Honfleur Day Trip from Paris

A Honfleur day trip from Paris works, but it is a full day. Honfleur has no railway station, so the train ride is followed by a bus or taxi, and you spend a good part of the day in transit. It suits you if you are comfortable with an early start, want a small harbor town rather than a big city, and are happy to see the highlights on foot rather than every museum. Drivers have more freedom, and anyone who wants to linger over the harbor in the evening light should consider staying the night.

Honfleur sits on the Seine estuary in Calvados and is still a working fishing and commercial port as well as a marina. Normandy Tourism names the Old Harbor (Vieux Bassin) and the Lieutenance as its symbols. Courbet, Monet and Boudin all painted here, and dozens of galleries and studios operate in town today.

By train

All trains for this trip leave from Paris Saint-Lazare, run by TER (NOMAD Train). You have three stations to choose from, and each needs a bus, taxi or hire car for the last stretch to Honfleur.

• Trouville-Deauville. SNCF Connect lists 8 direct trains a day, the fastest taking 2 hours 15 minutes and the average 2 hours 41 minutes. The first train from Paris leaves at 6:12 a.m. From the station, NOMAD Car line 122 (Caen-Deauville-Honfleur) and line 111 (Le Havre-Deauville-Caen) serve Honfleur.
• Le Havre. SNCF Connect lists 16 direct trains a day, with the fastest at 1 hour 59 minutes and the average at 2 hours 12 minutes. From Le Havre, NOMAD Car line 123 (Lisieux-Honfleur-Le Havre) runs to Honfleur.
• Pont-l’Évêque. The Honfleur tourist office lists it as a third option, followed by a bus, taxi or hire car.

For the fares, see the From Paris box above. Bus journey times vary by line and time of day, so check the NOMAD Car timetable before you book your train. Plan both connections, outbound and return, in advance. Missing the last bus back to the station is the main risk on this route.

From April to the end of August, Normandy Tourism mentions a combined train-and-coach ticket from Paris, which makes the trip simpler in season.

Once you are in Honfleur, everything you came for is within walking distance. The streets are cobbled, and the tourist office recommends comfortable shoes. With two train-and-bus journeys in your day, expect a few unhurried hours in town rather than a full day. That is enough for the harbor, a church and one museum. For more on the stations and regional tickets, see Getting to Normandy from Paris.

On a guided tour

If you look at guided tours from Paris to Honfleur because you don’t want to manage the connections yourself, check four things before you book:

• How much free time you get in Honfleur itself.
• Whether the day also stops in Deauville, Trouville or Étretat, and how the time is split.
• Where the pickup is in Paris and when you return.
• What is included: guiding, entry to any museum, lunch.

A tour suits you if you prefer a fixed plan and no changes. The train suits you if you want to set your own pace in town.

By car

The Honfleur tourist office gives about 2 hours from Paris via the A13, a distance of 192 km. The A13-A14 motorway between Paris and Normandy uses barrier-free tolling on 210 km. If you have no toll tag, you have 72 hours to pay.

From November 16, 2026 to the end of August 2027, the northern tube of the A13 Saint-Cloud tunnel near Paris is closed in the Paris-to-Normandy direction. The return direction stays open. Official diversions run via the RD910 and RN118, or via the RN13 and A14, rejoining the A13 farther west. Expect longer journey times at some hours.

In Honfleur, the tourist office advises using the car parks at the edge of the historic center or parking outside town. The historic streets are not built for cars, and you will see more on foot anyway.

A car also opens up nearby stops. OpenStreetMap routing, an estimate without traffic, puts Étretat about 47 minutes away (46 km) and Caen about 53 minutes away (64 km). Deauville and Trouville are a short drive.

A sample day

This plan uses the train via Trouville-Deauville and adds Deauville and Trouville at the end. It makes a good Honfleur and Deauville day trip without a car.

1. Early morning: take one of the first trains from Paris Saint-Lazare to Trouville-Deauville. The first is listed at 6:12 a.m.
2. Late morning: catch NOMAD Car line 111 or 122 to Honfleur. Walk to the Old Harbor, the Vieux Bassin, while the quays are still quiet. The tourist office suggests coming early in the morning or in the evening.
3. Midday: see the Lieutenance and Saint Catherine’s Church, then have lunch near the harbor. On a Saturday, the weekly market runs in the morning. On a Wednesday, look for the organic market.
4. Early afternoon: choose one indoor stop, such as the Eugène Boudin Museum or the Satie houses. The museums of Old Honfleur, the Garden of Personalities and the Naturospace butterfly greenhouse are also on the tourist office’s list.
5. Mid-afternoon: take the bus back toward Deauville. In Trouville, the fish market on the quays is open every day of the year, with seafood restaurants around it. Trouville’s boardwalk, dating from 1867, was the first on the Normandy coast. Next door, Deauville has its own wooden boardwalk along the beach.
6. Evening: walk to Trouville-Deauville station and take a train back to Paris. Check the last departure before you leave in the morning.

If you would rather travel via Le Havre, the trains are more frequent. Take line 123 to Honfleur and skip the Deauville stop.

Whichever route you choose, avoid long weekends and the summer peak if you can. The tourist office flags both as busy times. For the seasons, see Best Time to Visit Normandy.

Staying overnight instead

Stay the night if you want Honfleur in the early morning or the evening, the quiet hours the tourist office recommends, without a train to catch. An overnight stay also lets you see the town properly, add Deauville and Trouville at an easy pace, or continue along the coast toward Étretat.

See the Honfleur town page for what to see over a longer visit, and Deauville and Trouville if you would rather base yourself by the beach. To fit Honfleur into a longer trip, Five Days in Normandy gives you a full plan. If you are traveling by public transport, Normandy Without a Car shows how to link the towns. For other options, browse all day trips from Paris.