# Rouen The cathedral Monet painted, the clock of 1389, the Historial Jeanne d'Arc and timber-framed streets. A day trip by train from Paris-Saint-Lazare. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/france/normandy/rouen · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Rouen was the capital of the dukes of Normandy and one of the richest cities in France in the Middle Ages. Here Joan of Arc was tried and burned in 1431, here Monet painted his series of cathedrals and here Flaubert was born. It keeps a centre of timber-framed houses, Gothic churches at every turn and a 14th-century clock that spans the street. It is on the Seine, an hour and a quarter from Paris by train, and is the best day trip from Paris towards Normandy without a car. ## How do you get there from Paris? By train from Saint-Lazare station to Rouen Rive-Droite, in about an hour and a quarter. Rouen is outside the Île-de-France region: the ticket is bought on SNCF Connect, the metro ticket isn't valid. From the station to the centre it is a walk of ten or fifteen minutes downhill along rue Jeanne d'Arc. By car it is an hour and a half on the A13, but the centre is pedestrianised and parking costs; if you go by car, leave it in a public car park such as the one at the Vieux-Marché. If you fly from Spain, you land at Orly or Charles de Gaulle. From Orly, metro line 14 goes direct to Saint-Lazare. Beauvais, the low-cost airport, is an hour and a half away by car. ## What to see in a day? Start with the cathedral, with the tallest spire in France and the façade Monet painted; on weekdays it closes from 12:00 to 14:00, so better first thing. Next to it is the Historial Jeanne d'Arc, an immersive tour in the palace where she was tried. Continue along rue du Gros-Horloge to the Gros-Horloge, climb to its roof and end at the Vieux-Marché square, where the pyre stood. In the afternoon, the Fine Arts Museum, free, has one of the great Impressionist galleries in France. Or cross to the Saint-Maclou district, with rue Martainville and the Aître Saint-Maclou, an ossuary with beams carved with skulls. If you want something different, the painting workshop in Monet's studio sits you facing the cathedral, in the room where he painted it. ## Which day to go? Not on a Monday: the Gros-Horloge and the Historial are closed, and the cathedral opens only in the afternoon. Any other day will do, and on Sunday the cathedral opens without a break. In summer, stay for dinner: at dusk, the show Cathédrale de lumière projects light onto the façade. If you plan several visits, the 24-hour Rouen Pass includes the Gros-Horloge, the Historial, the little train, guided tours and public transport. ## Where to eat and sleep? The Brasserie Paul, from 1898, facing the cathedral, serves without closing every day from 9:30 to 23:30: easy food for the day. La Couronne, in the Vieux-Marché, boasts of being the oldest inn in France and has a €29 lunch menu. To sleep, the Hôtel de la Cathédrale is in a 17th-century house next to the cathedral, with a timber-framed courtyard and roof terrace; the Hôtel Littéraire Gustave Flaubert, a four-star, next to the Vieux-Marché, has parking. Sleeping here lets you carry on to the Alabaster Coast, Étretat or the abbeys of the Seine. ## Dónde está - Cerca: Giverny (a 51.3 km), Étretat (a 70.5 km), Auvers-sur-Oise (a 88.3 km), Chantilly (a 103.0 km) ## Qué hacer - **Rouen Cathedral, the one Monet painted** (1 h · Everyone): The façade that Monet painted twenty-eight times, in 1892 and 1893, at all hours of the day, from a first-floor room on the square. Notre-Dame Cathedral is Gothic, with a 151-metre cast-iron spire, the tallest in France, and a 16th-century tower, the Butter Tower, paid for with the alms of those who wanted to eat butter during Lent. In the choir are the tomb of Rollo, the Viking founder of the Duchy of Normandy, and the heart of Richard the Lionheart. Opening hours On Monday it is open from 14:00 to 18:00; Tuesday to Saturday, from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 14:00 to 18:00; Sundays and public holidays, from 8:00 to 18:00. There is Mass Tuesday to Saturday at 10:00 and on Sundays at 8:30 and 10:30. At night, in summer Every summer, at dusk, the show Cathédrale de lumière projects a different theme onto the façade: Joan of Arc, the Vikings or Impressionism. Check the dates at the tourist office. - **The Gros-Horloge, the 1389 clock and its belfry** (40 min · Families and teenagers; stairs · Desde 7.85 € adult): The clock that spans Rouen's