Overnight in Honfleu or Rouen?
 

Traveling solo by car from Bayeux to Rouen, dropping car and training back into Paris. I am going to spend a day at both Honfleur and Rouen. Where is the best town to overnight in? Any suggestions on hotels?

Honfleur which is closer to Paris.

They're both very attractive places, though very different. I'd choose Honfleur. The Hôtel l'Ecrin is a good choice.

Honfleur is closer to Paris than Rouen?

Rouen is closer to Paris I think. Thanks for the Hotel l'Ecrin info StCirg. Have you stayed there?

Rouen is closer, sorry. You can tell I'm not a driver, he's in the hospital.

Honfleur without a doubt, especially in mid-week. There now are a profusion of hotels, and we have stayed in many of them over the course of 18 years, but our favorite is a lovely bed and breafast inn in the historic district, with spacious and very attractive rooms on the courtyard of an old convent, and gracious hosts who love Honfleur. The rooms are 85 euros per night. http://www.giaglis.com/

dave, I'm at hotmail. I'll send you the schedule where we'll be, should you be nearby.

Cigale,

We'll try our best to be nearby. You can e-mail me at [email protected]. And I hope Mr. Slocum gets well soon!

:-D

We stayed at the L'Ecrin last September and thought it very nice. I left behind an expensive scarf a friend had asked me to buy for her, and the hotel staff found the scarf and mailed it to me without asking for payment. That's what I call service.

Dave: Is that B&B La Cour Sainte Catherine? Do you think it would be a comfortable place for someone traveling solo?

Adam,

That is it! I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be comfortable there, and for Honfleur, the price is great. Some years ago, we stayed frequently at the Hotel Dauphin, which was reasonably priced and pleasant, but nowhere near as nice as the Giaglis's b&b. Later, we stayed at Le Chat, right on the Place St. Catherine, which was sold in the last couple of years and is back considerably gussied up (with the new name, La Maison de something-or-other that is eluding me). We never did stay at L'Ecrin, mentioned earlier in this string. The ownership is the same as Le Chat's used to be, a very good sign, and there is parking right in front of the hotel, a rarity in the historic district of Honfleur and great plus if you are driving. But our few peeks suggested L'Ecrin was a bit too "exquisite" for our taste. The Cour St. Catherine b&b has very clean, modern decor, excellently done. We also stayed once in the Absinthe's suite, at considerably more than double the price of the b&b. It was spacious, but banal in the decor and furnishings, and the "staff" was discrete to the point of absence. The Giaglises are on-site, and charming.

Dave: Thanks@ Yes, I checked the L'Ecrin and was lovely but too much for this solo visitor. Also checked Dauphin but wasn't overwhelemed. And you are right the people at the B&B were incredibly hospitable. Their English was limited (a whole lot better than my French)so I hope that will be okay. So you think that Honfleur is a better choice than Rouen for a mid-week stay over? Is it fairly easy to find? I will be driving. Thanks for the great tip!

Midweek is best in Honfleur. The town is less visited then. I don't know Rouen well. From a brief visit it seemed very pleasant, but much less charming than Honfleur and harder to navigate. Once you are parked, most likely in the large lot bordering the hostoric district, you can walk all of the historic district easily. From the b&b to the Old Harbor is about three minutes. We usually go there by train to Deauville, and then rent a car if we want to drive locally, and my wife frequently is the driver. But my impression of the routes is that they're well marked. For a great meal in Honfleur, Le P'tit Mayreuer on the rue Haute stands out, (especially for the price!) as well as the fancier Aand more expensive bsinthe. The Absinthe also owns the next-door Grenouille, which is very reasonably priced and quite good. For a quick meal, the Cidierie, on the rue Homme de Bois, has the best crepes in the world, especially with buckwheat crepe with boudin noire and apples poached in calvados!

Merci! I feel a little intimidate by the very close and personal atmosphere of a b&b--being solo. But it looks wonderful---and hey there is a thin line between a rut and a grave, so I'm going to give it a try!

Hi Adamsparks:

I drove from Paris to Honfleur and stopped in Rouen on the way to see the town and cathedral. Neither one is too difficult to navigate by car. I agree that Honfleur is the nicer area to stay in. Also, I don't know how much time you will have there but you might want to drive up north along the coast to see Etretat, which is a great little beach town. We had lunch there. It is know for its lovely cliffs. Here is a website:

http://www.etretat.net/index.html

I also really love Trouville and Deauville. They are a bit larger than Honfleur, so leass quaint, but a bit more to do...

Thank you jpie. I haven't had a chance to get a feel 'feel' for the area--but know that I want to spend sometime there. I have a full day for the Honfleur area and one for Rouen---and obviously can mix and match since I spending the night at Honfleur. I need to do some reading on the area--and your suggestions are a nice help.

For all you folks who really try hard to provide the best information available to you, try this: Type in "Adamsparks" in your search box and revel in the unbelievable number of queries this person has generated on this forum. Gradyghost

gradyghost, I don't even know you so have no idea why you were would be so mean. But I clicked on your name and there were 67 entries from last fall. I have 64 from last fall.