The ultimate weekend in France's Deauville and Trouville

I’ve been spending a lot of time in France the past few years due to my French boyfriend, and while Paris is my number one, I nicknamed Deauville and Trouville, the Deux and Trois. 

With its epically wide expanses of sandy beaches, trendy shopping addresses and renowned American film festival, the French seaside city of Deauville attracts so many Parisians, it’s known as the 21st arrondissement. But you get two destinations for one: Deauville’s fraternal twin, Trouville, is just about a 15-minute stroll away, and both have a resort-vacation vibe in summer. Deauville is the more glam city (say bonjour to Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Longchamp), while Trouville is more low-key (say coucou, the casual French equivalent of hi!, to cute shops like Villa Gypsy and L’Usage du Papier). 

• When to arrive: We hit the summer jackpot on a long weekend in the middle of July, with Bastille Day fireworks and the summer soldes, or sales, in all the shops. Plan around the annual Festival du Cinéma Américain de Deauville, which takes place at the end of September. In 2024 it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024, with attendees including Natalie Portman and Michael Douglas. Leave Paris on Friday afternoon, and you’ll be in Deauville 2 hours later. On the official SNCF (National Company of the French Railways) website or app, tickets are often less expensive if you book in advance. 

• Getting around town: Skip the rental car and weekend traffic jams, and take the train from Paris’s Gare St Lazare: it’s 2 hours direct to the Trouville-Deauville (Normandie) station. You don’t need a car here unless you’re planning to explore farther along the Cote de Fleurie, as the area is known. Deauville and Trouville are both walkable, and it’s about a 15-minute walk to get from one side of the harbor to the other. At high tide you can take a quick boat ride across; at low tide, a footbridge connects the two banks.

• Where to stay: Deauville and Trouville are about equidistant from the train station, about 10-15 minutes to either one, but Deauville is more where the action is. If you’re living the charmed life, book your stay at Deauville’s grande dame, the Hotel Barrière Le Normandy, built in 1912 in the style of a Normandy chalet with a half-timbered facade. It’s right in the center of town and known for exceptional service and famous clientele. Everything from the printed patterns of the toile de Jouy wallpaper in the guest rooms to the stained-glass windows of the spa and glass-roofed indoor pool is delightful - and depending on your travel dates, it’s not as outrageously priced as you might think. If your budget is smaller, opt for the charming 12-room Hotel Le Patio just a few blocks away, with bright, colorful rooms and its namesake patio. The Hotel Flaubert, right on the beach in Trouville, is also an excellent mid-priced choice.

• What to pack: Think beachy chic when you’re packing, but you can do a wardrobe upgrade once you arrive. Deauville has an impeccable fashion pedigree dating back at least to 1912, when Coco Chanel opened her first clothing boutique here. These days, there’s a Printemps department store (smaller than the Paris original but nevertheless flaunting the height of fashion) and plenty of other stylish shops in downtown Deauville. Look for French brands like ba&sh for glam women's clothes, Kujten for everything in kitten-soft cashmere and Princess TamTam for swimwear. If you’re planning to spend any time at the casinos, for concerts, shows or gambling, bring suitable attire, and note that you’ll need your passport to get inside.

Day 1: Friday

Arrive on Friday afternoon, check in to your hotel and head straight for the boardwalk for sea breezes. Both Deauville and Trouville have boardwalks along their respective wide beaches, but Deauville’s les planches (as the wooden walkway is known) is lined with art deco beach cabins painted with the names of film stars and directors who have taken part in the Fes­ti­val du Ciné­ma Amé­ri­cain de Deau­ville. Test yourself on your film knowledge - most of the names are American. I recognized stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Altman, Elia Kazan, Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, Will Ferrell and Kristin Stewart, but was stumped by the likes of Stewart Granger, R.B. Strassburger, Mervyn Leroy and Arthur Penn.

Stop for a pre-dinner drink at a beachside bar, then head to Bouillon Mornay for French bistro classics like escargot, onion soup, salade frisée, beef bourguignon and steak tartare paired with perfect frites.  A bouillon is a type of restaurant popular in the late 1800s for serving traditional, hearty food at reasonable prices in a lively atmosphere. Not all bouillons are created equal though - some of the newer Paris iterations draw long lines with their throwback prices but serve mediocre food at best. 

