Honfleur, France - Our Home Base in Normandy

Honfleur feels like a movie set. The old harbor front buildings, each a different muted color, some with windows placed hither and thither, some appearing to lean every so slightly against their neighbors, each somehow managing to provide just the right amount of support to keep all of the buildings marginally upright, just gives off a vibe that this place is too good to be true.

And yet, any visitor to this quaint town located at the mouth of the Seine River can see that this place is indeed quite real. In December 2015, Ben and I took a drive through the northern French countryside, while using Honfleur as our home base to explore Normandy. Let me show you around.

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Town

Ben and I arrived to Honfleur at night, after a long drive from the rolling hills of Champagne, along with a visit to the Taittinger wine cellars in Reims (read about our excursion here), followed by a quick stop in Amiens to see its beautiful cathedral (to see more about our trip itinerary, visit here). After finding our Airbnb, which I've written about in more detail below, we wandered into town for dinner, witnessing some of the charming buildings and scenic harbor along the way. It was also Christmas time, so we got to see the town decked out in some festive decor.

The next morning, Ben and I had a busy day exploring the beaches of Normandy, doing a tour of the World War II major sights via the Memorial in Caen. This left us little time to check out Honfleur, except for dinner upon our return. However, on our last day, we took some time to wander the cute streets and admire the harbor on a gloriously sunny winter day. I'll let the images below speak for themselves.

After leaving the harbor front, we wandered into the back streets a little, and stopped at a shop to do some Calvados tasting. After all, when in Normandy, try the Calvados!

Calvados is a brandy that is often made from apples, though can also be made from pears. Because Normandy is a prolific apple growing region, it seems only natural that someone would eventually get the idea to ferment them.

And before we left, we had to do one last wander by the town's stunning harbor. If you find yourself in Northern France, be sure to stop into this absolutely charming town.

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Stay

Ben and I stayed at a very cute house that we found on Airbnb, Honfleur Fisherman's House. It was super cozy and easy to walk to and from the harbor front. Parking wasn't too much of a challenge either, but note we were not able to park right in front of the apartment. Let me show you around the space (and yes, we had the entire 3 stories to ourselves).

The view looking down street back towards the harbor.

The cute living room after entering the front door.

Walking through the kitchen leads to another back room, and then out into a back garden.

All of the bedrooms were upstairs. This meant navigating the potentially neck-breaking stair cases that seem to populate many European houses. Let's just say schelpping a suitcase up these stairs is not for the faint of heart or sore of back.

However, the bedrooms were cute and cozy, and the bathrooms had more than we could possibly need for our two night stay.

I wish we had had more time in Honfleur not only to enjoy the town more, but also to just relax in the beautiful spaces of our apartment.

I wouldn't recommend this place for just a one night stay, but if you had several nights planned in Honfleur and the Normandy region, this apartment is a great option. When I return to Honfleur, I wouldn't hesitate to book it again!

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Dining

Meanwhile, the food in Honfleur was fine. I'm writing this 10 years after I visited, so things have likely changed. I also don't eat seafood, though Ben does. I asked him about his thoughts on the seafood here, and he said they were quite delicious. (He was also still mad at him for making him to to the potato restaurant in St. Malo, but I stand by my decision. You can read about that here). I would say on my end, nothing was spectacular, but it also wasn't bad. It was, as I mentioned above, fine. Go for the seafood, and you'll be in good hands. Below, you'll see an assortment of our dishes to give you an idea of the offerings of Honfleur.

Regardless of what you eat, be sure to put Honfleur on your future travels map and enjoy this quaint French harbor front town during all of your Normandy adventures.

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Honfleur Context

Located at the southern side of the mouth of the Seine River as it empties into the English Channel, Honfleur's charming harbor front has been delighting visitors for centuries, including artists such as Monet with its picturesque waterfront. As mentioned above, we used the town as a base for exploring Normandy, but I would add another day or two to really savor the experience more than we had the chance to.

Honfleur is about a two and a half hour drive from Paris, and a 50 minute drive from Caen. The D-Day beaches are also about an hour drive west. If you are looking into Seine river cruises, Honfleur is likely on the itinerary, and is well worth the stop.

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Days of travel: December 1-3, 2015