🇫🇷 Houlgate

Houlgate station is about a 10-minute walk from the seafront and beach. Walk north through this charming Normandy seaside town to reach the promenade and the dramatic Vaches Noires cliffs.

TER Normandie regional trains on the Lisieux-Dives-Cabourg coastal line serve Houlgate. From Lisieux, connections to Paris Saint-Lazare and Caen are available. The total journey to Paris takes about 2.5 hours.

Houlgate station is a small halt with limited facilities. The resort town is compact and easily explored on foot. For more extensive services, Deauville-Trouville station is nearby.

Houlgate is a charming Belle Epoque seaside resort with elegant villas dating from the 1860s. The Vaches Noires cliffs east of town are famous for fossil hunting. The broad sandy beach and the casino are the main leisure attractions.

The Vaches Noires (Black Cows) are dramatic dark clay and chalk cliffs between Houlgate and Villers-sur-Mer, named for the fallen boulders that resemble cattle from a distance. The cliffs are one of France's richest fossil sites, yielding Jurassic ammonites, sea urchins, and plesiosaur remains.