busiest street is one of the oldest dials in France: the mechanism dates from 1389. The ensemble combines a Gothic belfry, an arch with a Renaissance pavilion and an 18th-century fountain. The single hand carries a lamb, the city's symbol, and every day at midday a figure of the god of the day of the week turns: Diana on Monday, Mars on Tuesday, and so on until Apollo on Sunday. The visit Inside there is a museum with the dial room, the rooms of the former clock governor, the two 13th-century bells (the Rouvel, which rang the alarm, and the Cache-Ribaud, which announced the curfew) and the mechanism. It ends on the roof, with the cathedral in front of you. About 40 minutes. Opening hours and price From 1 April to 30 September, Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 19:00; from 1 October to 31 March, Tuesday to Sunday from 14:00 to 18:00. Closed on Mondays. Adult €7.85; ages 6 to 18 and students, €4; free for under-6s. Animals are not allowed. - **The Historial Jeanne d'Arc, in the palace where she was tried** (1 h 30 · Teenagers and adults; families with children from about age 8 · Desde 12 € adult): Next to the cathedral, in the archbishop's palace where Joan of Arc was condemned in 1431 and rehabilitated in 1456, a route with projections and mapping on the medieval walls tells her story through the rehabilitation trial, twenty-five years after she was burned in the Vieux-Marché square. Afterwards, a multimedia "mythotheque" explains how the myth was built, and you visit the Salle des Etats and the Aubigné chapel. Opening hours and price Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 19:00, with departures every fifteen minutes; the last at 17:15. Closed on Mondays, 25 December, 1 January, 1 May and a few days in January for maintenance. Adult €12; reduced €9 (ages 6 to 18, students); family of two adults and two minors, €36; free for under-6s and with the Rouen Pass. It is at 7 Rue Saint-Romain and is accessible. - **The Aître Saint-Maclou, the former charnel house** (45 min · Teenagers and curious adults · Desde 7 € person): A courtyard surrounded by wooden galleries that was the charnel house of the parish of Saint-Maclou, in the time of the plague epidemics. The beams are carved with skulls, bones and figures from the dance of death, and a mummified cat found in a wall is kept in a display case. It is on Rue Martainville, one of the streets with the most half-timbered houses in the city. The visit The tourist office organises a 45-minute guided visit, in French, for €7; under-12s don't pay. It meets in the courtyard, at 186 Rue Martainville. It is accessible. In the same district is the church of Saint-Maclou, in flamboyant Gothic. - **The Fine Arts Museum and its Impressionist gallery** (2 h · Everyone · Free (permanent collections)): Rouen presents itself as the capital of Impressionism, and this museum is the reason: its Impressionist gallery is among the most important in France outside Paris, and its paintings include one of Monet's cathedrals. The permanent collections, like those of Rouen's twelve metropolitan museums, are free. There is also old master painting, from the Renaissance to the 19th century, and sculpture. How to go It is on the Esplanade Marcel Duchamp, ten minutes' walk from the cathedral and five from the station, next to the tourist office. Temporary exhibitions are paid separately. Check the hours on the Métropole museums' website before you go. - **The Place du Vieux-Marché and the site of the pyre** (30 min · Everyone · Free): The square where Joan of Arc was burned on 30 May 1431. Today it is surrounded by half-timbered houses, terraces and a small covered market, and in the centre stands the modern church dedicated to the saint, with a roof that recalls an upturned boat or the flames of the pyre. A cross marks the place of the execution. How to go From the cathedral, along Rue du Gros-Horloge, it is ten minutes' walk under the clock. On the square is La Couronne, which boasts of being the oldest inn in France, dating from 1345. - **Painting workshop in Monet's former studio, opposite the cathedral** (2 h · Adults and teenagers who want to paint; no experience needed): In the first-floor room of the Bureau des Finances, the Renaissance building opposite the cathedral, Monet painted part of his cathedral series between 1892 and 1893. Today it is closed to the public except for this two-hour workshop, with a visual artist: a presentation of Monet, his palette and his brushwork, and then your own version of the