Visiting Honfleur in France is a must for every art lover. Yes, because this small town in northern France was for centuries a place of inspiration for many artists.
The little harbour (or Vieux Bassin) of Honfleur is one of the most beautiful and picturesque in France. When you visit this pearl of Normandy you’ll be struck by its old architecture, but also by one of the most unusual churches I’ve ever seen.
Below you’ll find everything you need to discover what to see in Honfleur in one day, without missing anything.
Honfleur is a town with thousands of years of history, made important by trade with England: that’s why it had a story in some ways similar to Rouen, with old half-timbered houses, a beautiful harbour and vintage fishing boats.
Ah, did you know that at the tourist office you can find a map of the finest views of Honfleur? They’re the same panoramas painted by some of the most important Impressionist painters, including Monet, Courbet and Boudin.
Off we go!
The history of Honfleur
This small town owes its fame and wealth to sea trade. Set on the route between Rouen and England, it was for centuries a crossroads of ships and goods. Its little harbour, the Vieux Bassin, rose where the Seine estuary meets the sea, opening the inland trade to international routes on the Channel.
Documented as far back as the 11th century, Honfleur played a key role in the Hundred Years’ War, when it was disputed between the French and the English. After the discovery of America, the ships of great explorers set off from here (but, sadly, also those loaded with enslaved people bound for the colonies). Trade in timber, cod and hides continued until the 19th century, when Honfleur lost importance to nearby Le Havre. It was then that the authentic charm of its little harbour drew so many painters.
What to see in Honfleur: the Vieux Bassin
The Vieux Bassin of Honfleur is the best place to start your visit. With its tall, narrow houses of slate and wood (dating to the 17th and 18th centuries and considered national heritage), the charm of this old harbour will amaze you. Luckily the town wasn’t damaged in the Second World War like Caen, and it has kept all its charm.
It isn’t a classic commercial port, but a romantic and original place, recalling a little the harbours of Flanders, for the architecture and the colour of the sky. In the harbour you won’t find monuments to visit, but strolling among its typical shops and imagining life centuries ago is a delight. For breathtaking photos, take advantage of the first light of dawn, when the sea slowly shifts from petrol blue to the soft colours of day.
It’s certainly no coincidence that the reflection of the houses in the water inspired a whole artistic movement that laid the foundations of Impressionism.
The very unusual church of Sainte-Catherine
I have one word to describe the church of Sainte-Catherine in Honfleur: incredible.
The whole church is built and clad in wood, and it’s the largest wooden church in France. Dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, it has two naves and is separate from its bell tower, which stands a few metres from the façade.
Why is it so unusual?
The oldest nave dates to the 15th century and was built after the Hundred Years’ War. It was raised by the shipwrights of Honfleur, the naval carpenters: unused to building churches, they applied the knowledge they had and reproduced on land what they’d done at sea for centuries. That’s why the vault looks like an upturned ship! Those shipwrights had a millennia-old tradition inherited from their Viking ancestors, who landed on these shores as early as the 9th century. The second nave was added in the 16th century.
And the separate bell tower? The reason is practical: given its height and position on the hill, it easily attracts lightning, which could set the church on fire. Keeping it at a distance is a clever precaution.
The “warmth” of the wood in this architecture stayed in my heart: I hope it will be the same for you.
The Eugène Boudin Museum
You’ve probably never heard of him, but Eugène Boudin is one of the town’s most important artists, and his works are endlessly beautiful and delicate.
Born in Honfleur, Boudin spent his whole life in Normandy, and his love for his land shows in every work: in a few brushstrokes he sums up the Norman landscapes, the days at the beach, the greys and blues of sea and sky. Though little known, his art was fundamental to the training of Monet, who met him right here in Honfleur.
I fell for him while working at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Caen and chased him through the museums of half of Normandy. In Honfleur there’s a museum dedicated to him: it’s worth at least an hour.
The École de Honfleur, a school of painting
It won’t surprise you, by now, to learn that a real school of painting was born in Honfleur in the 19th century.
Local painters like Boudin and international ones like Jongkind gathered in Normandy, a seaside resort on the rise thanks to the new railways. From 1824 to the end of the century, a succession of artists frequented this town to paint en plein air. From Courbet and the Barbizon school to Monet (who began painting outdoors right here in Normandy), the École de Honfleur laid the foundations of the Impressionist movement, often gathering at the famous Ferme Saint-Siméon.
The Normandy Bridge
It might seem odd to talk, on an art blog, about a bridge built less than thirty years ago. But among the things to see near Honfleur, the Pont de Normandie deserves at least a mention, not only as an engineering masterpiece, but because it finally united Lower and Upper Normandy (before, it took hours to get from one to the other).
Completed in 1995, at the time it was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. Its two inverted-Y pylons, over 200 metres high, hold a span crossing the Seine with four lanes, two cycle paths and two footpaths. Yet, despite the concrete, it seems light as a feather: to me it looked like a sculpture suspended in mid-air.
Crossing by car is paid, but for pedestrians it’s free: you can leave the car in the car park and reach the highest point on foot (about 30 minutes). From up there you’ll take in the estuary marshes, the Channel and the port of Le Havre with a single glance. But watch out: the gusts of wind at that height are fierce!
What to eat in Honfleur
Normandy offers specialities ranging from cheeses to seafood. Since Honfleur is a maritime town, fish dishes dominate:
- moules à la crème: mussels in a wine-and-butter broth, served with crisp fries;
- scallops, often gratinéed, and very fresh oysters;
- camembert, the symbol cheese of Normandy (with pont-l’évêque and livarot);
- cider and calvados, distilled from the local apples, also the base of many desserts;
- caramel salé and calvados-flambéed crêpes.
It’s no coincidence that Norman cuisine has nothing to envy the rest of France!
What to see near Honfleur
Honfleur is close to the larger Rouen, the regional capital; not far away, a walk in Étretat is a plunge into nature. Continuing along the coast you reach Fécamp and Le Havre; and to complete your tour of Normandy you can push on to Caen, Bayeux and even the Mont-Saint-Michel.
And you, are you drawn more to the wooden church of Sainte-Catherine or to the light of the Vieux Bassin that enchanted the Impressionists?
