Barfleur
Harbour village and the Gatteville lighthouse
Barfleur lies 26 km east of Cherbourg as the crow flies and is one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Houses of grey granite line the drying harbour, and the Église Saint-Nicolas stands on a rock by the sea. North of the village the Phare de Gatteville rises 75 m, and visitors climb around 350 steps to the top.
On this page
The village
Barfleur is one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and the only village in the Manche département to carry the label. It sits on the east coast of the Cotentin peninsula, 26.1 km from Cherbourg as the crow flies.
Most of the houses around the harbour and in the lanes date from the 17th and 18th centuries, with façades of grey granite. Granite fronts also set the tone along Rue Saint-Thomas-Becket. Covering 60 ha, 12 ha of which is harbour, Barfleur is the smallest commune in the Manche.
The market is on Saturday mornings on Quai Henri Chardon.
Église Saint-Nicolas
The Église Saint-Nicolas stands on a rock by the sea, surrounded by its churchyard. It was built in three stages: the choir in 1630 to 1637, the tower in 1695 and the nave in 1839 to 1844. Its patron, Saint Nicholas, is the patron saint of sailors.
The church is a listed Monument historique. Inside hangs a 16th-century Flemish Visitation from the workshop of Maerten de Vos, which is itself listed as a Monument historique.
Harbour and lifeboat station
Barfleur’s harbour dries out at low tide. It took its present shape in the 19th century: a groyne in 1828, the 200 m granite jetty between 1842 and 1849 and the 400 m quay between 1861 and 1875. Barfleur is still a working fishing port, landing scallops among other catches.
The Barfleur mussel (moule de Barfleur) had almost disappeared. Today a handful of fishermen in the east of the Cotentin dredge for it again, and it is sold only in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue.
France’s first lifeboat station opened in Barfleur on 20 April 1865. You can see the lifeboat Amiral de Tourville in the Anse de la Masse.
Phare de Gatteville
The Phare de Gatteville stands 2 km north of Barfleur harbour, in the commune of Gatteville-le-Phare. Built between 1829 and 1834 from 11,000 blocks of granite, it is 75 m tall. A spiral staircase of around 350 steps leads to the outdoor gallery, and the tower has 52 windows. There is a small museum room inside. The old tower of 1774 is 25 m high and now serves the French Navy (Marine nationale) as a signal station.
Visiting
The lighthouse is open almost all year, with opening hours that change from month to month. It closes on 1 May, 25 December and 1 January. In the low season it closes over lunch outside the French school holidays.
No more than 25 people are allowed in the tower at once. The climb is closed in winds above 50 km/h, during thunderstorms and when work is under way, so on a windy day it is worth a look at the weather before you set off.
Children under 16 may only go up with someone over 18. Animals are not allowed, and there are no toilets.
A short history
The name Barfleur is Old Norse in origin. Until the Middle Ages Barfleur was the most important port in Normandy.
According to tradition, Duchess Matilda had the Mora, William the Conqueror’s ship, built in Barfleur, and a Barfleur crew under Étienne, son of Airard, is said to have steered it. The fleet of the 1066 expedition, however, sailed from Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. A bronze medallion by Josette Hébert-Coeffin, fixed to a rock at the harbour entrance in 1966 for the 900th anniversary, commemorates the expedition.
- 1120: the White Ship (Blanche-Nef) sinks off Gatteville.
- 1346: Edward III sacks Barfleur.
- 29 May 1692: the Battle of Barfleur.
- 20 April 1865: France’s first lifeboat station opens.
- 21 June 1944: Barfleur is liberated.
Getting there from Cherbourg
By car, the D901 takes you from Cherbourg to Barfleur in around 30 minutes.
Without a car, Cap Cotentin bus line S6 “Gatteville-Le-Phare Cherbourg-en-Cotentin” takes you to the lighthouse. The timetable shows whether it also stops in Barfleur itself. Timetables change with the season and are published as PDFs on the Cap Cotentin route pages.
On foot, the GR223 coastal path links Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue with the Phare de Gatteville, a 16.3 km stage.
Between Cherbourg and Barfleur lies Fermanville, which has a campsite; details are on the camping page. Other places in the east, such as Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue and Tatihou, are covered on the day trips page, and the cliffs to the west on the La Hague page.