Your own licensed guide leads your group on this private day trip from Le Havre along the Normandy coast, from the white cliffs of Étretat to the old harbour of Honfleur, with a cider and Calvados tasting at a family estate included. Your driver stays with you all day in a private vehicle, so you set the pace instead of following a crowded bus.
Your guide speaks English, French, German, Italian or Spanish, and the tour is private for 1 to 15 travellers: a van for up to 6 travellers, or a 16 seat coach for larger families, friends travelling together and cruise groups, so everyone stays together with the same guide all day.
Your day starts with pickup at the Le Havre cruise terminal, your hotel or the train station. The drive to Étretat takes about 35 minutes along the Alabaster Coast.
In Étretat your guide walks with you up the clifftop path to the famous natural arch of the Porte d'Aval and the Aiguille, a 230 foot needle of chalk rising from the sea. These cliffs inspired Claude Monet, who painted them more than 50 times, and Maurice Leblanc, the author of Arsène Lupin. You also stroll the pebble beach and the village with its old wooden market hall.
About 50 minutes across the Pont de Normandie brings you to Honfleur, the harbour where Impressionism was born. Your guide leads you around the Vieux Bassin lined with tall slate covered houses, to Saint Catherine's Church, the largest wooden church in France, built by shipwrights in the 15th century, and through the cobbled lanes where Eugène Boudin taught a young Monet to paint outdoors. You then have time for lunch (not included, your guide recommends the best spots).
In the afternoon you visit a family cider and Calvados estate in the Pays d'Auge, among apple orchards. You discover how cider, Pommeau and Calvados are made and aged in oak barrels, then enjoy a tasting included in your tour. Apple juice is offered to younger travellers.
Prefer to explore on your own? Choose the Private Driver Only option: your driver takes you to the same places in a private van for up to 7 travellers, with your tasting included, and you visit at your own pace without a guide.
This itinerary is a suggestion and can be customised, just let us know when you book. For cruise passengers we plan the day around your ship's schedule and guarantee your return before all aboard time.
With more than 15 years of experience running private tours in Normandy, we take care of every detail so you can simply enjoy your day.
