Things to do in Le Havre (Normandy, France) – Guide by a local

Why visit Le Havre Normandy? The city of Thousands Skies

How to pronounce Le Havre

You just have to forget that there is an H.
You can listen to people pronouncing it on forvo.

The City of a Thousands Skies - Le Havre in photos

My family has had a shop in Le Havre here since 1870. Yes, with an 8. My grandfather lived until 104 years old, so he was able to share a lot of stories about the war and the rebuilding. We just wished we had written them down.
Let me show you what I mean by the nickname I have given to my hometown, one of the reasons I love it so much! But I don't take enough pictures, I should walk around more with my camera... I love it when it is moody.

Center of culture

And in recent years, Le Havre as been developing as a cultural center with pieces of modern art installed throughout the city contrasting with the Perret architecture. This is why is is one of the best towns in Normandy.

Note, if you are stopping for one day in Le Havre while on a cruise, my article on Le Havre Shore Excursions might be more practical for you than this one.

Planning Tips - Le Havre France

My Top 7 things to do in Le Havre

#1 - Walk the city center to discover the Perret architecture

Well, this is why Le Havre is famous for. 
True, this is not what you imagine when you think about France. The buildings are square and pinkish grey without embellishments.
But at the time it was built it was an incredible improvement.
My grandfather was one of the first people to get the keys to our family shop and the new apartments where his house used to be. And he was always keen on telling us how much better it was after the rebuilt. The living conditions improved drastically.
The architecture is not the most beautiful in the world, but it was very innovative and efficient at the time of the reconstruction, which is why it as been classified by the Unesco as a World Heritage site.

#2 - Enter Saint Joseph church

Of all the buildings by Perret, the St Joseph church is my favorite. Even a friend of mine who never enters churches was so fascinated that he came inside.
It was built between 1951 and 1957, and the inside was finished in 1964. So Auguste Perret never saw it built.

The base is square and the tower is 107m tall and hollow in the middle. It stands on the angles.

If there is no service, you can enter to admire the structure and the architectural wonder of the tower.
On a sunny day, the colors of the stain glass reflect everywhere inside, it is really enjoyable.

This is one of my favorite churches in Normandy.

GPS - 49°29'28.4"N 0°06'02.5"E

#3 - Admire the volcano

If you are tired of the grey buildings, Check out the pure white of the Volcano theater. This was built by the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. You can walk around and admire it from various angles.
The soft curvatures contrast with the sharp angles of the Perret architecture.
It was inaugurated in 1982.

Between us we sometimes also call it the yoghurt pot. LOL. But this nickname seems to be disappearing.

Recently they have established the library in the bottom part. Check it out, it is also a great interior design!

GPS -  49°29'27.7"N 0°06'27.2"E - one of the best Urban landscapes in Normandy.

#4 - Walk along the beach

When people hear about Le Havre, they think about a harbour. But we also have a nice beach that ends with cliffs.
See my next section of this article for more details on the beach.

#5 - Go up to the viewpoint 'la table d'orientation'

If you are not too tired, you can climb up at the end of the beach in Saint-Adresse (the neighbouring town).
There is a lookout with fantastic views of Le Havre. I love stopping there. But I never have my big camera with me, so I don't have  a great picture of it. Sorry.
GPS - 49°30'26.2"N 0°04'26.3"E

#6 - Enjoy art

Because Le Havre is the "city of thousand skies", it has inspired many artists : Monet, Pissaro, Eugène Boudin, Gustave Courbet, Raoul Dufy...
The impressionists used to come here and paint by the sea the clouds, lights and colors.
If you walk on the seafront, you will see some reproductions of famous paintings where they were painted.

If you enjoy art, you can visit the MuMa (the Museum of Art André Malraux). It is at one end of the waterfront, not far from the container arches.
In permanent displays are paintings spanning from the 15th to the 20th centuries with pieces from Delacroix, Boudin, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Manet and many more... It has one of the most prestigious collection of impressionist art outside of Paris.

Closed on Mondays.

And there is also modern art. In recent year, the Havre has been investing in outside modern art. Some impressive pieces complement the architecture.
My favorite are the modern arches by Vincent Ganivet created by assembling colorful containers. It is located at the end of the Rue de Paris with the port in the background.

I love the perspectives, the colors and the link the the port.

And If you are looking for something different and like street art, Jace has created pieces all around Le Havre, especially with a little orange character named Gouzou. You can find a map of all his tags HERE. This way you can create your own itinerary around it!

