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A walk in Le Havre

A walk in Le Havre to discover this city classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The city of Le Havre was completely destroyed by the Allied bombings in September 1944. During the post-war reconstruction, it was decided not to rebuild the city identically but to build a new city turned towards the future. The architect Auguste Perret was called upon to build a rectilinear city with a checkerboard plan, with reinforced concrete being used for the majority of the buildings. This singular architecture has caused a lot of ink to flow, but in 2005 UNESCO recognized the exceptional character of the city of Le Havre by including it in its list of world heritage sites.

Did this classification make more visitors come to Le Havre? It is allowed to doubt it. Le Havre still suffers from the comparison with the magnificent Norman cities located a few kilometers away (Étretat, Deauville, Honfleur...).

Le Havre is worth a visit if you are in Normandy, but half a day is more than enough to visit the city center.

Interest: good (1 user)
Difficulty:
Duration: 4 h.
Practical information

The Bassin du Commerce footbridge

The walk begins at the Bassin du Commerce footbridge in downtown. The city has many docks that are used for port activity.
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The volcanoes of Le Havre

The volcano-shaped building does not date from the time of the reconstruction of Le Havre but from the 1980s. It is the work of the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. There are in fact 2 volcanoes: the Big Volcano which contains a theater and just next to it the Small Volcano which contains a library
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The City Hall

The city hall was inaugurated in 1958. This city was governed for a long time by the communists, the architecture feels a little.
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The church Saint-Joseph of Le Havre

The Saint Joseph church of Le Havre has become an emblematic building of the city of Le Havre, you can visit the interior outside the religious services.
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A street in Le Havre

You can always take great pictures and magnify the places you visit, but sometimes it's good to take a natural picture that just shows the reality. This style of architecture may not appeal to everyone.
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The Notre-Dame du Havre cathedral

There are still some old buildings that were not completely destroyed by the 1944 bombings. Its construction began in 1575.
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The arch of the containers

Two arches made up of a pile of ship containers have been built as a reminder of the city's main activity.
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The restaurants along the docks

One finds everywhere this typical architecture of Le Havre.
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Les ferries

Le Havre remains a very industrial port with numerous harbor facilities. One can see the huge ferries making the connection with Portsmouth in England in the heart of the city.
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The Bassin du Commerce footbridge

You can cross the trade basin thanks to the footbridge.
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View of the footbridge

At the top of the footbridge you have a magnificent view of the city center of Le Havre.
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The beaches

The beaches of Le Havre are not located immediately in the city center, you will have to walk 20 minutes to get there. They are pebble beaches (for the amateurs). It is difficult to find a parking place in high season.
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Other walks

At 1.84 Km

A walk along the sea at Sainte-Adresse near Le Havre

At 3.32 Km

Cap de la Hève near Le Havre

At 9.77 Km

Le Havre - Honfleur by bike

At 10.89 Km

The Seine estuary nature reserve
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