BestAunt

We will be traveling to Normandy the end of December for 3 days. We are staying in Rouen. I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a service through which we could hire a driver to take us to the various sites in the region. I'm hoping to hire a driver that would pick us up each day and take us to the various sites and then return un to our B&B in Rouen. There will be three of us and one individual walks with the aid of a cane. It is a 60th birthday trip. We are most interested in seeing the WWII sites and also expereience the local lifestyle and foods. Any suggestions would be welcome.

StCirq

Is there a reason you have chosen to base yourselves in Rouen? It's a nice place, but not particularly convenient for visiting the WWII sites.

PalenQ

. I'm hoping to hire a driver that would pick us up each day and take us to the various sites and then return to our B&B in Rouen.>

Like StCirq says Rouen a little remote for the classic D-day Beaches which are quite close to Bayeux, a city many base in - much cheaper taxi rides to beaches than from Rouen.

Christina

I can't help you with a driver (and also wouldn't stay in Rouen if that is the only reason -- to visit WWII sites), but often your hotel is the best source to recommend a local driver. They might know someone they use and have experience with. That will be very expensive, of course, to hire a driver for all day, but some guys may want the job, of course. I could recommend someone if you were staying in Bayeux, as the major WWII day tour companies generally have options for private tours, which is kind of what you want. And they know those sites and the history, it would be better as a guide than just some driver in Rouen.

consider it

Christina

oh, the main companies will do that out of Bayeux or Caen, I think. This is the one I used, for a group tour, but they have several private tours available for the day -- you could combine a WWII sites and then the Normandy Middle Ages or something for variety. The guide I had there was very good.

http://www.normandy-sightseeing-tours.com/en/

I don't know what they charge for private tours, I'm sure you'd have to email, but they are responsive. I notice they say they have private drivers who will drive you anywhere in western Europe. So I'm sure they would pick you up and drop you off in Rouen, but I'm sure that would add on a fee to the same thing if you were in Bayeux or Caen. It's just the only thing I know, maybe someone else knows the same thing in Rouen.

Gretchen

Another that says, not Rouen. And is there a reason you won't drive yourselves? It is not hard, and so much fun to look for a fromagerie and a cider room en route.
Look at Bayeux. Good dining and close to the sites.

FrenchMystiqueTours

It would be much cheaper to rent a car for 3 days and drive yourselves. If you want to visit WWII sites you should consider staying in Bayeux.

Gretchen

I would add to the "cheaper" that FMT suggests, that the area is truly charming to just roam in. The beaches are easy to access on your own. The Michelin Green Guide to Normandy has suggested tours and copious information about each site--and the sites each have museums and informational videos and information.

Christina

I believe they want a guide, that's why they don't want to just rent a car and drive themself. Which is why I recommended a professional guide/tour company, not just a driver. I would presume they have a reason they don't want to do it themself, or they wouldn't have asked. Some people don't want to drive themself in foreign countries, or may not be able to. It isn't that odd. And some people shouldn't be driving depending on age and physical condition.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Then again, some people are afraid to drive in a foreign country and are eventually reassured that it's not as difficult as they imagined. It's only a suggestion for the OP to consider. Here is a link from the Normandy tourist office websites for driver / guides in Normandy:

http://www.guidages-calvados-tourisme.com/

peggionthego

We did have a rental car and had no trouble going to the memorial museum in Caen and to Mont St Michel and we are not afraid to drive in France (I don't want to discuss how many hedges my husband trimmed driving in Ireland but that's another story). That said, for D-Day locations we LOVED having a guide for a private tour. There were four of us and he picked us up in Bayeux and returned us to our hotel. Our day began at 9am and ended about 6:30pm. Our guide, Nigel Stewart, added immeasurably to our understanding of events. He also recommended books we are now reading post-trip. We were very glad we decided on a guide/driver.