After dark 

If the sun and sea haven’t knocked you out, take a last stroll around town then head for bed. At the height of summer, it doesn’t get dark until after 10pm. 

Day 2: Saturday

Morning

Skip the overcrowded terrasses at the restaurants on the Place du Marché in central Deauville and let the scent of baked goods lead you down the street to Boulangerie Boissée for perfectly buttery and flakey croissants. Pair that with a cappuccino on the terrasse at LeLes Sports across the street -- the only tabac in France where I’ve found coffee that doesn’t taste like carburetor liquid.

Then browse the Deauville market at Place du Marché (open July and August, every day except Wednesday, from 7am to 1:30pm; Tuesday, Friday and Saturday the rest of the year) for crafts, clothes, seasonal produce, bread, cheese and prepared food. If it’s strawberry season, no one will look askance if you buy a box of berries cueillies hier soir (picked last night) to munch on the spot while you shop for picnic fixings for lunch.

Keep an eye out for the silver-haired French gentleman attending racks of Indian cotton clothing - as he told us, he spends half his year in India and brings home bolts of fabric that he makes into clothes of his own design. I bought a cute pair of pastel print pants that remind me of Deauville when I wear them.

How to spend the day 

Make it a beach day. Pack towels and your picnic and either rent a colorful umbrella and beach chairs to lounge for a few hours, or just walk the long boardwalk out past Deauville, checking out the grand villas that back the road. Munch your picnic lunch at leisure and stop for another coffee on the terrasse at Sunset Beach restaurant. 

Head back to your hotel to freshen up, do some shopping and have an apéro (pre-dinner drink and a snack) at Morny’s on Place du Morny in Deauville or along the rue des Bains in Trouville.

Dinner 

Seaside means seafood, so we made reservations at Augusto Chez Laurent, where the chalkboard menu swims with options and the lobsters swim in a tank. There’s a Menu Homard, with lobster in every course, but we opted for surf and turf. We shared chilled mussels to start, and then I had a rich lobster linguine and my boyfriend had a veal dish. For dessert, we shared the cheese course, which was the perfect opportunity to try the local Pont-l'Évêque cheese: there were two versions, one simple and one washed in Calvados and coated with crispy breadcrumbs (this is the Calvados region).

After dark 

There are events throughout the summer - in addition to those fireworks over the Bastille Day weekend, you can choose between classical music, the occasional rock concert and more. Otherwise, Deauville and Trouville also have twin Hotel Barrière casinos and even if gambling isn’t your thing, either one is good for a nightcap and people watching. 

Day 3: Sunday 

Morning 

Grab a coffee and another of those flakey croissants and a pain au chocolat for the road, and hop on the bus (the bus station is conveniently right next to the train station) for the roughly 35-minute ride to the picturesque port town of Honfleur, on the Seine. This is horse country, and the views out the window are all rolling hills with horse farms and chateaus. 

How to spend the day 

Honfleur is said to be the birthplace of Impressionism because Claude Monet’s mentor Eugène Boudin was born here, and Monet and his contemporaries would come here to paint. Boudin was the one who introduced them to the idea of painting en plein air (outside), capturing the effects of natural light on the landscapes and scenes of daily life. The small harbor of Honfleur, filled with fishing boats and surrounded by stone and wooden houses, was a frequent inspiration.

In addition to the more than 100 art galleries in Honfleur, tourism office has a mapped walking tour. The highlights are the Musée Eugène Boudin for Impressionist works including two Monets, the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Grâce, with its wooden boats memorializing local sailors, and the Jardin du Tripot, a semi-hidden section of connecting alleyways that’s been turned into garden of sculptures and running water in a repurposed dye works. 

For lunch, stop at SaQuaNa, known for its boulangerie and restaurant. Everything is seasonal and handmade, including the delicious breads and desserts.

Bistro des Artistes, just above the harbor, is a tiny gem, with handmade everything - even President Emmanuel Macron has dined here. It’s the one with the teapots and other bric-a-brac in the window.

Early dinner/apéro 

Get the bus back to Deauville and  hit up Trouville’s fish market for a glass of wine and the seafood platter of your dreams: choose what you’d like from the selection of oysters, crabs, langoustines, escargot and crevettes spread out on ice. Just note the marché closes at 7 pm.

Pick up a couple of éclairs at Chez Meunier boulangerie for the train ride back to Paris and à bientôt (see you next time).