BEACON OF CASTLING

From the top of its rocky cliff, the Saint-Samson-de-la-Roque lighthouse dominates the Seine estuary. To access it, a walking tour with a 110 m difference in altitude (yellow markings) starts from the church of Saint-Samson (count 1h30 by doing the complete loop). The site offers a magnificent panorama: Le Havre, Honfleur, the bridges of Normandy and Tancarville, the marsh Vernier... When this lighthouse was built (1839), the Seine was licking its foot. Since then, the estuary has retreated to the north. The lighthouse offers a vast relaxation area equipped with illustrated panels on fauna and flora, an orientation table and picnic tables. Note: the presence of a rare flora such as red hawthorn, which grows slowly and offers a beautiful spring bloom, orchids and travelling madder. The Maison de l'Estuaire, an association based at the Normandy bridge, organizes supervised outings to observe the fauna and flora (✆ 02 35 24 80 01). Another 32 km mountain bike tour, this time of 32 km, is also to be discovered from Saint-Samson-de-la-Roque.