Cruise Stop La Havre France

Honfleur is lovely and interesting.

We took a ship-sold excursion to Rouen and had a great time. You could do it yourself by train -- taxi or shuttle from pier to LeHavre station, then a local train to Rouen, back in reverse. Twelve hours ought to be enough for that if you time it right and pace yourselves to enjoy the trip. Rouen is a very interesting city with some worthwhile sights that can be enjoyed in less than a day -- the cathedral, plague cemetery, art museum, medieval center, and Joan of Arc memorial.

Edit -- And, yes, Honfleur is lovely and interesting, much closer to LeHavre. I don't know how to get there by public transit but there must be a way.

Another option is to stay in Le Havre. It doesn’t get a lot of attention but it has some interesting post WW2 architecture and a lovely small Impressionist museum with a nice restaurant situated on the waterfront.

There are regular buses to Honfleur from the bus terminal in the town centre across the Pont de Normandie.

There will be schedules at the bus stop. I've found the schedules a number of times in the past, but for some reason tonight they are being elusive.

For Rouen look on sncfconnect. . Normally the first one a cruise passenger could take is at just after 10.00 for the 50 minute journey.

I like to look at various cruise lines’ port excursions to get ideas and then often I do them on my own.

For example, here are Carnival’s excursions at that port: https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/le-havre-paris?rootCategoryCode=shoreex

Here’s Disney’s: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/europe/list/le-havre-france/

I have Rick Steves’ northern European cruising book, and he says that if you want to go to Paris, or do the D-Day beaches, taking a ship’s excursion is usually best due to the time/distance factor, but closer trips should be fine on your own.

What excursions are being offered by your line? They will give you a good idea of what can be accomplished, with the exception of Paris. Also check Cruise Critic and Tours by Locals shore excursion listings. Since Le Havre is as close as cruise ships can dock, they bill it as "Paris" but it's a long schlep. With 12 hours, you could conceivably spend a 6 or 7 hour chunk of time there, but it would be exhausting day. Rouen and Giverny are doable, with Rouen being closer. We did a Rouen and Giverny excursion because it was the easiest way to get to Giverny, but both were rushed. It's easy to spend an leisurely day in Rouen or Honfleur. Some people from our cruises have gone to Mont St Michel. A good combination might be a trip to Rouen, which is the easiest to reach by public transportation, and a few hours in Le Havre to see a museum or two. The Museum of Modern Art has a big impressionist collection.