komi

Hello Fellow Travlers,
We will be staying in Normandy for 3 days. Need advice on where to stay and eat. Going mainly to see the beaches and cemetery.
Anything else that should not be missed?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Komi

bilboburgler

Bayeux is good and central, get to see the tapistry, cidre (alcoholic) and calvado is a must along with raw milk camembert.

Local food tends to be heavy with milk and butter but mussels are good

michelhuebeli

"Anything else that should not be missed?"
Get a bike and ride around some villages and countryside for a few hours. It's flat, is lovely, you find good things to eat along the way.

Gretchen

Get the Michelin Green Guide to Normandy and map out your days to visit the beaches. Arromanches is a fun place to end up for lunch on the water.
We stayed at the very reasonable Hotel Bayeux. It is 5 minutes from the Tapestry, 5 minutes from the Cathedral, and close to the roads to get out of town to the highways.

KL467

The name of a GREAT private tour guide in Normandy is Ellwood von Siebold. www.ddaybattletours.com or [email protected]. I have toured with him twice.

longhorn55

Another vote for seeing the Bayeux Tapestry. Even though it has nothing to do with D-Day, it's amazing! Be sure to see the film there, too.

There are a number of D-Day museums as well which you should visit. A few of them are: Caen Memorial Museum, Utah Beach Landing Museum, and the D-Day Landing Museum.

The following link might have some useful info as well:
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...ance/dday2.htm

komi

Thanks everyone for all the info.

tom18

Restaurants: La Fringale; Le Petit Normand; La Rapiere; Le Petit Bistro (might go under a different name now); Le Lion D'Or; Reine Mathilde Hotel Restaurant (open longer hours than the others, not as formal as them). Bayeux is a GREAT town for restaurants!

Scootoir

I agree about staying in Bayeux and recommend the Hotel Churchill. We enjoyed lunch in Arromanches near the water after seeing the 360 film http://www.arromanches360.com/en/
We loved the cathedral in Bayeux and the Memorial Peace Museum in Caen.

klondike

Agree with all of above. We have stayed at the Reine Mathilde Hotel and really enjoyed it; would stay again.

Lots of restaurants to choose from, but we loved our meal at La Rapiere (little hard to find, kind of down a tiny alley)and it's best to make a reservation if you can.

indy_dad

My TR from a slightly longer stay last year if that helps:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...y-uk-stops.cfm

komi

Thanks again for all the great info.
Tom18.. That's what I was looking for. Perfect.
Scootoir and Klondike, thanks for the hotel suggestions but Churchill and Reine Mathilde Hotel are booked.
Indy_dad great report, thanks.
Does anyone know how long of a drive it is from Bayeux to Mont St. Michel?

Thanks and keep the info coming.

Christina

I didn't see it, but some folks I did a D-Day tour with said they enjoyed seeing the chateau in Caen. Apparently it looks very authentic but was largely restored after the war using original materials. It is William the Conquerer's castle, and also has the Normandy museum in it. Caen is larger than Bayeux, and also a university town, a lot more going on there than in Bayeux. If you have a car, that's where I'd stay.

It should take about 2 hrs to drive to Mont St Michel from Bayeux or Caen.

indy_dad

I would have said about 90 minutes for Bayeux to MSM based on my memory.