What To Do in Etretat, France + What I Wished I Knew Before Visiting

Etretat Cliffs

When you talk about Etretat, you’re really talking about its cliffs. While these striking white chalk cliffs stretch for more than 80 miles along the northern French coast, what makes the cliffs around Etretat particularly striking are three sea arches.

When you look to the left (west) from the beach, you’ll instantly notice Porte d’Aval and the Needle Rock. To the right (east), you’ll spot Arche d’Amont. This small arch was nicknamed “The Elephant of Etretat” by French author Guy Maupassant. If you hike west out of Etretat you’ll quickly reach an overlook of Etretat’s third sea arch: La Manneporte.

If the cliffs remind you of Dover’s White Cliffs on the other side of the English Channel, that’s well spotted on your part. The cliffs are made of the exact same prehistoric mixture of mud and fossils.

After you snapped some pictures of the dramatic cliffs and arches from Etretat beach, the natural human instinct seems to be get on top of the cliffs. You can easily access the cliff tops from either side of the beach. If you head east, you’ll head towards La Manneporte arch and Jambourg Beach.

The east cliff is topped with Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, a small sailors’ chapel. There’s also a striking white monument known as “L’Oiseau Blanc” (white bird) which points to the last place in the sky where French aviators Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli were seen as they attempted the first nonstop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York in 1927.

Les Jardins D’Etretat

Besides the cliffs themselves, the next most popular thing to do in Etretat is to visit Les Jardins D’Etretat. These topiary gardens are built right into the hillside, so they feel a bit like a terraced hedge maze.

As you might expect, the gardens weren’t particularly colorful when we visited in mid-November, but the various sculptures make this a decent year-round Etretat destination.

The gardens trend towards “New Age.” Ethereal music floats through some sections. In other parts you’ll hear waves crashing. One tree has a large winding key stuck through that you can crank to start a music box. The most photographed section is definitely the “Garden of Emotions,” where massive round face sculptures are tucked into the hedges.

We spent about 30 minutes wandering through terraced hedges and sculptures. While I’m not sure I “got” the gardens, kind of like Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, I’m still glad we visited.

One note: Don’t drive here. There’s only room for about six cars to park and the road is very narrow. Instead, park in the town center; hiking up the cliff to the gardens is half the fun!  

Le Musee du Patrimoine d’Etretat

At the top of Etretat’s east cliff just past Les Jardins is Etretat’s small heritage museum. Musee du Patrimoine covers Etretat’s history from its very beginning through World War II. There’s also a special exhibit about aviators Nungesser and Coli.

This seasonal museum is open on weekends from April – September, with extended hours in July and August.

Stroll along the beach

Want to get “By the Sea” from Sweeney Todd stuck in your head? Take a little turn on the beach promenade that runs above Etretat’s pebble beach. While it won’t take you long to walk the length of the beach, there are several points of interest including historic diving boards and remnants of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.   

One of our favorite Etretat experiences was watching anglers fish off the promenade with lit slip bobbers after dark.

Maison Maurice LeBlanc/Le Clos Arsene Lupin

French author Maurice LeBlanc lived in Etretat for more than 20 years starting in 1918. Today, the historic villa where LeBlanc lived is a museum devoted to his most popular character, Arsène Lupin, a gentleman thief.

You may prefer to have some familiarity with the character before you visit. Don’t expect to learn much about LeBlanc himself, although there are some of his artifacts on display.  

This museum is sometimes referred to as Masion Maurice LeBlanc and sometimes as Le Clos Arsene Lupin. Be careful not to confuse it with Le Clos Lupin, which is popular Etretat bistro!  

Hike the cliffs

Once you’re on top of the cliffs, you hike to your heart’s content. There’s actually a coastal path that goes all along France’s northern coast. The section of the path that goes through Etretat is the GR 21 Sentier des Falaises (which translates to English as “cliff path”) and runs from Le Havre all the way to Le Treport near the Bay of Somme.

If you head east out of Etretat on the Sentier des Falaises, you’ll encounter many beautiful overlooks of the cliffs and English Channel. If you head west, you’ll hike along the length of the Etretat golf course and reach Antifer Beach.

Casino JOA d’Etretat

Every seaside town on the English Channel seems required to have a small casino right on the beach promenade. If you don’t mind gambling away a little bit of your hard-earned cash, JOA Casino could be a pleasant spot to while away a few hours in Etretat.

There’s a bar and restaurant on site and you could opt for a game of pool, if you’re not much for slot machines.

Le Vieux Marche and the village of Etretat

The actual town of Etretat is filled with many charming stone and half-timbered buildings which house shops and restaurants. One particularly fun building is that Vieux Marche, a covered market with several souvenir vendors right in the center of town.  

Chateau des Aygues

This mansion on the southern edge of town dates back to 1866 when it was built for Prince Jozef  Lubomirski who served as Tsar Nicholas I’s Grand Chamberlain. Most notably, it hosted both Spanish Queen Maria Cristina and her daughter Isabel who spent the summer of 1881 in this residence.

Really better classified as a mansion than a castle, Chateau des Aygues is only open in the summer. Since the house is still lived in today, you’re given a tour of select rooms. Two daily tours are offered in the months of July, August, and September, but if you’re visiting outside of those months you can try contacting them about a private tour.

Le Petit Train D’Etretat

Unlike what you might expect if you’ve ridden tourist trains in places like Key West, Florida, this little train doesn’t tour through Etretat explaining the sights to you. Instead, this train is basically a shuttle to the top of the cliff on the east side of town.

