Honfleur Museums
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
- There are 4 museums to visit in the city center of Honfleur.
- All tickets must be bought on site. No booking on line.
- All of Honfleur’s museums are very interesting and worth visiting. It now depends on your interests and available time
- If you want to visit only one museum, then I recommend The Eugène Boudin Museum.
It’s always closed on Tuesday. - If you visit several museums, buy combined tickets or a museum pass.
For inquiries regarding any of Honfleur’s four museums, please note that there is a single email address :
musee.eugeneboudin@wanadoo.fr
The opening hours and days vary significantly depending on the season.
Be sure to check the Honfleur museum website for accurate information
HERE.
Eugène Boudin Museum
Rue de l’Homme de Bois, 14600 Honfleur
– Closed on Tuesday, May 1, July 14, December 25 and a few weeks in January.
– Audioguide in English available.
This museum was created in 1868 thanks to the painter Louis-Alexandre Dubourg born in Honfleur and friend of Eugène Boudin.
It is located in a 19th century chapel and two extensions.
What I appreciate about this museum is the blend of both renowned and lesser-known artists, united by their shared passion for capturing the life, landscapes, and light of Honfleur. Some visitors may initially expect the museum to solely focus on Eugene Boudin due to its name, but there are numerous other fascinating artists, although less known, whose works deserve exploration here.
- The name of Eugène Boudin was given to the museum in 1960 in memory of the painter who contributed to its creation : he wanted to give the people of Honfleur a taste for fine-arts.
- You can admire in this museum permanent exhibitions of more than 2,500 works (paintings, sculptures, drawings..) of artists of the 19th and 20th centuries including Boudin, Courbet, Dufy, Jongkind, Monet…and also objects, costumes, furniture, posters on Normandy (1880-1950).
- In summer, temporary exhibitions are organized.
- Very nice view of the Seine estuary and the Normandy bridge through the museum windows.
The Maritime Museum of Honfleur
11 Quai Saint-Etienne, 14600 Honfleur
– Closed on Monday, May 1st, July 14 and from January to mid-February
This museum is located along the Old Harbor in the former Saint-Etienne church, the oldest of Honfleur, dating from the 14th century.
As this museum is quite small, the visit is fast. If you really want to visit it, I advise you to buy a combined ticket with the Ethnography Museum next door.
- You will learn about the historical past of the harbor of Honfleur and discover the stories of explorers who made Honfleur famous such as Roberval, who set sail from Honfleur for Canada in 1541.
- A nice collection of models is presented as well as paintings, engravings, drawings and objects.
Museum of Ethnography and Popular Art
Rue de la Prison, 14600 Honfleur
– Closed on Monday, May 1st, July 14 and a few weeks in January.
In a 16th-century half-timbered house which housed a prison, the museum offers a free visit route, crossing 9 furnished rooms and helps to understand the way of life of the past thanks to a well presented staging.
It’s located in a very pretty cobbled street typical of Honfleur and a few meters from the Navy Museum and the Old harbor.
- This museum shows visitors how the inhabitants of Honfleur lived in ancient times.
- Reconstitution of Norman themed rooms such as a cooper’s workshop, weaver’s room, young girl’s room, printer’s room…
- Traditional Norman furniture exhibited, objects, head-dresses and costumes.
Maisons Satie
6 Boulevard Charles V, 14600 Honfleur
– Closed on Tuesday, January 1st and a few weeks in January.
This museum is dedicated to the French composer and pianist Erik Satie, who was born in this house in 1866.
I would say… either you like this museum or not at all …! To my mind : crazy, interesting but the visit is a little short.
- Eric Satie was an avant-garde composer and the staging of this museum reflects his eccentric and quirky personality.
- With an audioguide, you will be immersed in an atypical universe through several rooms (very dark for most of them) where you will meet for instance a white self-playing piano or a carousel powered by your pedal stroke…
- Whether you know or not Eric Satie, it can be good experience to visit this unusual museum.
- The visit is not long, less than one hour.
A little further from the city center
The Naturospace
Boulevard Charles V, 14600 Honfleur.
– Open daily.
– Closed on December 25, January 1st and a few weeks in November, December and January. Please check online.
Only 700 meters from the Old Harbor towards the beach « Le Butin », the Naturospace Butterfly House of Honfleur is great to visit with children. Moreover, you will be right next to an outdoor playground for young kids. And in the same area, stroll in the Garden of Celebrities.
I loved going there with my two daughters when they were little : I remember that the youngest had been afraid at the beginning of the visit when the butterflies came to rest on her shoulders !
- It’s an indoor butterfly house (the largest in France actually) with a regulated climate between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius, where you will walk among flowers and tropical trees while observing birds and butterflies flying free.
- Duration of visit : 1 hour.