Container arches GPS - 49°29'05.8"N 0°06'26.2"E
Le MuMa GPS - 49°29'04.3"N 0°06'11.4"E

I love this place!!! We often come here with my parents to walk.
It combines history, nature and great views of Le Havre.
Located inside the Saint-Adresse fort, the botanical garden includes a free outside walk and the possibility to see the greenhouse for a small fee.
It used to the a military base until 1979.

This can be access on foot from the city center (steep slope) or by public transportation (Line 5 stop 'Jardins suspendus').
If you visit by car, there are several carparks around.
GPS - 49°30'11.1"N 0°05'40.4"E

Le Havre is included in my eBook that facilites the planning of your road trip in Normandy: 

And of course... Le Havre Beach

Le Havre is not like the dreamy sandy beaches of Corsica. Noted.
But it has a lot charm.

First of all it has a walking path all the way along the beach, which makes for a great walk to what we call 'the tip of the world' ("Le bout du monde"), under the cliffs.
On Sundays, many locals come here for a long walk and some fresh air.
And from one end you can see the Perret architecture behind the beach, especially the tower of Saint-Joseph.

The beach in Le Havre has 5 different sections:

• By the water you have sand at low tide
• Then you have the big grey pebbles where beach houses are set up during Summer times
• Then you have a walking path called 'the promenade' with some restaurants (part of the year)
• And below you have a small river with vegetation and another walking / biking area
• And then you have the street and the wide sidewalk

There is space for everyone!

Note: as of 2022, the beach huts are back to being white. But there are talks of other artists getting involved in future years. 

If you walk South towards the Marina, you can also walk on the seawalls. And when there is high tide and strong wind, you can admire the water splashing on them!

Or you can continue North. At one point you cross into the town of Sainte-Adresse where you will find the Estacade (a pontoon)
And if you keep walking you will be under the cliffs and reach 'the tip of the world'.
At this end, you can find another art display. A giant statue looking towards the sea. It is 6,24m high which is the golden ratio of the Perret architecture.

Around the beach of Le Havre

Le Havre is a great stop if you enjoy:

• windsurfing, kite-surfing
• paddle boarding (certain days and only for advanced)
• paragliding, starting at the top of the cliffs
• roller along the beach

And the beach is perfect to watch the sun setting 🙂

What to see in Le Havre - other suggestions in the city center

Below are a few more places you can see on foot. It is of course a selection because many places can be listed, but I have curated my favorites for you.

As I said earlier not much remains of the old Le Havre as it was destroyed during WWII. But on Rue de Paris, you can still see the Cathedral. It is a small one.

The belltower dates back the 16th century.  The main façade is Baroque
Inside, the church organs were gifts from Cardinal de Richelieu in the 17th century.
This is one of the 7 Normandy cathedrals.

GPS - 49°29'13.4"N 0°06'27.4"E

The Perret architecture is very square and grey. 
It will fascinate those who love history and architecture, but others might find it boring after a couple of buildings.
If you need a Nature break (apart from the beach), you can tour the Saint-Roch garden. It is located Avenue Foch. It is the only parc that was planned by Perret in the city center.
In spring this English garden is really beautiful with water, flowers and beautiful old trees.
My grand-parents used to love coming here, sitting and enjoying it for a while.

GPS - 49°29'38.3"N 0°06'07.6"E

The building used to be a government building. It was built in 1760 with a neo-classicism style.
It was heavily damaged during WWII and Auguste Perret wanted to destroy it, but it was classified and restored.
Today it houses the museum of natural history

GPS - 49°29'15.9"N 0°06'32.0"E

If you are staying overnight, you should go out in the evening to enjoy the lights from city.
I really should take better pictures, I am sorry.
The St Joseph church is especially beautiful with all the lights between the reinforced concrete.

Le Havre is the 1st port for wine and alcohol in the world, and the 1st or 2nd port in France for different categories of sea movements.
It welcomes some of the largest container ships in the world.

From the marina, you can enjoy a boat tour inside the port.
Sadly I don't think they have a page in English. Here is the website

What to do in Le Havre - other suggestions close to the city

Below are a few other suggestions of places I enjoy around the town of Le Havre.

If you have a weekend in Le Havre or more, I think they are worth visiting.
But I recommend having a car to be able to get there.

In Le Havre, we are lucky to have a forest very close to the city center: la forêt de Montgeon.
It has been inhabited since the Neolithic. During the Middle-Age, it was used by the nobility to hunt.
Today it is a great place to walk under the shade of the trees on hot days.

