Cherbourg: 18 great things to do in 2024

Cherbourg is famous for its 5 ports (pleasure, fishing, commercial, cruise, and military) and its artificial harbor, the largest in Europe and the second in the world! It welcomes the largest liners. Except for its harbor, there are several museums to visit in Cherbourg, beautiful parks, stunning architecture whether Art Deco or medieval, and tasty Coffee shops! Also, you will be surprised to see a lot of Palm trees in this northern town, which in my own opinion make this city unique and beautiful.

Architecture of Cherbourg

1. Downtown

You can easily discover the downtown of Cherbourg by walking and getting lost in the small streets. You will find a lot of beautiful houses made of beautiful stone, the blue schist. These small, narrow passages were common before the war. They lead to small courtyards and houses whose turrets recall the presence of the old castle, which was destroyed in the 17th century. The tourist office has set up a small walking tour to allow you to discover these medieval remains. The walk lasts around an hour, and you can also discover the castle virtually using an application.

After exploring the streets, you can discover Place Napoléon with the statue of the emperor. Near that, you will find the splendid Holy Trinity Basilica (don’t forget to visit the inside) and the “Notre Dame du Voeu” church. Finally, don’t forget the Italian theater, inaugurated in 1882, and the little square in front of it where a market is held some days.

2. The Harbor (”La grande rade”)

This harbor is the largest artificial harbor in Europe (1500 hectares)! The Cherbourg harbor is a succession of offshore dikes, stretching for almost 4 kilometers.

It is now home to 4 major ports: commerce, military, pleasure, and fishing. In the commerce port (“Bassin du commerce”), you can cross the unusual Pont Tournant (swing bridge). It opens and closes up to 4 times a day, depending on the tides, and only if boats arrive to enter or leave the commercial basin. Also, don’t miss the “Port de Plaisance Chantereyne” which is the pleasure port and where you can have a beautiful view of the sea. There, you can sometimes see huge cruise ships.

Museums in Cherbourg

3. The City of the Sea (”La Cité de la mer”)

The City of the Sea is housed in the largest Art-Deco building in France, the former Transatlantic Maritime Station. It was voted France’s favorite monument in 2022.

In the Grande Galerie, at the entrance, you will discover the explorers and machines that have marked the times. You don’t need to have a ticket to see this free exhibition.

Pass the gates of the city of the sea, you can embark aboard the Redoutable, the first nuclear ballistic missile submarine built in France, and the largest visitable submarine in the world! I went there with an audio guide and found it very impressive. Be careful, children below 5 years old are not allowed inside.

You can also relive the final hours of the Titanic, learn the stories of its passengers, and visit an exhibition of objects recovered from its wreck.

In the Baggage Room, you will discover the time when Cherbourg was the “Gateway to the Americas”. Personally, it was the part of the city of the sea that I preferred, I found it fascinating.

Finally, in the Ocean of the Future, you can explore the oceans, around spectacular multimedia spaces, and 17 aquariums including an abyssal aquarium, which is also the deepest pool in Europe.

4. The umbrella factory (”Le Parapluie de Cherbourg”)

This factory dates from 1800. By visiting the workshops, you will discover this luxurious brand created in 1986 and its unique know-how, passed down from generation to generation. You can visit the museum-factory as a self-guided tour or a guided tour.

5. “Connaissance du Cotentin” Museum

This museum is housed in different buildings of an old 19th-century farm, with an architecture typical of the country’s traditional habitat.

This ecomuseum traces the activity of the former royal mirror factory, from its creation in 1667 under the reign of Louis XIV. This factory produced the 357 mirrors for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. Also, you can discover here the collections of Norman headdresses, work and ceremonial clothing, objects of daily life from the past, tools and techniques from the crafts and agricultural world of Cotentin…

6. The Liberation Museum

This museum is installed in a former military fort from the Second Empire, at the top of Roule Mountain. There, you can observe a superb panoramic view of the city and its harbor.

The museum retraces the different stages of the Second World War in Cherbourg until the Liberation. The collections illustrate the daily life of civilians and soldiers. Numerous archival documents and objects will allow you to discover the role played by the city in the logistics of the Landing between 1944 and 1945.

7. “Le Point du Jour”

It is both an art center and a publishing house, focused on photography. The exhibitions present current artists, through recent series or a look back at their work, as well as great photographers of the 20th century.

