Cherbourg, France

We have called at Cherbourg, France on two occasions on P&O Ventura cruises.

Cherbourg is well known to the British as a ferry port, but it has much more to offer. It has history as a French naval port and links to transatlantic cruise ships, famously the Titanic.

The first notable thing about Cherbourg is the impressive terminal building. Having done little research prior to our first visit we were amazed as we saw and walked through the terminal building - the transatlantic terminal is a most striking example of Art Deco architecture. When you disembark / embark you walk through the heart of the orignal transatlantic liner terminal, the baggage hall terminal. As well as being impressive to look at, you get a sense of the granduer of the transatlantic liners of old. As you walk through there is a series of images and accounts of emigration to the Americas.

The cruise terminal is located close to the centre of Cherbourg. It is quite an easy 10 to 15 minute walk. We found it a relatively easy walk pushing two manual wheelchairs. We crossed the Pont Tournant to head towards the centre.

We picked up a guide map and then explored the area. We weren't blessed with the best weather but still managed to walk through the town (taking shelter as needed), to Plage Verte, Place Napoleon, La Basilique Sainte-Trinite, around the port and basin area, Gare de Cherbourg and across Pont Carreau to view Le Musee de la Leberation.

As we returned to the ship we walked alongside the Cité de la Mer, one of the port town’s main tourist attractions. We walked to the end and were able to look back across Cherbourg, get a view of Ventura's bow and view Le Redoutable, the disused French nuclear submarine.

Cité de la Mer is set in the former Art Deco transatlantic terminal building (Gare de Maritime). It is a top tourist attraction and is located immediately as you disembark the ship, making it an easy place to visit. We have yet to visit, but it's on the list!