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Le Harve In a Day

Posted by on

Question:

We'll be arriving in Le Harve aboard a cruise ship in mid-July, and we have one day - 12 hours really - to pack as much as we can in to the port visit.

The cruise line offers various bus trips - like Paris, as an example - where you spend over six hours riding on a bus to/from Paris, and getting may be a couple of hour IN Paris. Seems like a lot of money to spend to sit on a bus.

My thought was to rent a car for a day, driving west from Le Harve to Arrowmanches les Bains, then on to St. Mont Michel, then back to Le Harve.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Posted by
1601 posts

I am going to be in this part of the world with a car for the first time this coming May. So I don't have any first hand experience.

However, I would do one or the other. Drive directly to MSM with a stop in Caen OR drive along the northern coast. You could stop at Pegasus Bridge, Caen, Bayeux and see the beaches and any museums you want to see. You can have two leisurely meals enjoying the terrific Normandy food as well.

Everything always takes longer than you think. You will spend a good amount of time just getting to and renting the car. When I am worried about not having enough time, I don't enjoy things as much.

Posted by
11569 posts

With twelve hours from your port in Le Havre, rent a car and visit Honfleur, Bayeux and the D-Day Beaches.
If time allows go on to Mont St-Michel before returning to Le Havre. Be aware that Arromanches is also a worthwhile stop. Be aware that Mt St-Michel is usually mobbed with tourists. I preferred the view from the mainland to walking up the many steps of this landmark.

Posted by
28074 posts

You can get routing suggestions and travel-time estimates on the website viamichelin.com. You'll probably need to use something like the mainland town of Pontorson for the route to Mont-St-Michel.

This seems like an awful lot of driving--6 hours with no stops, navigational errors, traffic tie-ups, searching for parking or walking from your parking place to what you actually want to see. Add in the time dealing with the car-rental agency and the need to get at least one meal during the day, and how much sightseeing time will you really have if you go as far as Mont-St-Michel?

Bayeux has several worthwhile sights: the Bayeux Tapestry, the cathedral, the historic center, the good and not-too-large invasion museum. I recommend considering going to Arromanches and Bayeux. If you have extra time, you might stop on the way back at one of the coastal resort towns (Cabourg, Deauville-Trouville) or in Honfleur. They (especially Honfleur) are rather close to LeHavre, which would mitigate the risk of missing the ship if you encountered some delays on the road.

Posted by
1382 posts

As I said in another post, you'd be completely crossing Normandie which is a pretty big area. That would be 6 hours in the car---and praying that nothing goes wrong.

Do yourself a favor and see Honfleur or Etretat or just enjoy Le Havre.

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