Travel_Nerd

Would it be possible for you to stay in Rouen for one-two days and then take a train to Bayeux for one day? Bayeux is an extremely charming city in its own right as well.

The guide company that Christina mentioned is utterly fantastic. My parents and I hired them for our recent trip to Normandy and it was an absolute highlight of our trip. Our guide not only provided details of the region regarding D-Day and WWII, but also Normandy during the Middle Ages as well. He was incredibly knowledgeable. Here is the link again: http://www.normandy-sightseeing-tours.com/en/

While I am sure those who are saying you can do it yourself; I respect their opinions, but I also understand the ease of wanting someone to do it for you, and give you the information along the way. It is your call; however, I do feel you will need to re-base yourselves to a more centrally located town/city for the particular sights you want to see.

bilboburgler

I'd try to stay in a small fishing port. Honfleur is kinda obvious but Ouistreham, Courseuilles, Port-en-Bassin. Nothing finishes a busy day touring the bocage like an evening meal in a fish restaurant only a mussel shells throw from the sea where it was caught (and its relations for the last 500 years).

Percy

Whether you stayed in Rouen , Bayeux or Honfluers , you would not be wrong in either of these places.

The driving distance is not that far, although it is 99 miles from Rouen to Arromanches, which is in Gold Beach between Juno and Omaha Beaches, after that..

all the other places a close.

I was in all these places less than a month ago.

It might be a bit cool in December.

Gretchen

Why drive 90 miles when Bayeux is a charming and wonderful base for the Normandy beaches.
And yes, a guide is great--sometimes, to me, "too great". I sometimes want to see it, read about it, hear about it, and move on.
And I want to have mussels in a seaside café for lunch on the way to another place--and maybe also, not cover 6 places in one day.
That is just another "take" on how a tour could be done. Once in Bayeux, the distances are not great.

Gretchen

Our OP hasn't really returned to say where they are starting from--CDG? Paris?--to get to Rouen--and why Rouen. We enjoyed a day there--evening and morning. I'm not sure any more would have added to our enjoyment of that trip to France.
There is a wonderful Abbey Road out of Rouen they could also drive en route to Bayeux--a string of medieval abbeys along a high ridge.

StuDudley

>>Our OP hasn't really returned <<

And a new member on Fodors too. Might be another post & run type - or she didn't hear what she wanted to hear.

Stu Dudley

StCirq

Percy, it's nuts to stay 100 miles from the DDay beaches if that's your primary focus of a trip. Especially when there are countless places closer that are equally interesting and much more easily accessible. Back and forth 200 miles a dday? Crazy. Honfleur (note correct spelling) isn't such a great base for the DDay sites, either.

So you were there a month ago...big deal. Many of us have been there countless times and know our way around and what the best options are. And Rouen isn't it, IF visiting the DDay sites is your objective. If visiting Rouen is a goal, great...it's a wonderful town with loads of history and great restaurants...but move on to someplace closer to the DDay sites if that's what you're there to see.

PalenQ

Oui rouen is a ruin for a base for the classic D-Day (J-Jour in French) beches and memorials.

BestAunt

Thank you all for your comments. Sorry I haven't replied sooner (I was traveling on business for the last 2 weeks almost non stop). The reason we choose Rouen was we want the opportunity to visit an elderly family friend who lives in Rouen. After reading all your comments, I realize it would be better perhaps to stay only one night in Rouen and then take the train to Bayeux and do the WWII tour from there. While I have been to Bayeux once before, it was only a day train trip from Paris, so all the suggestions you made will be helpful - I did love the town of Bayeux and look forward to spending a little more time there. Also, thank you to those who provided links to tour companies for the area.

Just for clarification, I have driven all over Europe but decided for this trip we would like to "sit back and leave the driving to someone else" - however in the end we may end up renting a car in Paris and driving to Normandy just so we can get back to Paris on New Year's day in time for our flight home to Chicago and not have to worry about train schedules being different on a holiday!