Getting out of Le Havre Cruise port!

[CruiseIreland]

Hi. We dock at Le Havre on Magnifica in Sept, 2018. Looking at options for the day, I was wondering what options there are for getting to the bus station/town centre apart from a very long walk. I understand that taxis will want longer trips, MSC will charge €49 for a return coach ride to Honfleur, which I am considering. Are there any free shuttles to Le Havre centre or the train/bus station? What does MSC charge for shuttle to Le Havre?

Thanks in advance, Ken.

[John Bull]

Hi, Ken,

 

Just a personal opinion but I don't rate Le Havre as a destination, especially since it's a long walk / taxi / shuttle to the centre.

 

For an enjoyable but lazy day I suggest you head for Honfleur.

Last I heard a taxi from the pier cost €50 each-way (new season in 2018, so mebbe a small increase on that).Taxis take at least four so you can halve the cost if there's more than just two of you or you find sharers.

If there's just two of you it's about the same cost as MSC's coach so you'd choose the flexibility of a taxi vs the reassurances of ship's transfer.

 

The other two main destinations from Le Havre are Paris or the D-Day beaches.

 

Paris - there are the options of an independently-booked tour or the train or ship's offerings. We usually avoid ships' tours but for Paris from Le Havre I'd strongly consider booking thro the ship.

 

D-Day beaches - you might want to consider a shared minibus tour. I think Overlord Tours offers seat-in-bus for Le Havre cruise ships - usually concentrating on US sights but mebbe UK sights considering its not a US ship & it's sailing from a UK port.

Or join or set up a tour-share with one of the D-Day tour operators for a tailor-made tour. Have you checked your RollCall to see if anyone's looking for sharers?

Or consider renting a car to tour the D-Day sights, it's not difficult & there are plenty of threads about that on this forum or the "Mediterranean - France " forum. (no, there's nothing wrong with my geography but you'll find Le Havre threads on there ;))

 

The Paris & D-Day options will be long days, more expensive & tiring than Honfleur.

Worth it IMHO, but I'm not you.

 

JB :)

[Bob++]

Honfleur

 

[LHT28]

when we were there there was a free shuttle to the city centre

[marylizcat]

There is a road train which does a tour of the town with a commentary and then drops you in the centre. You can return on any train later. Pick up and drop off at the cruise terminal. However, Le Havre is really not a very desirable destination, as John Bull said. We only did the road train because we had called at Honfleur the day before. Honfleur is so much nicer!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Al54]

No more road train this year (seems definitely stopped), just the shuttle bus to city center.

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Forums

[CruiseIreland]

Thank you all for the helpful information. I actually visited Le Havre over 40 years ago as a callow youth. Didn't much care for it then, not really interested now.

 

My main aim is to get to Honfleur as cheaply as possible. The free shuttle to town is probably no good for the bus station. I may simply hire a car. Ken

[John Bull]

Thank you all for the helpful information. I actually visited Le Havre over 40 years ago as a callow youth. Didn't much care for it then, not really interested now.

 

My main aim is to get to Honfleur as cheaply as possible. The free shuttle to town is probably no good for the bus station. I may simply hire a car. Ken

 

 

Cheapest (just €5 e/w pp) is Bus Vert (green Bus)

https://www.busverts.fr/

 

You'll need to brush up your French, or use a computer or tablet with a translate button. .

Lignes (routes) you need are 20, 39 or 50, they run from Le Havre's gare routiere (bus station) which is by the rail station, & your Honfleur stop is gare routiere, close to the harbour.

Three routes sounds like buses are frequent - but as you'll see from the timetable that they're not. :(

Depending on the day-of-the-week and ship's hours in port they work for some cruisers.

(do be sure you're reading along the Le Havre line on the timetable, most buses on those routes don't start from there)

 

JB :)

[CruiseIreland]

Cheapest (just €5 e/w pp) is Bus Vert (green Bus)

https://www.busverts.fr/

 

...they run from Le Havre's gare routiere (bus station) which is by the rail station, & your Honfleur stop is gare routiere, close to the harbour.

Three routes sounds like buses are frequent - but as you'll see from the timetable that they're not. :(

Depending on the day-of-the-week and ship's hours in port they work for some cruisers.

(do be sure you're reading along the Le Havre line on the timetable, most buses on those routes don't start from there)

 

Thanks JB. I was aware of the bus and the website translates via a union jack button. Problem I have is getting to the bus station from the ship. It's quite a walk and taxis are unlikely to want a short trip such as that. I can rent a car for €50, say €10-15 for petrol and parking, pick up and drop off at port, near ship. Taxis and bus would probably top €30 but more hassle. The free shuttle probably drops off a distance from the bus station. Decisions, decisions!

[Al54]

Yes, the shuttle drop off point (near the "volcan") is far from the bus station and you need to take the tram to reach either train or bus stations : not convenient at all. Hope some taxis will accept a "short trip" because I'm traveling by train!

