Brittany and Normandy coast

Old Mar 31st, 2015, 05:44 PM
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Brittany and Normandy coast

Hello Fodorites,

We are heading to Europe in May and would like some suggestion/critique on our route from Normandy to Brittany. We are in our early 30s and have been traveling quite a bit past few years. Our biggest interests are good food, historic architecture & beautiful scenery.

We plan to spend first 3 nights in Paris to get over the jetlag. Then take the train to Rouen and rent a car there to explore the Normandy and Brittany coast for 4 nights. Here is the draft of our itinerary starting day 4:

Day 4: Train from Paris to Rouen. Get rental car, leave luggage in rental car that park in the rental parking lot, and check out Rouen. Then drive to Honfluer. Stay the night here.
Day 5: Check out the cliff of Etretat, Le Harve and Bayeux. Stay in Bayeux.
Day 6: D Day beach, then drive to Dinan. Stay in Dinan.
Day 7: Check out Mont St Michel in the early morning. Then explore St Malo/ Cancale (since we love oyster). Stay in Dinan
Day 8: Return car to Rennes and take train back to Paris.

Please critique on the itinerary and the base cities that I chose. Also any accomodation recommendation in these cities would be greatly appreciated.
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 06:53 PM
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It all depends on what YOU want to see and experience, but I must say that this itinerary would be WAY too fast paced for me. For example, I thought 1.5 days insufficient for Rouen.

I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from the train/bus station or whatever, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together.
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 07:28 PM
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Have your requested Stu's Normandy and Brittany itinerary yet? We got some very good ideas from it. He has always given us great travel advice.
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 07:39 PM
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One year my late husband and I drove the coast of Normandy and Brittany with no reservations, simply stopped at places we saw as attractive with a view. One of our best trips.
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 11:00 PM
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Long days but why not.

Le Havre is an odd choice, but you may well have made a good decision, the central shopping area is very much a French version of the Brutalist style. I like it though it does suffer from parfum de mendiant, the cathedral is a soaring example of the same style. There are also a bunch of museums which I'll let you google.

The rest of your itin makes sense. At St Malo park on the left before the town or in the underground carpark and walk the walls.

You might be able to squeeze in Fougeres and one of Duchess Anne's splendid castles
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 11:59 PM
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Have you looked at a map? You're doing a lot of backtracking, Honfleur to Etretat to Le Havre (why?) to Bayeux. And Dinan to MSM to St. Malo.

Plus, to my mind, too many sights, not enough time.
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 03:28 AM
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I find the itinerary odd, but as others say, it's your trip. We spent the day in Rouen and enjoyed it and found it sufficient. There is a very nice Impressionist wing in the Beaux Artes Musee.
Going out of Rouen (if you get the Michelin Green Guide to Normandy you'll find a LOT) there is the Abbey Road--a string of medieval abbeys that are interesting to visit en route to Honfleur.
We loved Honfleur for an evening meal along the quay. Left the next day to meander the back roads to Bayeux, visiting cideries and fromageries and visiting Pegasus Bridge on the way.
You have one day for "Normandy beach". No Bayeux tapestry. A "beach" although I'm sure you mean more. One day in Bayeux is certainly insufficient to me.
Just some thoughts on what can be.
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 11:32 AM
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Thanks for all your kind response. I have a general idea of what to do but will get the Michelin guide/map and read up some more on the cities and towns to get a more concrete itinerary.
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 12:47 PM
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Your speed of travel is faster than I like - but if you would like my Normandy & Brittany itinerary, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley
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Old Apr 2nd, 2015, 11:26 AM
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As much as I love Etretat, and it is indeed beautiful, I would skip it since it's in the opposite direction of where you're heading and you'll have to backtrack. I'd skip Le Havre too. From Honfleur I'd visit Deauville and Trouville as they are on your direct route to Bayeux. Or, I'd go visit the beautiful countryside and charming villages in the Pays d'Auge region south of Honfleur (cheese and cidre country) and then head to Bayeux. My personal preference would be to visit the Pays d'Auge instead of Etretat or Deauville or Trouville, but that's my opinion.

You can look at tourist office websites to find accommodation (and lots of other useful info) and the thread below has links to all the major tourist office websites in Lower Normandy between Giverny and Bayeux:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#39058384

If you want some ideas of things to see and do around Saint-Malo and Dinan you can have a look at a photo report I wrote about exploring that area: http://tinyurl.com/86s4v8f
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