This is part of our 10-day trip to the Normandy region of France in August 2020. You can find the overall itinerary and links to other stops on this trip in our Normandy post.
When I was researching Normandy, stunning images of Étretat’s white cliffs and rock formations immediately caught my eye. I knew without a doubt that this was somewhere we had to go.
We stopped in Étretat on our drive from Brussels (where we live) to Luc-sur-Mer (where we were staying in Normandy). It was about an hour detour and was worth every minute.
The town was quite busy with cars and foot traffic when we first arrived. It seemed they were all parking on the edge of town to do the longer hikes to the top of the cliffs. Since we didn’t have time for that, we continued driving to a large metered parking lot right by the beach. There are small shops and restaurants nearby, if you want to walk around before heading toward the beach.
As soon as you arrive at the small pebble beach, you can immediately see Falaise d’Amont on the right (and the Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Garde that sits atop) and Falaise d’Aval on the left. My kids honestly could have spent hours just picking through the rocks and walking in the caves on the beach. Note that there are signs warning that taking rocks from the beach is not permitted.
When I finally dragged them off the beach, we walked to the top of Falaise d’Aval. It’s an easy walk (maybe 10 minutes), even for two small kids, with multiple opportunities to stop and take in the view along the way. Just stay on the path and away from the cliff edges since there aren’t any fences or barriers; while this maintains the raw, natural beauty of the cliffs, it can also give parents small heart attacks when kids want to look at a flower off the path.
From there, we could see both Falaise d’Amont and Falaise La Manneporte (the widest arch, left picture), along with a great view of the whole town (top right picture). The L’Aiguille (the needle, bottom right picture) is also next to Falaise d’Aval.
We only stayed for about an hour and a half, but could have easily spent the whole day here. If you have the time, build in a full day for Étretat as there is plenty more to see and do!