Normady is a region that hides many lovely gems, often ignored by tourists that head up to Brittany and its lovely beaches. One of your first destinations here should be Mont-Saint-Michel, the world famous fortress surrounded by water (more about our visit here). The is also the region’s star city, Deauville, a chic seaside destination very popular with Parisians. But once the main tourist attractions are crossed from the list, it pays off to spend some time discovering less known cities and indulge in the local fresh seafood. And this is where Honfleur comes in!

We visited on a long week-end trip around the 15th August 2019 and spent 3 nights in a lovely B&B in the old part of tow. Our son was 3 yo and I was 8 months pregnant. So there were even more restaurant visits than our usual trip as I was hungry most of the time. I even booked some of the restaurants a week in advance, as we went in high season and the thought of not finding a tasty place for lunch was keeping me up at night. Or it might just have been my oversized belly that was giving me insomnia….We will never know!

Here is what we can recommend for your short break in Honfleur ( and surroundings) with kids:

The Honfleur harbour and its carousel

A stroll around the area called Le Vieux Bassin is really the best way to immerse yourself in the former glory of this old trading outpost. Coloured timber houses are lined up on the shore and the place is buzzing with restaurants and cafees. There are usually a few small yachts moored here, making for an extraordinarily picturesque setting. If you have seen photos of Honfleur before, at least one would be taken here. When we visited, a fully restored galleon ship was moored a few hundered meters outside the old harbour. A visit to the ship was a must for our aspiring pirate!

The neighbourhood to the east of the Bassin is full of interesting buildings including the Church of Saint-Etienne, while that to the west extends uphill to the wooden church of Sainte-Catherine. Around the church, you can walk around the cobbled streets and discover all the art galleries, artist studios and craft shops. After a fair bit of walking around, you can finish the day with a couple of carousel rides and one of the best ice creams tested in a while, more on that below. The prospect of a carousel ride was a great motivator for our kid so worth leaving that for the end!

For food lovers like us, the biggest attraction was the Honfleur organic farmers’ market, held every Wednesday morning right next to Saint-Catherine’s Church. Nedless to say, we spent the best part of the morning trying the cheese and the biscuits and bought lovely food for our picnic on the beach the next day.

Villierville village and beaches

While Honfleur has some beach access, our local friends indicated that for a beach day, it is best to head further afield. This is how we found the hidden gem called Villierville, located between Trouville (6 km) and Honfleur (9 km). At least hidden to other tourists like us, as when we arrived the beach (called Plage de Graves) was basically empty and stretching for miles. There was also limited infrastructure however, with only a small place offering snacks, drinks and a toilet access. Across the sea from the beach the view is of the port of Le Havre.

Once we finished the sand and water frolics, we headed toward the heart of the village. It was so pretty, it was used as a film setting by Henri Verneuil for a Un singe en hiver (A Monkey in Winter)… as we found out walking around and reading the explanations of the different settings used for movie scenes. There is a view point (Le guettoir) and an old communal washing area of days gone by or lavoir in French.

Tasty and kid friendly restaurants

The tasty bit of the post that you have been reading for. Here is a list of restaurant that we enjoyed as a family for both lunch and dinner. But it was not only because that they had high chairs/boosters, children menus and family friendly attitude. They were genuinely fresh, original and oh so tasty!

• Huitre brulée : Our favorite. Very short card. Think a menu of fresh, organic products from the market, prepared by a young a dynamic team. The place is small so think about booking in advance. We folded the stroller and left it at the entrance, they provided a high chair. Very kind people and flexible to wipe something up the LO would eat. There are shelves with books in the middle of the restaurant and the LO found a couple of books to keep him busy while we enjoyed our (grilled) oysters.

• L’endroit :  good French table, going beyond seafood, original food and industrial décor.  They had a booster for our LO and we enjoyed the food and drinks.
• Bouillon normand :  good menu and a nice welcome in the oldest district of Honfleur. A small family restaurant. They gave crayons and a page to draw to our son, which kept him busy. Food was enjoyed by us and our LO too.
• L’homme de bois :  an institution in Honfleur, specialised in seafood, fish in a norman decor, ask for a table at the ground floor near the fireplace.  
• Bistrot des artistes :  homemade bread, good French cuisine – ask for a table at the bottom with the view of the basin.
• La Taberna: in the historical center, something different if you want to change it up from all the seafood. They are quick and tapas were tasty and easy to grab with small hands. A perfect alternative for a quick lunch before continuing the exploration.
• Glaces de la Ferme: not a restaurant but an ice cream shop that we religiously visited every day, maybe more than once….ok….pretty much after each meal. The ice cream is artisanal and really tasty. If there is one place in Honfleur you need to stop at, it is this one.

In the region of Honfleur – The Etretat promenade

The white washed cliffs and the arch of Etretat are famous the world over. If you are planning to stop for a day trip and snap some photos, start by thinking of a parking space, especially in Summer. There are parking spaces outside the small resort city that will save you some headaches in the narrow, one way streets. This was also the first time we did not manage to find the access to an attraction.

The market square in Etretat is dominated by a fine timber-frame covered market full of charming shops. This is where the tourist tram starts and makes for a sightseeing loop around the city as well as going up to Chapel, perched on a cliff high above the promenade. It can get crowded in high season so getting there early will pay off. Even if it might feel (and be) a bit of a tourist trap, it saves quite a bit of walking for small feet and provides entertainment for the kiddos.

Then there is the promenade, the pebbled beach and one of the best positioned playground you will find in Normady, Just be careful with the food as some of the more cheeky seagulls might try to snatch up those fries. The wind can be quite strong too so brining a scarf and a hat for shelter is not a bad idea. Despite our insistence at snapping a photo with our son and the cliffs, the temptation of the playground became too strong after a few minutes so we did get to admire much of the scenery while pushing him up in a swing. It still made for a lovely view though!

In the afternoon, we were all geared up to visit the gardens of Etretat that, on the flyer, looked wonderfully green, serene and contemporary. But our GPS has other plans. We attempted three times to find the entrance of the gardens using the address from the leaflet and every time we ended up in a different place. A number or roadworks and temporary one way streets did not help the orientation. On the third attempt, after an hour of driving in circles in a town the size of shoe, we found a promising road but no parking. On a scale from 1 to 10, the mood in the car was at ‘If I see one more traffic deviation sign, we leave the car here and continue by train’! So we decided to cut our losses (of sanity) and continue the drive to Brussels.

Has that ever happened to you, completely failing to find a touristic attraction? Would be nice to know we were not the only ones :). Thanks for reading and happy travels, whenever they may resume.

CGK