espinach1

I know it's been done on these boards before but I feel like there is alot of confusing information. My husband, two adult sons and I want to see Paris and Normandy. I think that we should spend several days in Paris and go on to Normandy for at least two days. My question is, what is the best way to get to Normandy from Paris, how would we do it without renting a car along the way, and is it possible to fly back to the US from Normandy or do we go back to Paris? Also, to see Normandy, do we stay in Caen or Bayeux and how do you get to each without a rental car? Thanks for any help!

Gretchen

You can't fly back to US from Normandy.
Why don't you want to rent a car? It is the easiest and nicest way to see the area.
You can take a train to Bayeux and make that your base. Rent a car there, return it, and train back to Paris.
Your total time is a bit unclear--how long is your trip? If it is only 5 days (several + two), it will be all be very hurried.
We rented a car at CDG and went to Normandy for 6 days, stopping several places before Bayeux. Then we returned to Paris via Chartres, and returned the car at Orly which was an easy access.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Take a train from Paris to Bayeux. The website www.tgv-europe.com will have all your train info. Uncheck the box marked "Direct Trains" to see all the options. Buy tickets up to 90 days in advance for the best prices. If you get redirected to the RailEurope website enter Antarctica or some other country as your "ticket collection county" until you stop getting redirected there.

See the Bayeux tourist office website for a list of guides if you want to do a D-Day tour. Bayeux is a more charming base than Caen.

http://www.bessin-normandie.com/

The regional website for buses is www.busverts.fr. You can take a bus to The American Cemetery.

If you are only spending two days there and you plan on doing a D-Day tour on one of those days then you should have no reason to rent a car. Rent bikes if you want to venture out into the nearby countryside. If you want to go to the beach take a bus. The Bayeux tourist office will help you with all your planning if you call them/e-mail them or just walk in when you are there.

If you really want to explore that area a rental car is your best option. You will not be well served by public transport to explore this region.

waterdog

If after you have taken a train to Bayeux and use that as a base, you can take a D-Day tour one of your two days and a Mont St. Michel Tour the next if that interests you. Lots of tour compnaies have tours that start in Bayeux as it is so close to the Normandy landing beaches.

Several trains a day leave from Gare St. Lazare in Paris to Bayeux. Use the website listed above in FrenchMysticTours' post to check on schedules. We are making this same trip next month

cornelius01

We took the train from Paris to Bayeux and walked to our hotel from the train station as it is a small town. Picked up our rental car in Bayeux and made it our home base as we toured the area. A pretty seaside village not to miss is Honfleur where Champlain left from to discover Quebec Canada where my ancestors are from....maybe some of them were on that boat!

waterdog

To follow up, after our tours from Bayeux we are also renting a car to drive and explore other areas in that part of Normandy. Honfleur is on our list. There are several car rental companies in Bayeux.

Gretchen

Giverney, Rouen, and Honfleur were our stops on the way to Bayeux, after renting at CDG, which was dead easy to leave from. We meandered around the countryside from Honfleur to Bayeux, seeing the calvados factories, and eating great cheese.
We did our own touring from Bayeux--don't miss a bowl of mussels on the quayside at Arromanches. There is much to be enjoyed.

espinach1

Thanks so much everyone. It is alot clearer to me now. I was the one who didn't want to rent the car, my husband is all for it. I just didn't want to have to drive in Paris.

annhig

to add to the above, it would make your journey easier [assuming that you arrive from the US into CDG at about breakfast time, and have an early morning departure too] if you do the Normandy it first, followed by Paris, so that you are in the "right" place for going home.

though with a trip of only 2 + "several" days, my assumptions may be wrong. or?