Here is our plan. What do you think?
Train from Ghent to Roeun. Spend one night.
Rent car and drive to Giverny. Spend one night.
Drive to Normandy beaches, then to Dinan.
Stay in Dinan .
Spend next day in Dinan.
Next day see Mont st Michel.
Next day return car to Caen and take train to Lyon.
Stay three nights in Lyon.
Train to Milan, Italy.

I'm not sure, but I think it might make more sense to go to Giverny before Rouen.

Have you considered options for returning the car closer to Dinan? You could, perhaps, spend the night in Mont St. Michel after your visit to the Normandy beaches -- MSM is, IMO, much nicer after day trippers leave. Then on to Dinan, perhaps returning the car in Rennes. Just an idea.

Enjoy!

Thanks. We will look into this. Can we get to Giverny on a train?

It doesn't make sense. Have you looked at a map? If you go from Rouen to Giverny, then to the D-Day beaches, you're backtracking. Not only that, there's little point in spending a night in Giverny (Vernon).

Are you really planning to drive from Rouen (or Giverny), see the D-Day beaches, and on to Dinan in one day? You won't see much of the D-Day beaches or museums or cemeteries.

Yes, there are trains to Vernon, but from where would you be coming?

It all looks very rushed, especially with all the train travel - you have to account for all that time spent packing up, getting to the station, taking the train, finding your accommodation, unpacking, eating, etc.

Why don't you just take the train from Ghent to Paris, rent a car there or take the train to Caen and rent a car there, see the Normandy sites you want to see, visit le MSM, drive back to Paris via Giverny, and take the train to Lyon from Paris.

All of what St. Cirq said. Especially the part about not really seeing anything or staying somewhere (Giverney) where it isn't necessary.

I think we will leave off Giverny and just go to Roeun for a couple of days then on to Normandy and MSM. Then Dinan. We are going to Paris on a separate trip later a n d will visit Giverny then on day trip

Giverny then Rouen makes more sense

"Giverny. Spend one night.
Drive to Normandy beaches, then to Dinan.
Stay in Dinan ." this bit is more than 16 hours of stuff.

There are loads of beaches and museums to look at, even starting in Rouen this will be a busy day, have a look at google map driving times and add 50% because the roads will be far slower than Google thinks.

I'd either re-think that bit or make a very good plan. Much as the very centre of Rouen is good I suggest Bayeux is a much better place to stay for what you want to do.

I meant to say we will stay in Rouen for a night then drive to Normandy and spend the night. Then go to Dinan.we don't plan on seeing every museum in Normandy. Too much. Thanks for your input.

You still haven't given "Normandy" a chance. Rouen is a charming little town but two days isn't really needed--IF you are cutting other things short.
I highly recommend the Michelin Green Guide to Normandy.
AND I don't recommend "seeing every museum in Normandy" but what ones are you planning to see.
Actually the Musee des Beaux Artes in Rouen has a very nice Impressionist wing for a few hours.
"Drive to Normandy and spend the night". In the Michelin Green Guide you will find that leaving Rouen there is the Abbey Road--a nice little drive along a high ridge with a string of medieval abbeys to visit. This half timber architecture IS Normandy.
Then to Bayeux? Yes, that is the best base for at least a day of touring beaches--Omaha, Ponte du Hoc, Arromanches, the American Cemetery. Surely no less than these?
ANd of course, there is the Tapestry in Bayeux. Two days there, one off of Dinan?
I strongly suggest a map and a guide book like the Green Guide. Your plan is a drive by--why go.

Janet, the roads are very slow and you'll find time just gets eaten if you try and rush them.

We will get the Michelin guide. That sounds good.

Some people don't think of Rouen as a charming little town. I don't. It isn't really a little town, either, (the metro area has a population of over 500,000) but a lot of it isn't that charming. I think you go there because of interest in Jean d'Arc and the very center has some nice buildings and sites.

Hmmmmm I'll think about that.

Rouen is definitely NOT worth 2 days. An overnight maybe and a morning will suffice (and what we did). But we did it because of jet lag and it was our first night.
Do you have to travel only by train?

I enjoyed Rouen immensely, found much of charm there, and wish I'd given it more than the 1 day + that I gave it. To each his/her own!

The OP started a new thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ry-revised.cfm