You’ve decided to visit Le Havre (Normandy – Normandie) this summer, but you don’t actually know what there is to do here? Plus, everyone tells you how bad the weather is here, and asks you why on earth you’d visit this ‘boring’ city of Le Havre? Well you are lucky enough; we have unearthed a few activities that you can do to not stay closed up in your Hotel Room or cruise boat, even when the rain decides to spoil your day!
© DR – LesEchos.fr
You may want to start your trip by visiting, to try and get to know the city a little better. If you are sporty and like to walk, you can make your own way around Le Havre. You could start off at the Town Hall and visit the Perret district, walk by the Notre Dame cathedral (it’s not the Paris one, but it is still worth seeing!), and Saint-Joseph’s church… You can go by the port, admire the colourful work of art made with containers…because, yes, it is possible to make a piece of art with containers! Then you could find your way to the beach, and perhaps have a drink in one of its many restaurants/cafés…
And if you are more of a lazy person, which we’re pretty sure you are (because, who doesn’t like to laze about sometimes?), you can see all these places from a bus. So hop onto our yellow bus Bee Le Havre City Tour, from which you will be able to see all of those monuments of Le Havre during only 1 hour. If the weather is nice, we have a retractable roof! “And what if it’s pouring with rain?” we hear you say. Well, don’t worry; we can bring the roof back on in seconds. We will accompany you during the whole journey through our audio guides, available in 4 European languages (English, French, German and Dutch), and soon-to-be 4 more languages (Spanish, Italian, Russian and Portuguese).
Second stop, entertainment.
Looking for a show to go to, a festival to discover, or any other kind of event going on in Le Havre? Perfect, we have picked out a few of them, just for you! If you missed Le Havre’s 500th anniversary festivities and its Summer in Le Havre 2017, you can join in again this year for 2018’s edition of A Summer in Le Havre. Starting on the 23rd of June 2018, you can admire the fireworks at the beach. There will be many public events, shows, and concerts during the summer, more or less ideal for families with children. Also for family, there will be Le Havre’s 2018 Corsiflor, which is a kind of carnival. It will take place on the 19th of August and will go around Le Havre’s City Centre, and you will see many flower decorated floats.
There is also the MoZ’aÏque festival from the 18th until the 22nd of July, during which you can enjoy all sorts of world music, whether it is soul, jazz, or classical music, you will find your happiness for sure. Got more of an arty taste? Our famous Malraux Museum (also nicknamed MuMa) is presenting a prestigious exhibition with the following name: Né(e)s de l’écume et des rêves. You will be able to admire many paintings, sculptures about the sea and its representations, until the 9th of September.
© Seine Maritime Tourisme
You’re probably going to be looking for a place to eat, because, who doesn’t like food? You have quite a few options here. During the week, you can go to one of the many beach restaurants, open all day long. Looking for a typical French place? You can try for example La Brasserie des Halles (opposite ‘Les Halles’), Le Grignot (near the Volcano), Le Bistrot Parisien (near the City hall), La Braise Gourmande (in St-François district) or Les Enfants Sages (between the Commerce Basin and the Natural History Museum). On a budget, but still want to eat French? There are many crêperies in Le Havre in which you can taste Breton crêpes (the French version of pancakes), on which you can have meat and cheese or ice cream and fruit! Most of them are located in Quartier Saint-François, such as Crêpe Chignon or Les Korrigans, but there are also others towards the main city centre. Still on a budget but missing your good old multicultural food? You can eat ThaÏ at WokUp, a small local fast-food business, or find an American Diner such as the Fifty’s American Dinner, located near les Halles. And if you just fancy a drink, try the McDaids Irish Pub not far from the Town Hall.
And if you’re here for the week-end, how about having tea time or dinner on our amazing bus Bee Le Havre Resto Tour, while visiting Le Havre? That is now possible. You can book “goûter”, which is France’s equivalent of teatime, during which you can enjoy all kinds of pastries served with coffee. For dinner, you can appreciate tapas as an appetizer, and then a four course meal tray. Both meals will be served to you in our Orient Express style bus, and you will visit the city while eating (the bus will go at a slow-enough pace, don’t worry about that!)
So here were a few of our suggestions to enjoy Le Havre during the summer. We hope you will find happiness in them, and that you will enjoy your trip to Le Havre. And if you want to venture out a bit further, you can still go on a round trip to Honfleur for the day with our red bus Bee Le Havre Honfleur Tour. An amazing shuttle between Le Havre and Honfleur.