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Calvados
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Caen
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Le Havre Shore Excursion: Private Tour of Giverny, Rouen and Honfleur
1 day
Private
About this activity
When your ship docks at the Le Havre port, your guide will pick you up from the cruise terminal and take you on your full-day private shore excursion to Giverny, Rouen and Honfleur.
Choose any two of these three at the time of booking!
Drive 1.5 hours through Normandy to the village of Giverny, where Monet and his family lived until the artist's death in 1926. It was here that Monet painted some of his most famous artworks, including the water lily series.
You’ll feel as if you’ve entered an Impressionist painting as you wander Monet’s vibrant gardens filled with flowers, bamboo trees and willows surrounding a large glassy pond. Follow your garden stroll with a visit to the artist's former house and see his collection of Japanese prints.
Leaving Giverny behind, drive an hour north to the historic city of Rouen, one of the most significant and prosperous cities of medieval Europe. Here you’ll visit Rouen Cathedral, a remarkable Gothic church topped by the tallest spire in France. Monet painted this cathedral many times, highlighting its exceptional beauty at different times of day. Inside, you'll see stained-glass windows that date back to the 13th century.
Look out for other Gothic monuments as you walk along Rouen's cobblestone streets lined with old half-timbered houses — some that have barely changed since medieval times. See the Great Clock (Gros Horloge), an emblem of Rouen, and visit the square where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. Your guide will explain the story behind Joan of Arc’s heroic expedition through France during the Hundred Years’ War against England.
Continue driving an hour west to your last stop, Honfleur, an authentic town with a long and fascinating past. Learn about Honfleur’s Viking invasions, 16th-century seafarers and Impressionist art movement as you walk through town to the beautiful old port, captured by numerous artists including Impressionist painters Claude Monet, Eugene Boudin and Johan Jongkind.
See remnants of the medieval ramparts at Porte de Caen (Caen Gate) and St Catherine's Church, touted as the largest wooden church in France, built after the Hundred Years' War by Honfleur’s ship-builders. Finish with a walk up Côte de Grâce, a 10th-century pilgrimage site, for a great view of Honfleur and the notable Normandy Bridge.
Le Havre is just a quick 30-minute drive away. Your guide will drop you back off at the port.
Worry-free Shore Excursion:We will ensure your timely return to the Le Havre port for this activity. In the rare event your ship has departed, we will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call. If your ship is delayed and you are unable to attend this activity, your money will be refunded. See our terms and conditions for full details.
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Choose any two of these three at the time of booking!
Drive 1.5 hours through Normandy to the village of Giverny, where Monet and his family lived until the artist's death in 1926. It was here that Monet painted some of his most famous artworks, including the water lily series.
You’ll feel as if you’ve entered an Impressionist painting as you wander Monet’s vibrant gardens filled with flowers, bamboo trees and willows surrounding a large glassy pond. Follow your garden stroll with a visit to the artist's former house and see his collection of Japanese prints.
Leaving Giverny behind, drive an hour north to the historic city of Rouen, one of the most significant and prosperous cities of medieval Europe. Here you’ll visit Rouen Cathedral, a remarkable Gothic church topped by the tallest spire in France. Monet painted this cathedral many times, highlighting its exceptional beauty at different times of day. Inside, you'll see stained-glass windows that date back to the 13th century.
Look out for other Gothic monuments as you walk along Rouen's cobblestone streets lined with old half-timbered houses — some that have barely changed since medieval times. See the Great Clock (Gros Horloge), an emblem of Rouen, and visit the square where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. Your guide will explain the story behind Joan of Arc’s heroic expedition through France during the Hundred Years’ War against England.
Continue driving an hour west to your last stop, Honfleur, an authentic town with a long and fascinating past. Learn about Honfleur’s Viking invasions, 16th-century seafarers and Impressionist art movement as you walk through town to the beautiful old port, captured by numerous artists including Impressionist painters Claude Monet, Eugene Boudin and Johan Jongkind.