Since Etretat is very small, I recommend skipping this train and exploring on foot, especially since hiking up the cliffs is the best thing to do in town. However, if you have mobility issues, this might be a good (if not a little spendy) way to reach the gardens, chapel, and museum near the Elephant D’Etretat cliff formation.

Golf

With its views of the English channel, Etretat beach, and the surrounding cliffs, Golf d’Etretat has to be one of the world’s most beautiful places to get in a round of golf. That said, you’ll be very observed by folks on the cliff path which runs along the course’s edge. I also imagine a stiff sea breeze can make the course especially challenging!

When To Visit

Etretat is a very popular tourist destination. I was shocked by how many people were milling about the beach promenade and cliff paths on a random Wednesday in November. And given how difficult it was for us to find a parking spot, I shudder to think about driving through the town’s narrow streets in July and August.

Normandy tourism recommends visiting outside of the peak summer season. That’s all well and good, but many of the best Etretat tourist attractions, like museums and outdoor experiences, only operate in summer. While the town’s main attraction – the cliffs – look fantastic year-round, ultimately you’ll have to decide between crowds or amenities.

How To Get To Etretat

Etretat, for all its famed depictions and connections to monarchy and notable artists is not easy to get to.

It’s about a 30-minute drive off the major highway so expect pretty slow going down country lanes and through various villages as you drive from A29 to the seaside. Happily, driving in France is very straightforward and having a rental car in Etretat will give you ultimate autonomy for how long you stay.

Drivetimes to Etretat

• Paris to Etretat: 3 hours
• Rouen to Etretat: 1 hours 30 minutes
• Honfleur to Etretat: 45 minutes

While you might hope to outsmart the Etretat parking situation by taking public transportation into town, Etretat doesn’t have a train station. The closest train station is in Bréauté-Beuzeville. From there, you can take the bus (Line 504) to Etretat.

Another low stress way to get to Etretat would be to hop onto one of the various guided tours that head to Etretat and Honfleur from Rouen or Paris. Since there really isn’t much to do in Etretat beyond seeing the cliffs and beach, I actually think a group tour would be an excellent way to see Etretat since you really don’t need much time in town.

How To Find Parking in Etretat

It’s notoriously difficult to find a parking space among Etretat’s cramped streets. We actually had a pretty easy go of it since we visited in the off-season, but the parking lot we were shooting for was being dug up so we didn’t completely escape the Etretat parking headaches.

While there is some street parking in Etretat, the town’s streets are very narrow and cramped. To avoid driving in loops on the town’s one-way streets, here are the best Etretat parking lots to head for:

• Parking Place du General de Gaulle – This large beachside lot is usually very busy, but its convenient location means it should be the first place you look for Etretat parking.
• 18 Pl. Marechal Foch – We ended up parking here and it worked very well. Just note that parking is unavailable on Thursdays when it hosts a weekly market.
• Parking Place Maurice Guillard – If you enter “nearby parking” into your Apple maps app, it will likely direct you to this large municipal lot. Unfortunately, when we visited in November 2024, the lot was in the midst of being excavated.
• Parking du Grand Val – You’ll find this large parking lot behind the bus station on the southern edge of town.
• Parking along Route du Havre – There are also two parking lots on the hill west of the village on either side of Route du Havre near the golf club and Dormy House Hotel.

Simply put, there is not enough parking in Etretat. My best advice is to just take the first parking space you see, even if it means walking a little further than you hoped.

How much time in Etretat?

If you’re looking for a seaside escape with nothing on your agenda except soaking up sea breezes and reading your book, you could happily while away a happy weekend in Etretat.

Personally, I was pretty over Etretat after a couple hours.

At the most, I’d say you want to spend one day in Etretat, but not the night. If I were to do this trip again, I’d budget about 3-4 hours in Etretat and then continue on to Honfleur (about a 45 minute drive west) to spend the night.

Is Etretat worth it?

Kind of?

Excited by the impressionist artist connections and enchanting photos of Etretat Beach, I went out of my way to include Etretat on our Normandy itinerary. Sadly, the town fell flat for me.

There’s no denying that the cliffs themselves are stunning. But once you’ve walked the beach promenade, climbed to the top of the east cliff for a view of the Needle Rock and Porte d’Aval, and maybe wandered through a museum or garden, you’ll probably be ready to call it a day in Etretat.    

Shame on me for thinking I could outsmart Rick Steves on this one. He strongly recommends visiting Honfleur and is suspiciously silent about Etretat in his Normandy guide. And perhaps if I hadn’t spent the day before tromping on top of the white cliffs outside of Ault near the Bay of Somme, I would have been more enamored by Etretat.

There’s really not much to do in Etretat and if you’re visiting outside of the summer season, your activity options will be even more limited by seasonal closures. This is a tourist town through and through, so expect high prices on lodging and in restaurants.

I understand that we visited in November when service workers are worn out from a long summer season, but between the hassle of finding a parking spot and its somewhat inconvenient location, Etretat felt like a lot of work for what essentially amounted to a photo op. It’s definitely not a Normandy must-see like Bayeux.

If like me, you can’t imagine going to Normandy and not seeing the Cliffs of Etretat, remember that France’s Alabaster Coast stretches for more than 80 miles from Le Havre to the Bay of Somme. You can absolutely see striking white cliffs in many places along the English Channel without getting sucked into the Etretat tourist trap.