façade with sketches, pastel and acrylic. You take away what you paint. What it is like Four to ten participants; if four are not reached, it is cancelled. At the end there is a mirliton, the vanilla, orange-blossom and almond cream tartlet typical of Rouen, with local apple juice. Book on the tourist office website, on fixed dates. - **The Rouen little train, with commentary in Spanish** (45 min · Families with small children and anyone who doesn't walk much · Desde 10 € adult): A 45-minute guided circuit of the historic districts, with a panoramic roof, screen and contactless headphones, and commentary in seven languages, including Spanish. It leaves from Place de la Cathédrale. It costs €10 for adults and €7 for children; free with the Rouen Pass. Animals are not allowed. ## Dónde comer - **La Couronne** (Restaurant, Rouen · Place du Vieux-Marché, €€€). Qué pedir: at lunchtime, the La Normandie dans l'Assiette menu for €29, Monday to Saturday - **Brasserie Paul** (Restaurant, Rouen · Place de la Cathédrale, €€). Qué pedir: the Norman-style tartare with apple and calvados or the Offranville free-range chicken in cider ## By plane: Fly to Paris and take a train to Rouen Rouen has a small business airport, but from Spain you reach it by flying to Paris: to Charles de Gaulle or Orly, with direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other cities, or to Beauvais, an hour and a half from Rouen by car. From Paris, the train from Saint-Lazare takes about an hour and a quarter. ### Dónde dormir if you're flying - **Hôtel de la Cathédrale** (Small hotel): A three-star hotel in a 17th-century house protected as a historic monument, on Rue Saint-Romain, the pedestrian street that runs along the cathedral, next to the Historial Jeanne d'Arc. It has been run by the Delaunay family since 1999. According to tradition, Corneille wrote part of Le Cid here, and Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were customers. The rooms Twenty-six, looking onto Rue Saint-Romain or a courtyard enclosed by half-timbered walls, with plants and hanging terraces. The hot buffet breakfast is served in a room next to the garden, with the great original fireplace. In summer you go up to a rooftop with 360-degree views of the cathedral, Saint-Maclou and Saint-Ouen. Getting there Fifteen minutes' walk from Rouen Rive-Droite station. It has no parking of its own; there are public car parks nearby. Reception is open from 7:00 to 21:00, from 8:00 on Sundays. - **Hôtel Littéraire Gustave Flaubert** (Hotel): A four-star hotel dedicated to Gustave Flaubert, who was born in Rouen and lived here almost all his life. It is on Rue du Vieux Palais, a stone's throw from Place du Vieux-Marché and ten minutes' walk from the cathedral. The decor, by Aude Bruduière and Aleth Prime, is full of nods to his novels, and there is a library. The rooms Fifty-one, modern, with a shared outdoor terrace, a gym and a bar. Check-in from 15:00 and check-out until 11:00. Breakfast costs €19; children up to 12 don't pay and ages 13 to 18, €10. Getting there and parking About fifteen minutes' walk from Rouen Rive-Droite station. If you come by car, it has enclosed private parking for €19 a day, booked by email, and a negotiated price of €13 per 24 hours in the Vieux-Marché car park, two minutes away. ### Servicios - **Rouen Rive-Droite station**: Trains from Paris-Saint-Lazare in 1 h 15 · ten minutes' walk from the centre · taxis and left-luggage nearby - **From the Paris airports to Rouen**: By train via Paris-Saint-Lazare · by car, 1 h 45 from Charles de Gaulle and 1 h 30 from Beauvais ## Car-free: Rouen by train, without a car Rouen is a textbook train day trip: Saint-Lazare, an hour and a quarter, and everything worth seeing within a twenty-minute walk of the station. The Rouen Pass adds unlimited public transport and tickets. Presupuesto orientativo: 90–190 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir without a car - **Hôtel de la Cathédrale** (Small hotel): A three-star hotel in a 17th-century house protected as a historic monument, on Rue Saint-Romain, the pedestrian street that runs along the cathedral, next to the Historial Jeanne d'Arc. It has been run by the Delaunay family since 1999. According to tradition, Corneille wrote part of Le Cid here, and Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were customers. The rooms Twenty-six, looking onto Rue Saint-Romain or a courtyard enclosed by half-timbered walls, with plants and hanging terraces. The hot buffet breakfast is served