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Honfleur, Normandy

/ France, Sailing Travel Journal / By /

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Some extra points

  •  This is a stunning little town only a 14 nautical mile or so sail from the main port of Le Havre – I highly recommend you visit!
  • Have a good look at the tides before you leave though as the tides can flow strongly here. Nasty swells can also build with a fresh onshore wind. I recommend a look at Noonsite for more information. 
  • To get to the town, you need to pass through a lock. The lock is in operation 24 hours a day. It opens on the hour, every hour for arrivals to the town and every half past the hour for departures. Free flow is in operation for around 1.5 hours either side of high tide. Watch us going through the lock on our YouTube video.
  • Avoid arriving at low tide as the depth is highly likely going to be too shallow to get in to the lock (looking at Navionics, it shows a depth of 0.3m in the lock and 0.4m at the entrance).
  • You have two options of where to berth when you arrive. In the Vieux Bassin through a lifting bridge and into the center of the town or on the outer visitors pontoon well before the lifting bridge. Be prepared to be rafted up against wherever you choose to stay (especially in high season) as it is a very popular destination. The Yacht Club runs the Vieux Bassin, the Capitainerie runs the Avant Port and the lock. The harbourmaster will approach your boat when you are on your way up from the lock to the town and ask you where you’d like to berth.
  • There is no wifi on the outer pontoon but I believe it’s available in the Vieux Bassin.
  •  You will be an attraction wherever you choose to berth. You will quite literally be the centre of attention if you choose to berth in the Vieux Bassin. There were outdoor seating areas lining the walls of the harbour when we were there in August 2017 from all the restaurants surrounding the marina. The outer pontoon runs parallel to a popular footpath down to the seafront and plenty of people stop and have a nose over the wall at you on their way past. We ended up setting up a tarp over our cockpit area so we could sit and relax without being gawped at! 
  • Unfortunately, we didn’t think much of the showers or toilets that were provided. We attempted to use the ones by the park near the outer pontoon. There may be another set for those in the Vieux Bassin (I’m not sure!). We found the showers to be grubby so didn’t fancy using them having only just had one in Le Havre anyway. They may just have been having a bad day – we didn’t stay long enough to go back and check again.
  • There is so much history in the town to find out about. We spend a lot of time walking around and exploring the area – it really is beautiful!
  • There is a boulangerie here up the main street behind the Vieux Bassin on the right hand side if I remember correctly. It’s probably a 10 minute or so walk from the outer pontoon. 
  • Don’t miss getting yourself a bag of French chocolates from here or having a ride on the Carousel! Have you seen the drunken sailors having a go on it yet? Don’t miss this video!
  • Honfleur is in the Calvados region of France so make sure you have a sample or two of the Calvados here also.
  • Many artists have spent time here and been inspired (including Claude Monet) due to the natural light here. You won’t be able to miss the countless works of art on display here and all the galleries that contain them. 
  • Fuel is available here but make sure you have more than one option of card available to pay – it didn’t like the first option we gave it so had to go back with another! I think it accepted our HSBC card in the end. 
  • We saw a boat get its mast removed here and stowed on deck during our time here. It is very close to one of the entrances to the French canal system so this didn’t surprise me. You can get to Paris from here! I believe this is where Baremka came out of the French canal system when she was brought up from the Med by her previous owner. 
  • All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed our visit here – it felt like the first ‘proper’ French town that we visitied and I would definitely go back again (but make sure that I didn’t need a shower!). 

Photographs from Honfleur

Contact Details

Cercle Nautique de Honfleur (Vieux Bassin)
8 Rue St Antoine
14600 Honfleur
France

T: +33 (0)231 988713

Email: info@ville-honfleur.fr / port-honfleur@cg14.fr

Website: Yacht Club Website, Noonsite, Calvados Tourism

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