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Forums

[CruiseIreland]

Yes, the shuttle drop off point (near the "volcan") is far from the bus station and you need to take the tram to reach either train or bus stations : not convenient at all. Hope some taxis will accept a "short trip" because I'm traveling by train!

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Forums

 

Merci beaucoup, Al54.

[ArtkeyTech]

we found a BeeLeHavre bus that would take you to Honfleur for 25Euro. there r 2 different times...11:45 am to return 4pm,

and 1:45pm to return at 6pm. giving you about 2+hrs in Honfleur.

Hoping to catch that at Perret Square.

[CruiseIreland]

we found a BeeLeHavre bus that would take you to Honfleur for 25Euro. there r 2 different times...11:45 am to return 4pm,

and 1:45pm to return at 6pm. giving you about 2+hrs in Honfleur.

Hoping to catch that at Perret Square.

Thank you for that info, ArtkeyTech.

[Hlitner]

we found a BeeLeHavre bus that would take you to Honfleur for 25Euro. there r 2 different times...11:45 am to return 4pm,

and 1:45pm to return at 6pm. giving you about 2+hrs in Honfleur.

Hoping to catch that at Perret Square.

 

We really dislike the bus because of the very limited times. You might consider renting a car (very reasonable if you have 4 persons to share the cost). The car will let you go to Honfleur on your own schedule and also visit other places in the region (such as Deauville). We have even driving to Honfleur in the morning and had lunch, and later driven all the way (in the other direction) back to Etretat. There is another town (closer to Honfleur) called Beuvron au Auge which is also worth a short visit (this town looks like it belongs in Bavaria).

 

There is a rental car agency located at the port (rentacar.fr) or a couple of others located within a 30 min walk from the port. The last time we looked that Rentacar location only included 100 Kilometers with their base rental and charged an overage for excess kilometers. Not an issue if you are aware (they do disclose this info) and plan accordingly.

 

One possible driving itinerary would be to drive over to Honfleur for a couple of hours and later take a ride over to nearby Deuville. Then head inland to Beuvron au Auge (worthy of an hour visit) and then back to Le Havre. The drive to Beuvron will take you through a lot of the countryside which some find satisfying. If you want to drive all the way to Etretat (and nearby Fecamp) you need to allot much more time (not an issue if the ship is in port until late). Consider that for not much more money then your bus tickets (for 4) you will have visited 3 - 5 places.

 

Hank

Edited May 20, 2018 by Hlitner

[Julbrt]

There is a road train which does a tour of the town with a commentary and then drops you in the centre. You can return on any train later. Pick up and drop off at the cruise terminal. However, Le Havre is really not a very desirable destination, as John Bull said. We only did the road train because we had called at Honfleur the day before. Honfleur is so much nicer!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

Hello, the train doesnt exist anymore. There are always shuttles from the cruise terminal to the city center with big companies such as MSC. You've got a lot to see in le Havre because it is an historical place. If you want to go to Honfleur, there is a shuttle with Bee Le Havre it costs 25 euros per adults. If you want more informations you can check their websites

 

Have a nice day ! :)

[joy1]

Dose anyone know of a cabe Service to pick up / drop off ship-side in Le Havere or private  driver with mini van to hire for 7 hours. We are arriving on a holiday and would like to confirm a plan now. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Sherri

[Hlitner]

On 5/28/2018 at 9:10 AM, Julbrt said:

 

 

Hello, the train doesnt exist anymore. There are always shuttles from the cruise terminal to the city center with big companies such as MSC. You've got a lot to see in le Havre because it is an historical place. If you want to go to Honfleur, there is a shuttle with Bee Le Havre it costs 25 euros per adults. If you want more informations you can check their websites

 

Have a nice day ! 🙂

If you simply want to go to Honfleur you can probably get a taxi from the port for that same 25€ per person.  There is also a regional bus, the the schedules do not usually suit most cruisers.  Persoally I prefer renting a car since it vastly expands our options and allows us to visit multiple places be it Honfleur, Deauville, Fecamp, Etretat,  or even Beuvron en Auge.  And of course its also possible to drive to some of the D-Day sites/beaches.

 

Hank

[LHT28]

On 12/25/2018 at 9:55 AM, joy1 said:

Dose anyone know of a cabe Service to pick up / drop off ship-side in Le Havere or private  driver with mini van to hire for 7 hours. We are arriving on a holiday and would like to confirm a plan now. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Sherri

You could try LHCAB   & see what they will charge  I am using them in April  for  a transfer to Honfleur

http://lhcab.fr/homepage/

 

[joy1]

3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

You could try LHCAB   & see what they will charge  I am using them in April  for  a transfer to Honfleur

http://lhcab.fr/homepage/

 

Thank You so very much , we are all

set found companies through the Tourism Board.