travel guide and tourism, attractions and sightseeing (2024)

Yport is atraditional fishing village on the Alabaster coast in the Seine-Maritime department of Normandy, between Fecamp and Etretat.

The village is one of the smaller resorts in the region and contains a mix of small fishing houses and larger 19th century properties built at the time that Yport started to become an established seaside resort.

Explore Yport

The beach at Yport is a well-maintained pebble beach, with a row of traditional beach huts and backed by various shops and cafes, and is of course the centre of interest for most visitors.

The high chalk cliffs beyond and behind the beach are the principal attraction in Yport and make the beach a very pleasant place to pass some time.

The centre of Yport, although small, has some attractive fishermen cottages and small streets to explore, for example around the Place Jean-Paul Laurens.

Take a look at the Hôtel Normand built in the 19th century which was once a changeover station for the postal service, and in the courtyard you can still see the stables used for the postal horses. On the other side of the square you can see the attractive clock tower.

Exploring elsewhere in the centre of Yport, highlights to be discovered include the Church of Saint Martin and the 'stations of the cross'. The Mairie is in a nice half-timbered building called the 'Villa les Roses'. You will also find local facilities such as shops, restaurants and a post office and also a casino.

You will notice the unusual striped design to the church, which is a bit reminiscent of the Pisan style in Italy! There is an interesting story about the Church of Saint-Martin in Yport: in 1838 the villagers decided they would all get together to build the church and started collecting stones and pebbles from the beach and set off by boat to get wood from Fécamp.

Then as big a team effort, with the women and children of Yport also helping to mix mortar and bring water, they managed to build the church in less than six months.

Yport tourist office has a leaflet explaining the various highlights and a suggested route to follow while exploring.

Historical note: a novel by the renowned 19th century French author Guy de Maupassant and called 'Une Vie' is set in Yport.

The village is surrounded on both sides by the dramatic sea-facing cliff scenery that is typical of this section of coast. Sat on the beach are a row of blue and white striped beach huts and behind these is a play park for children.

You will aso find a casino: there has been a casino at Yport since 1865 when sea-bathing became fashionable and towns developed around the beaches.

After the play park, follow the path up to the higher parts of the village for great views over the sea and cliffs and the village below. This path is part of the GR21 which continues to Etretat.

In the higher parts of the village you will see a number of impressive villas including the impressive Villa Josette and nearby the Vieux Manoir which was used by German officers during the Second World War.In the lower part of town the Villa Marguerite and the Villa les Roses are superb villas to look out for.

Attractions nearby

There is much of scenic interest along the coast in both directions with cliff walks being among the most popular activities. The long walking trails of the GR21 and the GR21B both pass through the town making this a good base if you want to do some walking.

The resort at Etretat is only a few kilometres along the coast to the south-west of Yport and has some of the most dramatic coastal cliff scenery in Normandy.