The center of town is easily covered on foot. A local bus service runs regularly around town. The ferry port and train station are a short walk out from the center of town and buses run on these routes. Rent a bike for a few euros at the tourist office or at the bus parked along the beach during the season.

The Lower City
Largely destroyed during the Second World War, the city was rebuilt according to the plans of the architect Auguste Perretbetween in 1945 and 1964. Only the town hall and the Church of Saint Joseph (107m high) were personally designed by Auguste Perret. In commending the reconstruction work UNESCO listed the city of Le Havre on 15 July 2005 as a World Heritage Site. This area of 133 hectares is one of the few inscribed contemporary sites in Europe. The architecture of the area is characterized by the use of precast concrete using a system of a modular frame of 6.24 meters and straight lines.

Another notable architectural work of the central city is that of the House of Culture built in 1982 by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and nicknamed "the Volcano" because of the shape of the building. In 2012, this place was being refurbished both inside and outside with fairly significant changes approved by the architect including greater openness to the outside of the plaza.

The Notre Dame and Perrey neighborhoods are mainly residential. Les Halles is one of the commercial hubs of the city. The Saint Francis neighborhood was also rebuilt after 1945 but in a radically different architectural style: the buildings are brick and have pitched slate roofs. This is the restaurant district and the fish market.

Neighborhoods in the old center of town
To the east and north of the rebuilt central city is a stretch of old neighborhoods (Danton, Saint-Vincent, Graville, Massillon, etc.) which were spared the bombings of World War II. The buildings, usually in brick, dated to the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. The shops are concentrated along several major roads in the Rond-Point neighborhood. During the 1990s and 2000s, these neighborhoods have seen major redevelopments, particularly in the context of an OPAH: improvement of habitat by rehabilitation or reconstruction, the creation of public facilities, and revitalization of business.

At the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, the area around the railway station has undergone a major transformation. As the station is the gateway to the city with the main avenues intersecting here. New buildings have sprung up (the University of Le Havre, the conservatory, headquarters of the SPB (Provident Society Bank), and of CMA CGM, Novotel, Matmut, new CCI) some of which were designed by renowned architects. The bus station certified NF since 2005 has been refurbished. North of the station, another construction project in place of the dilapidated island of Turgot-Magellan opened in 2013, including 12,500 m2 (135,000 sq ft) of office space and an eight-story hotel, complete with shops on the ground floor.

The southern districts
The southern districts of Le Havre are mainly used for industrial and port activities. There are buildings in brick from the 19th century, large developments (Chicago, Les Neiges), worker estates, SMEs, warehouses, dock and port facilities, and transport infrastructure.

The southern districts have for some years experienced profound change due to European funding. It is revitalizing areas neglected by industrial and port activities by developing tertiary activities. Thus, the docks have been completely transformed into sports and entertainment complexes (Dock Océane), a mall (Docks Vauban), and an exhibition hall (Docks Café). Les Bains Des Docks was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel. At the end of 2012 students from Sciences-Po Europe Asia and from INSA integrated new buildings next to the ISEL (Higher Institute of logistics studies) and the future ENSM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure Maritime). The new medical axis around the new Clinic des Ormeaux was built in the neighborhoods where many homes are planned with the aim of promoting social mix. The City of the Sea and of Sustainable Development (Odyssey 21) will be organized around a metal tower one hundred meters high designed by Jean Nouvel: the project was suspended in 2007 but the work began in 2013. The municipality has to attract some 300,000 visitors per year.

The Upper Town
The upper town is composed of three parts: the "coast", the suburban districts of the plateau, and large peripheral housing estates.
The neighborhoods on the "coast" (the Dead Cliff) are residential – more prosperous in the western part (Les Ormeaux, Rue Felix Faure) and more modest to the east (St. Cecilia, Aplemont). The Jenner tunnel passes under the "coast" and connects the upper town to the lower town. It is also on the coast that there are two fortifications of the city, Forts Sainte-Adresse and Tourneville, and the main cemetery (Sainte-Marie cemetery). With the demise of the military functions of the city, the forts are gradually being converted: Fort Sainte-Adresse houses the Hanging Gardens and Fort Tourneville hosted the Tetris project in 2013 – an axis of contemporary music with concert halls and rehearsal studios.

To the north of the "coast" suburban districts such as Rouelles, Sainte-Cecile, la Mare au Clerc, Sanvic, Bleville, and Dollemard were developed during the first half of the 19th century. In their extension North-west between Bleville and Octeville airport, a new area is being developed: "Les Hauts de Bleville". This eco-district made up of housing units to HQE standards, a Joint Development Area (ZAC), and a school should have a total of 1,000 housing units.

The peripheral suburbs of the commune grew in the postwar period. These are large housing estates in Caucriauville, Bois de Bleville, Mont-Gaillard, and Mare-rouge where a disadvantaged population is concentrated. In October 2004, the National Agency for Urban Renewal (ANRU) signed with the municipality of Havre the first agreement to finance the rehabilitation of these areas. This finance agreement provides more than 340 million euros for the housing estates in the northern districts, where about 41,000 people reside. This development extends the budget for the Grand Projet de Ville (GPV). It allowed the demolition and rebuilding of more than 1,700 homes.