Monet, Étretat and Giverny

Where did Monet paint at Étretat?

On the beach in front of the town and from his room at the Hôtel Blanquet, facing the Aval and Amont cliffs, and on the clifftop facing the Manneporte. More than 80 canvases between 1883 and 1886.

In February 1883 he spent about three weeks in Étretat and painted some twenty views of the beach and the three arches (The Met). He came back from mid-September to mid-December 1885, painting nearly 50 canvases, and briefly in February 1886. Bad weather often kept him indoors: the Art Institute of Chicago's two boat paintings of 1885 were painted "while looking out the window of his room at the Hôtel Blanquet" (Art Institute of Chicago).

The Hôtel Blanquet was torn down during the Second World War, along with the old casino. The beach, the boats and the cliffs are still there. Courbet painted his storm waves here in 1869; Boudin, Delacroix and later Matisse came too.

Why did Monet paint the Manneporte so many times?

It was his first true series. He painted the arch six times from the same angle, twice on each of his visits in 1883, 1885 and 1886, to catch it in different light and weather.

The Manneporte is the largest of Étretat's three arches, west of the Aval cliff. Monet worked from the shore below it, at low tide. The Met owns two of the six, The Manneporte (Étretat), 1883 and The Manneporte near Étretat, 1886.

You can't stand where he stood any more: the beach under the Manneporte and the tunnel down are closed since April 2025. The clifftop path gives you the arch from above, about 30 minutes' walk from town. The cliff walk guide has the route.

Which museums have Monet's Étretat paintings?

They're spread across the world. The Met, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and the Musée d'Orsay (on deposit in Caen) are good places to start.

A selection you can look up and, where they're on show, go and see:

Earlier in 2026 the Städel Museum in Frankfurt gathered 24 Monets for Monet on the Normandy Coast: The Discovery of Étretat (19 March to 5 July). In Le Havre, 30 minutes from the cliffs, the MuMa holds France's second-largest Impressionist collection, with Monet and several hundred works by Boudin.

Giverny or Étretat: what's the difference?

Giverny is Monet's house and garden, ticketed and seasonal. Étretat is the open coast he painted, free and open all year. Giverny is 75 km from Paris; Étretat about 210 km.

Side by side:

Prices and dates are from the Fondation Claude Monet, which recommends booking ahead, especially in May and June of this centenary year.

Can you do Giverny and Étretat in one day?

Yes, from April to 1 November, on the private Giverny tour: Monet's house at 9:15, Honfleur at lunch, Étretat from 15:15 to 17:00, back in Paris by 20:00. $669 per person.

The Giverny, Honfleur and Étretat day is run by Clewel Travel, whose small-group Normandy day rates 5.0 from 15 reviews; this private version is new, with no reviews of its own yet. A Mercedes picks you up at 8:00 and covers the 70 km to Giverny in about 1 h 15. Monet's house and garden from 9:15 to 11:00, ticket included; Honfleur from 12:30 to 14:30; Étretat from 15:15 to 17:00 with a walk to the cliffs and the Jardins d'Étretat. Meals aren't included.

Giverny to Étretat alone is about 170 km, around 2 hours, so this is a long day in a car. It also only works in the garden season: after 1 November Giverny closes until spring. The late afternoon slot does give you warm light on the Amont side and the town.

Monet's garden in the morning, Honfleur at lunch and his cliffs in the late light, by private Mercedes from your Paris hotel.

New · 12 hours · from $669

Explore the Giverny, Honfleur and Étretat day → Tour details

Is a Giverny half day plus Étretat on another day the better plan?

For most people, yes. The half-day Giverny tour is $149, rated 4.8 from 1,999 reviews, and you're back in Paris by lunch. Do Étretat on a separate day with time to walk.

The Giverny half day takes eight people at most from La Flamme, 6 Avenue de Wagram, with entry included and a stop at Monet's grave by the church of Sainte-Radegonde. One guest: "The drive to Giverny was approximately 1 hour and we stopped at the cemetery where Money is buried. [...] We were back in Paris before 1 PM." Know what you're buying. A 2-star guest wrote: "The driver drops you at the house and gardens and you wander on your own." The operator confirmed that guests explore the house and garden on their own after an introduction.

Two separate days cost $320 for the half day and the coach, against $669 for the private combination, and give you about two hours at the cliffs instead of 1 h 45 at the end of a long day.

Where can you stand where Monet stood?

On the promenade and the beach in front of the town, on the Aval clifftop above the Manneporte, and on the Amont path looking across the bay. All free.

• The beach in front of the promenade: his views of fishing boats drawn up on the shingle and the Porte d'Aval beyond. The boats are fewer, the angle the same.
• The Amont path: the view across the bay to the Aval arch and the needle, best in the morning.
• The Aval clifftop: the Manneporte from above. Monet painted it from below, which you can't do now.
• Gonneville-la-Mallet, a few kilometres inland: in 1885 Monet painted two cupboard doors at the inn there, the Hostellerie des Vieux Plats, in exchange for a meal (Städel timeline). The doors were later sold.

What's on for the 2026 Monet centenary?

Monet died on 5 December 1926. In autumn 2026 the Orangerie and the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris both run major exhibitions into January 2027.

The Musée de l'Orangerie shows Monet, peindre le temps from 30 September 2026 to 25 January 2027, and the Musée Marmottan Monet Histoires du paysage, de Monet à Hockney from 24 September 2026 to 31 January 2027 (Ulysse centenary round-up). The Giverny garden closes for the winter on 1 November, so after that the Paris museums are your Monet fix and Étretat your open-air one.

For the cliffs themselves, the best time to visit has the light, season by season.

Frequently asked questions