Dieppe - A charming Norman fishing town with stunning cliffs
Dieppe is a rather old Norman town, founded in 1030, although legend has it that it was established by Vikings in 907.
During the Middle Ages, Dieppe was one of the main ports along the coast, and its neighbors—Normans, English, and French—fought over it.
By the 18th century, things had settled down, and the town became an important port for connections with Britain. We even witnessed the arrival of a ferry from the UK, visible in the background of our photo.
Dieppe is also famous for its scallops and mussels, though we didn’t try them, honestly. For lunch, we had cider and local fish (pictured)—the fish was delicious, but the cider didn’t impress us.
We might have chosen something more interesting, but the restaurant we found wasn’t very touristy. The menu was handwritten in French on a board, and the waiters spoke English even worse than I do.
Our main goal in Dieppe was the coastline.
We walked through the town (not very big, about 30,000 residents, but not quite a village either) and headed right—towards the cliffs.
I think we might have reached a neighboring town, but perhaps it was just the outskirts of Dieppe.
There were hardly any people along the way, and certainly no tourists. Only a few locals quietly chatting by their cars near the coast.
We witnessed the tide—on our way back, the water had already covered the beach. And, as true residents of St. Petersburg, we encountered bridge openings!
Of course, not intentionally. It turns out that bridges here open, which we weren’t quite prepared for.
The first bridge isn’t a drawbridge but opens sideways—it’s a 19th-century bridge with mechanisms from the same era. We were told there’s no schedule; they open it whenever a ship arrives!
The bridge is considered a historical monument as it’s the last functioning drawbridge with its original mechanism.
We waited about 35 minutes, crossed, and then it started pouring rain. While waiting it out in a pastry shop, the next bridge opened briefly—about 10 minutes—to let us into the city center. So, if you’re strolling around Dieppe, keep this in mind to avoid missing your train.
In the town itself, we had two more goals: the central beach—a huge, pebbly stretch and one of Dieppe’s landmarks—and the castle on the hill.
But our plans were slightly disrupted by the rain—we arrived at the beach completely soaked.
So, we simply walked along the beach (there was nothing left to lose) and climbed the hill to see the castle. By then, the entrance to the grounds had already closed, which was a shame, as there’s supposed to be an excellent Maritime Museum inside.
Well, we admired it from the outside. By that point, we were running low on energy (wet and cold), and we still had to return to Paris!
Slowly, we made our way down to the city center. We considered having dinner but quickly calculated the time of the last train to Rouen and the train from Rouen to Paris, realizing we needed to head to the station briskly if we didn’t want to spend the night in rainy Dieppe.
Despite the gloomy and wet feeling of the latter half of the day, I have very fond memories of Dieppe—and perhaps even a desire to return. I don’t regret going and recommend taking a stroll if you get the chance.