more croissants. The shops were lovely, the food stalls remarkable and the people watching marvelous. I would return to Cherbourg in a heart beat!
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Yes but don%26#39;t forget, as I said, Honeybee is going to be there on a MOnday and all those lovely shops, and possibly some of the restuarants, will be closed.
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