On 13 and 14 August 2026, we were at the tip of the Cotentin peninsula. On the Thursday, we stopped by Cherbourg harbour at around 17:45, then watched the sun set over the long beach at Urville-Nacqueville. The next day, from late morning to midday, we stopped at the Querqueville dunes, at a viewpoint just west of Landemer, then at Quervière Bay and its turquoise water.
- Where
- Cherbourg & La Hague, France
- When
- Visited in August 2026
- On the programme
- 5 stops
Port Chantereyne, opposite the old liner terminal
- Place
- Port Chantereyne, Cherbourg · Open in Maps
On the Thursday, at around 17:45, we were at the Chantereyne marina. Hundreds of sailing boats and motorboats are moored at the pontoons, with the long green roof of the former transatlantic liner terminal in the background. Opened in 1933 in the Art Deco style, it welcomed passengers from the ocean liners; since 2002 it has housed the Cité de la Mer.
We spent about twenty minutes between the pontoons and the rock breakwater, on the north side of the basin, from where you can see the whole harbour.
Urville-Nacqueville, the long beach in the evening
- Place
- Urville-Nacqueville beach · Open in Maps
At around 20:00, we were on the long sandy beach at Urville-Nacqueville, about 8 km west of the harbour as the crow flies. The sun was still above the sea, and walkers and families were heading down to the water.
Urville-Nacqueville is part of La Hague, the new municipality that since 1 January 2017 has brought together nineteen former communes in the west of the Cotentin.
Sunset along the villas
Just after 21:00, we stopped further west, below the villas that line the beach. For ten minutes, the sun turned the façades golden, then it sank until it touched the horizon at around 21:24, by which time the villas were already in shadow.
The viewpoint west of Landemer
- Place
- Coastal path viewpoint, Gréville-Hague · Open in Maps
On the Friday, in the late morning, after a quick stop behind the Querqueville dunes, we stopped at a viewpoint on the coastal path, just west of Landemer. Looking west, you can see the grassy, rocky cliffs of Gréville dropping into the sea.
An information panel there describes the Gréville coast. The painter Jean-François Millet was born not far away, in 1814, in the hamlet of Gruchy, in Gréville-Hague.
Quervière Bay and its turquoise water
- Place
- Baie de Quervière, Éculleville · Open in Maps
At around midday, the last stop in our photos: Quervière Bay (baie de Quervière), in Éculleville. From the path, the water is turquoise and so clear that you can see the bottom, between a heath-covered headland and isolated rocks; two snorkellers were swimming there. A long concrete staircase then leads down through the ferns to a cove of pebbles and rocks.
Check before swimming in a cove: the currents there can be strong.
One late afternoon and one late morning were enough for us to see Cherbourg harbour and its Art Deco liner terminal, then, on the La Hague side, the long beach at Urville-Nacqueville at sunset and the cliffs above turquoise water. These coastal viewpoints are only a few kilometres apart.
Our tips before you go
- For the sunset, walk west along the long beach at Urville-Nacqueville: in summer, the sun sets over the sea to the north-west, in line with the beach. On 13 August, it touched the horizon at around 21:24.
- The coastal path (GR 223) passes the viewpoint west of Landemer and Quervière Bay.
- The Cité de la Mer occupies the former transatlantic liner terminal, about 500 m east of Port Chantereyne.