in a room next to the garden, with the great original fireplace. In summer you go up to a rooftop with 360-degree views of the cathedral, Saint-Maclou and Saint-Ouen. Getting there Fifteen minutes' walk from Rouen Rive-Droite station. It has no parking of its own; there are public car parks nearby. Reception is open from 7:00 to 21:00, from 8:00 on Sundays. - **Hôtel Littéraire Gustave Flaubert** (Hotel): A four-star hotel dedicated to Gustave Flaubert, who was born in Rouen and lived here almost all his life. It is on Rue du Vieux Palais, a stone's throw from Place du Vieux-Marché and ten minutes' walk from the cathedral. The decor, by Aude Bruduière and Aleth Prime, is full of nods to his novels, and there is a library. The rooms Fifty-one, modern, with a shared outdoor terrace, a gym and a bar. Check-in from 15:00 and check-out until 11:00. Breakfast costs €19; children up to 12 don't pay and ages 13 to 18, €10. Getting there and parking About fifteen minutes' walk from Rouen Rive-Droite station. If you come by car, it has enclosed private parking for €19 a day, booked by email, and a negotiated price of €13 per 24 hours in the Vieux-Marché car park, two minutes away. ### Servicios - **Rouen Rive-Droite station**: Trains from Paris-Saint-Lazare in 1 h 15 · ten minutes' walk from the centre · taxis and left-luggage nearby - **From the Paris airports to Rouen**: By train via Paris-Saint-Lazare · by car, 1 h 45 from Charles de Gaulle and 1 h 30 from Beauvais ## As a family: Rouen with Children Rouen works well with children if you alternate a monument with a stroll: the giant clock, the little tourist train and the streets of crooked houses entertain them more than the inside of the cathedral. Most of the city's museums are free. ### What works best The Gros-Horloge, with its bells and the roof The little tourist train, with commentary in Spanish The Historial Jeanne d'Arc, for children aged about 8 and over The Place du Vieux-Marché, with café terraces and a market ### Where to stay Hôtel Littéraire Gustave Flaubert, with free breakfast for under-12s ### Where to eat Brasserie Paul, with no rigid mealtimes ### Good to know Mondays: the Gros-Horloge and the Historial are closed The cathedral closes at midday on weekdays ### Qué hacer as a family - Rouen Cathedral, the one Monet painted - The Gros-Horloge, the 1389 clock and its belfry - The Historial Jeanne d'Arc, in the palace where she was tried - The Fine Arts Museum and its Impressionist gallery - The Place du Vieux-Marché and the site of the pyre - The Rouen little train, with commentary in Spanish ## With teenagers: Rouen with Teenagers Teenagers get hooked on Rouen through the macabre and the immersive: the story of Joan of Arc told with projections in the hall where she was tried, an ossuary decorated with skulls, and the roof of the Gros-Horloge. ### What works best The Historial Jeanne d'Arc, with mapping projected on medieval walls The Aître Saint-Maclou, with its mummified cat The Gros-Horloge and its climb The painting workshop in Monet's studio ### Where to stay Hôtel Littéraire Gustave Flaubert, with breakfast at €10 for ages 13 to 18 ### Where to eat Brasserie Paul, opposite the cathedral ### Good to know Guided tours are in French ### Qué hacer with teenagers - Rouen Cathedral, the one Monet painted - The Gros-Horloge, the 1389 clock and its belfry - The Historial Jeanne d'Arc, in the palace where she was tried - The Aître Saint-Maclou, the former charnel house - Painting workshop in Monet's former studio, opposite the cathedral ## Consejos ### A cathedral morning On weekdays it closes from 12:00 to 14:00: start with it. ### Rouen Pass If you are going to see the Gros-Horloge and the Historial, it pays off. ### SNCF ticket The Paris metro ticket isn't valid to Rouen. ### Little train in Spanish A 45-minute loop to get your bearings if you are with children. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How do I get from Paris to Rouen? By train from Paris-Saint-Lazare, about an hour and a quarter. The ticket is bought from SNCF. ### Can I see Rouen in a day? Yes: cathedral, Historial, Gros-Horloge and Vieux-Marché in the morning, and a museum or the Saint-Maclou district in the afternoon. ### What day are Rouen's monuments closed? On Monday the Gros-Horloge and the Historial Jeanne d'Arc are closed. ### Are Rouen's museums free? The permanent collections of the metropolitan museums, such as the Fine Arts one, yes. ### Where was Joan of Arc burned? In the Vieux-Marché square, in 1431.