grameez521

After traveling from Rome to Paris in 10 days we will have 4 days left to visit Normandy and are thinking of trying to squeeze in another big city. The problem of course is you have to go back to Paris to catch a train to Amsterdam or London or........... (don't want to do the ferry to London). Anyone have any suggestions?

maitaitom

Take it easy and go to Honfleur.

HappyTrvlr

Or stay in Bayeux three and Honfleur one night, both are beautiful with lots to see and do.

nytraveler

What time of year is this? How long will the days for sightseeing be? If going to Bayeux don;t you want to also visit the invasion beaches? Or Mont St Michel?

I would stick with that area versus trying to stuff in another large city in just 2 days.

And where does your flight home depart from? This can make a big difference.

StuDudley

Rennes

"squeeze in" just can't be applied to London or even Amsterdam, IMO. In 4 days what are you trying to do - 2 nights & 1 1/2 days in Normandy, and then 2 nights & 1 1/2 days in London?? We were in Normandy a few years ago for 2+ weeks and found plenty of things to do - and we didn't even visit the WWII stuff or Honfleur (did those on previous trips).

Slow down & enjoy more.

Stu Dudley

fluff224

We travelled to Paris from Amsterdam & Bruges in May. We stayed there for 4 nts then took the train to Bayeux. We stayed there for 2 nts. We used Viator for a 1/2 day Normandy tour. From there we trained back to,Paris and took the Eurostar over to London to our son's. We really enjoyed Bayeux & felt 2 nts was enough. You could easily add Rouen for a nt. You could also take a train to Bruges. We were there overnight only & would have loved a little more time there. If you haven't been there, it is a delightful medieval city!

grameez521

Okay, okay, you've convinced us. Normandy for 4 days. After our "run" through Italy and France it'll be nice to spend a more relaxing few days at the end of the trip. And I've never been to Honfleur.
Any suggestions on the best way to get to Mont Ste Michel from Bayeux?

StuDudley

There is more to Normandy than just Bayeux & the WWII sites. How can you possibly see "Normandy" in a 1/2 day guided tour? Or was that just some of the WWII places? It took us a 1 1/2 days (un-guided, but well researched) to do just the WWII sites & the Bayeau tapestry? And we travel fast. The Caen museum is 3 hrs at a minimum - unless you skip all the films - which you should not (we did skip 1).

Gameez - I note that you're new to Fodors. I have several itineraries for various regions in France. I've sent one or more to over 5,000 people on Fodors - about 5-9 every day. I have a 13 page itinerary for Normandy & Brittany. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. Do so soon - we leave for another 4 week vacation in France, in less than 4 weeks.

Stu Dudley

fluff224

Stu Dudley,
My main objective inBayeux was seeing the tapestries, which did not disappoint. I realized that a 1/2 day tour didn't do Normandy justice, but wanted a brief overview. We didn't have time for the museum in Caen.

PalenQ

do you like to bike - I've biked the D-Day area and it was sweet! Bike rentals abound in Bayeux. Actually if not into biking I'd consider a car rental - M-S-Michel to Honfleur takes all day by public transports.

The Cotentin Peninsula is neat - meander by train or car or bike to Cherbourg - look at the imposing grand old ship terminals where so amny once went to take ships to America and vice versa - now a hulking memory to those days.

Grandville is a neat old seaside town. Coutance has a great cathedral - St_mere-Eglise is just out of Bayeux and famous for the local church where an American paratrooper got hung up on the steepels and dangled during the battle - now a stained-glass window in the church documents the event.

Avranches is neat too and has a classic view of Mont-Saint-Michel far far away across a sandy bay.

Lots to do in the Cotnentin Peninsula itself and of course Mont-Saint-Michel the most visited site they say in France outside of Paris.

If taking trains check these informative sites: www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com. You will be dealing with regional trains with a flat fare so no need to buy tickets in advance. But if you go to Rennes and then take a train to Paris you can get deep discounted tickets on TGVs at www.voyages-sncf.com or www.capitainetrain.com - same trains same fares latter is said to be easier to get to work for Americans.

St-Mere-Eglise windows (note John Kerry at one commemorate ceremony there).

StuDudley

>> Normandy for 4 days. After our "run" through Italy and France it'll be nice to spend a more relaxing few days<<

My guess is that you only have 3 1/2 days in Normandy. IMO, the WWII sites will consume 1 1/2 of those days. That leaves 2 days for Bayeux, Honfleur, the Pays d'Auge, the 6-10 chateaux in the region, Mt St Michel, Rouen, Etretat, the seaside resorts west of Honfleur with the Belle Epoque architecture, & Swiss Normandy. These sites are situated in an area that covers only about 1/5 of Normandy. There are a whole bunch of other sites east, west, and south of this area. We spent a full week in the area near Bagnoles de l'Orne (Le Mans, Laval, Mayenne, etc) and didn't get to visit everything on our agenda.

Relaxing is fine and "necessary", IMO. We usually plan 4-7 "do nothing" days in our typical 5 week trips to France, that we embark on twice a year. However, you are going to have to "work hard" to stay relaxed once you do some research on "what to see & do" in the area. Don't rely on a Rick Steves book to help you. Get the Michelin Green Guide to Normandy and seek out the 2 & 3 star sites that appeal to you - or e-mail me for my itinerary.

Stu Dudley

maitaitom

If ou go to Honfleur, we enjoyed our stay at La Cour Saint Catherine...

http://www.coursaintecatherine.com/g...r-accomodation

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/chap...c-harbor-town/

StuDudley

>> Cotentin Peninsula is neat - meander by train or car or bike to Cherbourg - look at the imposing grand old ship terminals where so many once went to take ships to America and vice versa - now a hulking memory to those days.

Grandville is a neat old seaside town. Coutance has a great cathedral<<

Yep.

Those are some of the places we didn't visit because we ran out of time in our 2+ week visit in 2011, and 5 nights there in about 2001.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

Here is my wife's Shutterfly book she made for our trip to Picardie, Normandy, and Pas de Calais.

Shutterfly has some software problems, so captions are often truncated or mis-placed.

Click on "Full screen" - but because of Shutterfly software problems - the full screen won't work on Internet Explorer.

https://stududley.shutterfly.com/33

Stu Dudley

PalenQ

Why dismiss the boat to England - catamarans from Cherbourg or Ousterham can take just a few hours and have special fares as low as 29 euros or so - much higher for walk up fares. I took a night boat from Oustreham and enjoyed it - you can have luxurious hotel-like accommodations down to reclining seats and be in Portsmouth or Southampton in the morning.

progol

I'm with maitatom -- Honfleur is beautifully-sited on the water, excellent restaurants, enough to keep you busy and a wonderful place to relax and stroll. We also stayed in the La Cour Ste Catherine, which maitatom recommends.

Highly recommend! One of the places that has stayed with us in vivid memories. Much more charming than Bayeux (although the tapestry is definitely worth the stay).

grameez521

Thank you so much everyone, Stu et al! I have a lot to digest in the next 4 weeks.
One last question - I'm now thinking of "training" to Caen and renting a car. Anyone have any suggestions about renting/driving in Normandy?

FrenchMystiqueTours

If you want to really explore Normandy then a car is a must so that's a wise choice. Driving in Normandy is like driving anywhere else in France outside of big cities, very easy.