anneclaridge

Hi. My family and I are staying in Paris for 4 days and want to take a day trip to Etretat. I am assuming that the best way is by train. Is this even feasible for a day? If so, where do we take the train in to and then a bus? Please let me know your thoughts. Many thanks!

PalenQ

You will take the trian from Paris Gare Saint-Lazare to Fecamp and probably from there by bus along the coast to Etretat - not sure about it all but seems most logical.

Trains for Fecamp leave Saint-Lazare most days oat :58 after the hour most hours and take about 2.75 hours to Fecamp - I have no info on the buses which I am sure (probably) scoot between the two towns so you are looking at about 4 hours each way on a day trip - rather long for most folks.

For lots on French trains in general check www.seaet61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com - and if going by trains those are regional trains that do no require reservations and you cn always IME just turn up cop tickets and voila get on the next train!

JAMH

I'd take the train to Le Havre and then from Le Havre take the No 24 bus to Etretat. It costs a bit more than going via Fecamp but it is generally faster overall. The time spent on the bus is longer but the total time is usually less than going via to Fecamp.

kerouac

Etretat has no train station, so I think that with 4 people the best option is to drive. I did it again just last weekend.

http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...ernoon-etretat

PalenQ

Just curious as to what the huge attraction at Etretat is to warrant a 4 hour or so each way trip on a day trip?

You can get to Bayeux and the D-day beaches in much less time than that?

kerouac

It's a 2-hour drive.

PalenQ

kerouac - I am curious - wa sin Etretat long ago and seemed nice but what makes it worth such a long day trip and expensive if renting a car for one day - not saying it is not nice as it was a long time ago I was there - why Etretat - is it that awesome?

kerouac

Many of us really like the chalk cliffs with the arches and there are excellent (and easy) paths that go on forever (or not) for people who want to hike. The town itself has lots of excellent seafood restaurants, not to mention a casino for those who are addicted to such things. For the French, it has the additional attraction of being a major literary site in honor of the 'gentleman burglar' character Arsène Lupin created by Maurice Leblanc.

Frankly, I think it is better to combine a trip to Etretat with another (preferably overnight) destination in the area -- for example Honfleur or Le Havre (which is a remarkably interesting place even though it was totally rebuilt after the war). But if somebody want to go to just see Etretat, I see nothing wrong with it. "A chacun son gout."

PalenQ

I'll have to revisit Etretat myself - been a long while - thanks for the glowing report. I did actually like Le Havre even though it was long ago when the city was still it seemed inthe throes of rebuilding from war damage a bit too quickly - that is where that famous art work of a statue in the center of town is, right?

Honfleur of course is famous for its links with 19th-century artists and painters - I guess those resorts have kind of gone the way of British seaside resorts with the advent of cheap flights to seaside places that are actually warm in summer!

anneclaridge

Thank you so much for all of your input!

kerouac

Here is what I got out of just two hours in Le Havre in 2009: http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...ge-site?page=1

PalenQ

Those dark brooding clouds in kerouac as always excellent photo shoot are redolent of this area it seems whenever I've been in it - making the cities look grim and gray too.