8. Thomas Henry Museum

This Museum has a superb collection of European art (Impressionism-Fine Arts) with nearly 300 works of art, including paintings and sculptures, from the 15th to the beginning of the 20th century.

9. Emmanuel Liais Museum

This is the Cherbourg Museum of Natural History, Archeology and Ethnography, the city’s first museum. It opened its doors in 1832, and was formerly located in a room in the Town Hall. Today, the museum is located in the house of Emmanuel Liais who was mayor of the city for ten years.

Here, you can find archaeological remains, coins, rare works, and numerous natural history specimens. There is also an Egyptian stele from the 12th dynasty, an Egyptian sarcophagus with its mummy, Gallo-Roman objects collected in 1829 on the Mielles de Tourlaville site, and other treasures from Asia, Africa or Oceania.

Nature in Cherbourg

10. Emmanuel Liais park

Emmanuel Liais Park is a green setting where you will discover exotic plants and trees that were brought back from South America by Emmanuel Liais during his travels and others that were imported from Asia in the 19th century.

You can also walk through tropical forest-like greenhouses and then cross a cactus desert to reach another greenhouse with a temperate tropical climate.

Finally, there are play areas for children in different places in the park.

The park also houses the Emmanuel Liais Museum, the Science Library, and the Observatory Tower.

11. The public garden or “Roule Park”

The public garden was founded in 1887 on the site of a former hermitage. Located at the foot of the Roule mountain, it has an area of 1.7 hectares. Two corner pavilions were built there in 1889.

The zoological park has a pond fed by a spring coming down from Roule Mountain where ducks and a swan live. Nearby, a pool is home to maned sea lions. Other animals are visible in the large aviary and enclosure like aviaries, deer, and goats. A rose garden made up of 67 Norman varieties (from 1828 to the present day) is also to be discovered. You will also find numerous children’s games. In this garden, there remains the only bandstand in Cherbourg.

Here, you can observe the portal of Vœu Abbey discovered in 1892, and other memorial monuments.

12. Ravalet Castle garden

This beautiful blue schist castle was built in the Renaissance style by Jean de Ravalet in 1562. The park covers an area of 14 hectares. Here, you will find a landscaped park and a rotunda greenhouse. There are also plantations of various origins (North America, China, Middle East, Australia, Europe). In 1995, a dahlia conservatory made up of 200 varieties was created.

13. The green beach “la place verte”

The green beach, opposite the Chantereyne marina, offers a large lawn area for ball games, kite flying, and much more. There are also a lot of choices for water activities such as catamaran, sea rowing…

The green beach hosts numerous events including the “Cherbourg à la plage” event during the summer: take advantage of beanbags, deck chairs, and parasols, and borrow a book or board game for free.

14. The Saline Park

This Park is a five-hectare space, on the seafront. Here, you will find play areas for 2-6 year olds and 6-14 year olds. Also, a catering center is inserted in one of the old fortifications. If you like walking or cycling, you are in the right place! You can enjoy a 3 km promenade along the seaside with a superb view of the harbor, the sea, and its forts. Along this walk, “Le Grand Départ” evokes the history of 150 years of transatlantic epics in texts and images.

15. Collignon beach

It is a huge and beautiful beach of fine sand, bordered by a long promenade.

16. Querqueville

In Querqueville, don’t forget to see the green beach, the fort, and the dike. The green beach is made of an area of 1.5 hectares of grass and another area where you can see white willows, and pine trees. There is also a large playground.

If you have time, you can even see the St Germain Chapel and the park around the Manoir de la Coquerie. This park of more than 3 hectares has several bicentennial oaks and a cider apple orchard, all bordered by the Lucas stream.

Where to eat in Cherbourg?

17. “Le Caffè Cherbourg”

I went to Cherbourg with my family for 2 days so we didn’t have a lot of time to try a lot of restaurants, but on our way to our Airbnb we saw “Le Caffè Cherbourg”. We checked on the internet, and it was very well-rated. So, we decided to go there the next morning. And… it was excellent! Their homemade pastries and cakes were succulents, and the staff was welcoming and helpful. We went there several times, and we tasted different desserts including different types of cookies and cheesecakes, and they were all succulents. I loved the cheesecake “vanille tonka”.