Cliffs of Etretat

Walk to see the magnificent alabaster coast of Etretat.
The Upstream and Downstream gates, the famous hollow needle where Arsène Lupin is said to have hidden his treasure, the Manneporte.
Magnificent views of the cliffs and superb beaches.
The walk skirts the Etretat cliffside golf course and the protected nature reserve.

Details

8494
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.48 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 25 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 238 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 233 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 108 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 6 m
  • ⚐ Country: France
  • ⚐ City: Étretat (76790)
  • ⚑
    Start/End: N 49.707719° / E 0.201143°
  • ❏
    IGN map(s): Ref. 1710ET
  • Hour-by-hour weather

Photos

Description of the walk

(S/E) The circuit starts from the beach at Etretat, on the left of the beach take the stairs and follow the path along the coast.
On your left is the Etretat golf course.

(1) Go down into the first valley, near a sewage treatment plant. Take the path that climbs up opposite.
Continue as far as the Antifer valley, go down and don't take the small road on the left that goes inland, but the path opposite that goes up and runs along the coast.

(2) Halfway up the hill, take the path on the left, leaving the yellow footpath behind. Head inland. The lighthouse is on your right and you are heading towards the village of La Place. Leave the first track on your left and take the small tarmac road as far as the crossroads.

(3) At the crossroads, turn left and you will see a small pond on your right. 200m further on, take the path on your left towards the Antifer valley, the path is signposted.
Go downhill for 700m until you reach the Antifer valley road.

(4) The crossroads is wooded, take the road on the right (on the left you go to the seaside) for 70m and you will come to a crossroads.

(5) Take the path that climbs through the woods on the left, leaving the small tarmac road behind.
At the top of the hill, you will come to a plain. Continue straight on until you come to the next crossroads, where you will see a beautiful château on your right.

(6) Take the path on the right, passing the water tower.
Continue until you reach the Rue du Moulin. Turn left onto the D940.

(7) Follow the D940 on your left for 800m, there is a track going up on your right.
Follow the track into the centre of Etretat.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 8 m - Etretat beach
  2. 1 : km 1.59 - alt. 75 m - Valley with wastewater treatment plant
  3. 2 : km 2.65 - alt. 49 m - Halfway up, fork left
  4. 3 : km 3.76 - alt. 101 m - La Place, turn left
  5. 4 : km 5.07 - alt. 47 m - Turn to the right
  6. 5 : km 5.27 - alt. 57 m - Left-hand path
  7. 6 : km 6.01 - alt. 99 m - Turn to the right
  8. 7 : km 7.69 - alt. 100 m - D940 to the left
  9. S/E : km 9.48 - alt. 7 m

Notes

You don't need any special equipment other than that required for a hike, except if you want to go for a swim - remember to bring your swimming costume.
Be careful on the cliffside path; don't get too close, especially if you have children.
Also beware of gusts of wind at the top of the cliffs.
ETRETAT is a tourist town, and parking is very difficult. Try the car park on the way out of ETRETAT towards LE HAVRE.

Worth a visit

Swimming and golf at Etretat.
You can visit the Château d'Aygues in Etretat (closed in August).
Visit the town which is very pretty, the market hall is very pretty.
You can visit the Chapel of Notre Dame de la Garde and the Nungesser and Coli monument on the Porte d'Amont.

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 123 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.8 / 5
User 13433367

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 27, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk.
Beautiful views.
The first part is along the coast with the cliffs, and the second part is in the countryside.
Well worth a go

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User 2305848

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 10, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Great walk, even in the opposite direction, with superb panoramic views. Highly recommended

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PATOIZEAU
PATOIZEAU

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 13, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely walk under sunny skies and calm seas.
I highly recommend it!

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jeom5670
jeom5670

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very nice hike in cold weather but under sunny skies and blue skies! The route was lengthened because it started from Ste Marie au Bosc.
Passed by the back of the Antifer lighthouse, a little less ascent. Some places along the golf very flooded!
thank you

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snebur
snebur

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 01, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

beautiful panoramas, very popular route on weekends and during school holidays, avoid in strong winds

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Alain95
Alain95

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 06, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

parish specific to Brittany .

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Gercaro
Gercaro

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 16, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very busy route at first, but that's to be expected given the splendid scenery along the coast.
Then, we missed the "left turn" to go towards "4" and turned further on, which forced us to turn back at the water tower because, at this point, we were doing the circuit in the opposite direction.

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Mailhé
Mailhé

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 18, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Great views of the cliffs, then the town of Etretat. Few hikers until the descent to a small beach at Le Tilleul.

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Yvonne M
Yvonne M

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 01, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

It is also possible to do just the cliff path and back, as far as the Antifer lighthouse.

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Tokagass
Tokagass

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 06, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very pleasant, the route takes us through a variety of landscapes (cliffs, woods, countryside...) over a very reasonable length.
Lots of people at the start (which is normal, as you're above the cliffs), but much less afterwards.
Well adapted length

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la petite semelle
la petite semelle

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

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mlpod
mlpod

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 19, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

The walk along the cliffs gives us some superb views. A lot of people at the start. We got lost at the junction halfway up the hill, which was very badly signposted. When we realised that we weren't on the right path, we had to turn around and make up for it as best we could. This completely spoiled the rest of the walk. We also missed point 7.

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SylHouliere
SylHouliere

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 07, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

To avoid skirting the main road at the end of the route, it's best to go straight back down to the car park at point 6.
A very pleasant walk, with lots of people at the start near the needles and then a few rare encounters.

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P.L.
P.L.

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 29, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

We did the hike soon after the lockdown, so there was hardly anyone on the path along the cliffs. It was so beautiful that we didn't finish the walk; we returned to the cliffs via the Antifer valley road, then followed the cliffs again as far as Etretat.
Magnificent!

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TAHOND
TAHOND
• Edited:

Hello,

I'm planning to take a small group of 10 people on this route in May.

Do you know if we can find a fast food restaurant en route or not?

Best regards

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