Honfleur / Deauville

Enjoy a last look back at the historic port of Honfleur, a cradle for early Impressionists, before the Seine à Vélo leads you into the beautiful verdant meadows of the Pays d’Auge area. The finest race horses are trained here, while the grazing cows produce some of Normandy’s finest cheeses. The route takes you to Pont-l’Évêque, the name of the town also carried by an excellent local cheese. Foodies will enjoy trying local Calvados apple brandy too. Rows of apple trees line the way to Deauville’s great beach, like fans encouraging you in your final effort to reach the line at the end of the cycle route! So you arrive at the seaside and broad sands decorated with colourful parasols. Leave your bike to one side to enjoy the reward of a swim and a good rest. Just across the Dives Estuary stands the historic port of Trouville, a tempting place to taste an array of seafood by the fish market.

The route

From Honfleur, the Seine à Vélo cycle route takes you on roads with little motorized traffic, going along the Morelle Valley. There is a sustained slope up to Saint-André d’Hébertot.

At St-André, you come to a greenway that will lead you the 9km to Pont-l’Évêque. Then the route takes you along roads with little motorized traffic up to Saint-Arnoult, and with very little by way of slopes too. You finish the stage via a greenway crossing the Deauville Hippodrome.  

SNCF train stations

• TER station at Pont l'Evêque and main lines at Deauville

Don’t miss

• Calvados apple brandy distilleries: Crossing the Pays d’Auge area without stopping at a Calvados producer would be a crying shame, missing out on tasting this elegant liqueur in the place where it comes from! From the harvest to ageing, apple experts will explain all the know-how that goes into creating Calvados apple brandy, cider and pommeau (a mix of apple juice and apple brandy).
• A seafood apéritif at Trouville-sur-Mer: Sat at high bar tables opposite the port’s pretty fish market, taste local seafood and specialities. Scallops are available October to May, as delicious as the white wine to accompany them.
• Calvados Expérience: At Pont-l’Évêque, here is a modern museum that plunges you into the Normandy of yesteryear and of today, exploring the region’s roots and its traditional produce. The place offers a good introduction to the rich historical and culinary heritage of the département (or county) of Calvados.
• La Villa Strassburger: Built in 1907 for Baron Henri de Rothschild, on the site of a property once owned by the family of the great Norman writer, Gustave Flaubert, the villa stands out on the heights above Deauville, with its grandiose Belle Époque architecture, contributing to the romantic atmosphere of this romantic resort. In summer, the villa is open to visitors by appointment.
• Musée Eugène Boudin: Honfleur is well known for having inspired numerous Impressionist painters. Among them, Eugène Boudin, from this exceptionally picturesque port, where each street looks like a picture postcard.