GPS - 49°30'43.5"N 0°08'35.5"E

Want even more Nature, we have another great park just a 15min drive from downtown: the Parc de Rouelles.
It is 150ha with ponds and many walking paths. 
In the center, there is a circular dovecot from 1631. And recently they have introduced Scottish Cattle. They are so beautiful!

GPS carpark  - 49°31'15.2"N 0°10'08.7"E

This building in Sainte-Adresse, right next to Le Havre was were the Belge government established itself during the first WW (1914-1918).
And it was occupied from 1944 to 1946 by the United States army. You can see the red postbox.
It can be reached on foot from the beach (uphill).
GPS - 49°30'16.8"N 0°04'50.6"E

And if you enjoy war history, we are not as famous as the Normandy beaches more South but you can still see Blockhaus on the cliffs in Sainte-Adresse. There is a walking path to enjoy the sea views and it goes near several of them.
GPS start - 49°30'40.6"N 0°04'10.3"E

If you are looking for older history, in the wide Le Havre area, neighbouring small towns are home to old abbeys:

• Abbaye de Graville - it has buildings dating back to the 12th and 18th centuries - GPS - 49°30'11.9"N 0°09'51.7"E
• Abbaye de Montivilliers - its current buildings date back to the 11th century with a Roman style - 49°32'43.2"N 0°11'30.5"E

A weekend in Le Havre - itinerary

Suggested itinerary of Le Havre in 2 days - my favorites

Le Havre with kids

If you are traveling with kids, they will enjoy some of the sights listed above such as:

• The beach
• The forest
• The arches of containers
• The fort

But you can also find playgrounds:

• at the beginning of the beach (all ages)
• in the forest (all ages)
• in Square Saint-Roch (I need to go check)
• near the town hall (for younger kids)
• near the container arches (for older kids - big climbing web)

Things to do in Le Havre if it is raining

If it is only raining and there is no strong wind, then I think you should still walk around the city 🙂 As my mother always say, "you are not made of sugar".
But if the wind is blowing, it can be very uncomfortable. In that case you can:

• visit the MuMa (museum of art)
• visit the Museum of natural history
• go see how French people shop for food in Les Halles
• walk along Rue de Paris as the sidewalks are covered
• go to the shopping malls: Coty (not far from the town hall) or Les Docks (not far from the river cruise dock)

Eating in Le Havre

My favorite place to go grocery shopping is 'Le Halles Centrales' just behind the Volcano.
It is a covered market where you can find lots of cheese, meet, french delicacies...
But many of the shops are closed on Mondays.

This one is very easy for me because our family has been very faithful to the same bakery for decades.
It is called Maison Portier. It is near the Halles Centrales (but outside of the covered market).
My brothers and I have lived and travelled in other cities, but we always say that this is the best bread 🙂 We all love a different bread at this bakery (very different) but we can't go anywhere else.
And we really enjoy our little Sunday cake (and sometimes not only on Sundays...).

Closed on Sunday afternoon and Mondays.

That's a difficult one. I don't often go out.
But I still have some suggestions:

• for high end restauration, the most famous is Tartarin on avenue Foch, 2 stars in the Michelin 2019
• for some delicious french cuisine with a lot of thought, I recommend either Le Bouche à Oreille (19 rue Paul Doumer) or La Tablée (69 rue Guillemard) - Booking is essential
• for French crepes, there are many excellent Crêperies in the St François neighborhood such as Maryvonne(13 rue Jean de la Fontaine) , Au Petit Breton (11 rue Dauphine)...
• For mussels, I do like La Voile Bleue (58 rue des sauveteurs). It does not look fancy but their mussels are delicious with Normand sauce with Camembert or with Roquefort!!!
• For simple eating, in Summer we have restaurants along the cabans on the beach. You will find a variety of cooking: French, Asian...

That's even more difficult. for me. I don't drink alcohol.
One of the busiest areas in the evening is around the Volcano, les halles and in the pedestrian street nearby. You can find a large choice of bars.
If you enjoy wine, there is the W Wine bar where you can taste many of them with a card system (101 rue Victor Hugo)
Plus their cheese and charcuterie plates are to die for!

Hotels in Le Havre

Excursions from Le Havre, Seine-Maritime

Want to see more of the best Normandy has to offer?

• 45 Most beautiful landscapes in Normandy - read article
• The best cities and towns - read article
• 10 most charming villages in Normandy - read article
• 16 best castles and their parks - read article
• 5 Best destinations in Normandy - read article
• The cathedrals and most unique churches - read article

Planning a trip to Normandy? 

Check out my travel guide to help you plan:

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