Boudin traveled widely in Normandy and Brittany and visited Holland, Belgium, and Venice. Wherever he went, he invariably painted harbor and beach scenes with numerous strolling figures. He was fascinated by towns and seaside resorts of France-Camaret-sur-Mer, Bordeaux, Deauville, Trouville-with their humid climate and shimmering, diffused light.

In the 1850s, Boudin met Claude Monet and did much to help the young painter find his true artistic self. In the 1860s, he frequently met Edouard Manet and worked with him in Boulogne and Deauville. In the 1870s, the Impressionists, in their turn, began to exert an influence on Boudin. His landscapes of that period are filled with a constantly changing iridescent light; his palette grows lighter and the brushstrokes assume the aspect of soft, blurred patches of color.

In 1874, Boudin took part in the first Impressionist exhibition. He also frequently exhibited with the Impressionists later, at Durand-Ruel's galleries in Paris and New York.