See remnants of the medieval ramparts at Porte de Caen (Caen Gate) and St Catherine's Church, touted as the largest wooden church in France, built after the Hundred Years' War by Honfleur’s ship-builders. Finish with a walk up Côte de Grâce, a 10th-century pilgrimage site, for a great view of Honfleur and the notable Normandy Bridge.
Le Havre is just a quick 30-minute drive away. Your guide will drop you back off at the port.
Worry-free Shore Excursion:We will ensure your timely return to the Le Havre port for this activity. In the rare event your ship has departed, we will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call. If your ship is delayed and you are unable to attend this activity, your money will be refunded. See our terms and conditions for full details.
Included
- Professional driver/guide
- Transport by private vehicle
- Port pickup and drop-off
- Worry-free Shore Excursion Guarantee
Not included
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Guide's lunch (approximately €20)
Additional
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Options available: Giverny & Rouen, Giverny & Honfleur or Rouen & Honfleur. Please choose at the time of booking.
Features
Tourism
100%
Cultural
60%
Aquatic
35%
Reviews
Our family of two adults and two teenage boys had a wonderful time on this private excursion. As frequent visitors to France, we were especially happy that we were able to customize the tour to our interests and set the pace ourselves. As we had previously visited Roeun, we opted out of visiting it again and instead chose to spend more time in Giverny enjoying Monet's home and gardens. On this particular visit, we were traveling on a cruise making a port of call in Le Havre. Rather than taking a group tour offered through the ship, we booked this fabulous private tour through Viator and were delighted with our choice. Our driver promptly picked us up at the cruise terminal that morning, in a comfortable and clean van and safely drove us to Giverny. She was very knowledgeable and pleasant and she spoke English fluently. We enjoyed the spectacular landscape of Normadie, traveling past scenes of grazing cows and rolling fields. When we arrived early that morning, we simply showed our tickets and entered. Independently, we had previously purchased our tickets online directly through the Fondation Claude Monet, which saved us from waiting in line. We enjoyed visiting at our own pace and after a few hours exploring Monet's gardens, studio and home, we invited our guide to a leisurely lunch in the charming cafe across the way. On our way out of town, she drove us to see the cemetery where Monet's tomb is planted with a flower bed.Then, we drove through the charming town of Giverny, past half-timbered buildings before heading back towards the coast and catching a quick nap in the car on our way to the port of Honfleur. We were familiar with Honfleur from previous vacations, so we simply asked our guide to leave us there to explore on our own. Before doing so, she took a walk through the town with us to the tourist agency and helped us to line up a taxi service to bring us back to the cruise terminal later that evening. She also gave us her private number and told us to call her if the taxi didn't show up. NB: On a separate side note, unrelated to the day's tour, in hindsight, when reserving the taxi, I think we should established a set price with the tourist agency, because the taxi driver whom they recommended took advantage, demanding an exorbitant fee once we arrived at the cruise terminal. At that point, we had no option, but to pay, since we needed to catch the ship. Back to the day, overall, we loved our private excursion to Giverny and Honfleur and highly recommend this company for a private tour. It was so worth the price being able to have a private car/driver/guide for the day and it was one of the highlights of our family's vacation.
Our tour guide was terrific. She accepted our pace and was personable and accommodating. She also had a wealth of information that she shared about the Normandy area. What a relaxing and easy day it was!
Excellent guide Gwen, who included much historical info and allowed us to meet our friends in Rouen. A wonderful trip.
This was one of the best tours I've ever taken! Adrian our driver and guide was very knowledgeable and explained everything. The gardens were at their peak! We also went to Honfleur and that was so pretty. This tour was the best!!
Our guide was excellent! It was a memorable day!
Everything went exactly as we planned. Excellent guide and driver. Very knowledgeable about the area with lots of history and antedotes. Could not have wanted anything better. Rose was terrific.
This was a beautiful experience. Our guide, Adrean, made the whole trip so perfect. He is a wonderful, knowledgeable guide who shared many unknown and unusual facts with us about the three destinations. We loved the trip, but Adrean made it perfect! Please let him know that we won't forget him. Nona and Bill Kramer and Susan and Mike Hoke.
Driver arrived right on time, was very knowledgeable, pleasant and accommodating. He provided us with an extraordinary experience.