Viking Longship - Paris & the Heart of Normandy

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Paris

   FranceDepart

   Seine cruises begin and end in Paris rather than merely calling there, so most itineraries give you a couple of nights moored in the city. Vessels tie up along the western quays with the Eiffel Tower in sight, and the Metro does the rest. Because the ship is the hotel, evenings in Paris are yours in a way they never are on an ocean itinerary.

   • The Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay
   • Notre-Dame de Paris, reopened after the 2019 fire
   • Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur
   • A day out to Versailles, about 45 minutes by RER

   Getting ashore

   River ships moor on the Seine quays in the 15th or 16th arrondissement, commonly Port de Grenelle or Port de Javel, within walking distance of a Metro or RER station.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Aug is quiet locally, with many closures)

2. Day 2

   Paris

   FrancePort

   Seine cruises begin and end in Paris rather than merely calling there, so most itineraries give you a couple of nights moored in the city. Vessels tie up along the western quays with the Eiffel Tower in sight, and the Metro does the rest. Because the ship is the hotel, evenings in Paris are yours in a way they never are on an ocean itinerary.

   • The Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay
   • Notre-Dame de Paris, reopened after the 2019 fire
   • Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur
   • A day out to Versailles, about 45 minutes by RER

   Getting ashore

   River ships moor on the Seine quays in the 15th or 16th arrondissement, commonly Port de Grenelle or Port de Javel, within walking distance of a Metro or RER station.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Aug is quiet locally, with many closures)

3. Day 3

   Vernon (La Roche-Guyon & Giverny)

   FrancePort

   Vernon is a Seine town used as the landing point for Giverny, about 7 km away, where Monet kept his house and built the water-lily pond he painted for the last thirty years of his life. Downstream at La Roche-Guyon a chateau backs into the chalk cliff with a medieval keep cut into the rock above it. Vernon itself has a half-timbered mill perched on the piers of its ruined old bridge.

   • Monet's house and water garden at Giverny
   • The Musee des Impressionnismes Giverny, next to the Monet property
   • Chateau de La Roche-Guyon and its cliff-cut keep and kitchen garden
   • Vernon's Vieux-Moulin and the Collegiale Notre-Dame

   Getting ashore

   River ships moor at the Vernon quay in the centre of town; Giverny is a short coach or shuttle ride across the river.

   Best months

   Apr-Oct only for Giverny - the Monet house and gardens close for the winter, so a Nov-Mar call misses the main reason to stop

4. Day 4

   Rouen

   FrancePort

   The historic capital of Normandy, far enough up the Seine that ocean ships cannot reach it but river vessels can. Rouen has more surviving half-timbered houses than almost any French city, and the west front of its cathedral is the one Monet painted more than thirty times in different light. Joan of Arc was tried and burned here in 1431, and the modern church on the Place du Vieux-Marche marks the spot.

   • Rouen Cathedral and its Monet-painted facade
   • The Gros-Horloge, a 14th-century astronomical clock over the street
   • Place du Vieux-Marche and the Joan of Arc church and memorial
   • Excursions to Honfleur or to the Normandy D-Day beaches

   Getting ashore

   River ships moor on the Seine quays a short walk from the old centre, so you simply step off and walk in.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep (Normandy is grey and wet outside summer)

5. Day 5

   Rouen

   FrancePort

   The historic capital of Normandy, far enough up the Seine that ocean ships cannot reach it but river vessels can. Rouen has more surviving half-timbered houses than almost any French city, and the west front of its cathedral is the one Monet painted more than thirty times in different light. Joan of Arc was tried and burned here in 1431, and the modern church on the Place du Vieux-Marche marks the spot.

   • Rouen Cathedral and its Monet-painted facade
   • The Gros-Horloge, a 14th-century astronomical clock over the street
   • Place du Vieux-Marche and the Joan of Arc church and memorial
   • Excursions to Honfleur or to the Normandy D-Day beaches

   Getting ashore

   River ships moor on the Seine quays a short walk from the old centre, so you simply step off and walk in.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep (Normandy is grey and wet outside summer)

6. Day 6

   Les Andelys

   FrancePort

   A Seine village under white chalk cliffs, split into Petit Andely by the water and Grand Andely inland. Above it stand the ruins of Chateau Gaillard, thrown up by Richard the Lionheart in 1196 in under two years to block the French route to Rouen. The climb to the castle is short but steep, and the reward is a wide bend of the river below.

   • Chateau Gaillard's keep and curtain walls, and the view over the Seine loop
   • The riverside walk and cafes in Petit Andely
   • The Collegiale Notre-Dame church in Grand Andely
   • A guided walk or cycle along the chalk-cliff towpath

   Getting ashore

   River ships moor at the quay in Petit Andely and you step straight off into the village; the castle is a 20-minute uphill walk or a short coach ride.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep

7. Day 7

   Paris

   FrancePort

   Seine cruises begin and end in Paris rather than merely calling there, so most itineraries give you a couple of nights moored in the city. Vessels tie up along the western quays with the Eiffel Tower in sight, and the Metro does the rest. Because the ship is the hotel, evenings in Paris are yours in a way they never are on an ocean itinerary.

   • The Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay
   • Notre-Dame de Paris, reopened after the 2019 fire
   • Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur
   • A day out to Versailles, about 45 minutes by RER

   Getting ashore

   River ships moor on the Seine quays in the 15th or 16th arrondissement, commonly Port de Grenelle or Port de Javel, within walking distance of a Metro or RER station.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Aug is quiet locally, with many closures)

8. Day 8

   Paris

   FranceArrive

   Seine cruises begin and end in Paris rather than merely calling there, so most itineraries give you a couple of nights moored in the city. Vessels tie up along the western quays with the Eiffel Tower in sight, and the Metro does the rest. Because the ship is the hotel, evenings in Paris are yours in a way they never are on an ocean itinerary.

   • The Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay
   • Notre-Dame de Paris, reopened after the 2019 fire
   • Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur
   • A day out to Versailles, about 45 minutes by RER

   Getting ashore

   River ships moor on the Seine quays in the 15th or 16th arrondissement, commonly Port de Grenelle or Port de Javel, within walking distance of a Metro or RER station.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Aug is quiet locally, with many closures)