Rouen walking tour & city guide

The city of a hundred spires

Victor Hugo called Rouen the city of a hundred spires, and its skyline is still dominated by churches. Rouen Cathedral, whose cast-iron spire was for a few years the tallest building in the world in the 1870s, is famous for its facade, which Claude Monet painted more than thirty times in different light.

Nearby, the Church of Saint-Maclou is a masterpiece of flamboyant Gothic, and behind it hides the Aître Saint-Maclou, a former plague cemetery whose timber galleries are carved with skulls and bones. The vast Abbey Church of Saint-Ouen and its park are a few minutes away.

Old streets and Joan of Arc

The Rue du Gros-Horloge is the heart of the old town, a pedestrian street spanned by a Renaissance arch carrying a golden astronomical clock. It leads to the Place du Vieux-Marché, the old market square where Joan of Arc was executed, now home to a striking modern church with a swooping roof and stained glass windows saved from an older church.

A classic walk through Rouen

Start at the cathedral and walk west along the Rue du Gros-Horloge, under the clock, to the Place du Vieux-Marché. Return through the lanes to the Palais de Justice, a Gothic palace that once housed the Parliament of Normandy.

Continue east to Saint-Maclou, the Aître Saint-Maclou and the Rue Eau-de-Robec, a street of half-timbered houses along a small stream, then finish in the gardens of Saint-Ouen. The walk is about 3 kilometers.

Visiting tips

Rouen is easy to reach by direct train from Paris Saint-Lazare and works as a day trip, but it is also a good base for Normandy: Monet's gardens in Giverny, the cliffs of Étretat and the harbor of Honfleur are all within reach. The Museum of Fine Arts has one of the best Impressionist collections outside Paris.