Normandy Advice Please
 

Hello,
Can anyone recommend the best base area for visiting the D-Day sites? Any good Hotel/Inn recommendations? We prefer something higher end while not breaking the bank. Maybe up to $300/nt. Itinerary recommendations? We'll be there for 3-4 nights.
What else should we not miss while there? Is Etretat (beaches/cliffs) a must see?
Any good recommendations on where to go from there in the surrounding area? Was looking at a great spot on the water in Urville-Nacqueville which is about an hour from Utah beach so I think too far for a base but maybe a good next spot. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

What time of year?

Where to stay depends a little bit on all that you want/plan to see. Three to four nights for Normandy is only 2-3 full days, so you don't have a lot of time for all of the D-Day sights/sites. We thought Bayeux was a great base, but our time there did not include Giverny, Evreux, Rouen, Honfleur, Mont St. Michel, etc., each of which we explored separately. We stayed at the Hotel d'Argouges in Bayeux.

Don't miss the Peace Memorial (museum) in Caen where you could easily spend a half day. Besides the beaches, visit one or more of the cemeteries (including a German one if possible). We also spent time at Arromanches and very much enjoyed the Bayeux Tapestry.

We've vacationed for 4 weeks in Normandy, and 11 weeks in "next door" Brittany (which we prefer over Normandy). I developed an itinerary that describes what we liked & what we didn't think was so great.

See attached.

Stu Dudley

We stayed in Bayeux and rented a car to visit what we wanted. Some of the best places to eat at the time. We stayed in a B&B which is not my favorite but room was very private and big. Wherever you stay try and get a room with a view of the Cathedral as it was beautifully lit at night

Jean, I should have mentioned it will be in July (if all goes well). I know we will need to streamline which sights we want to see but primarily the beaches (Omaha), bunkers, Pointe du Hoc and still researching what else. Thanks for the recommendation on the Peace memorial - is that the main war museum? We'd like to see Mont St. Michel but didn't realize how far it is in the opposite direction.
Thanks so much StuDudly! I look forward to reading through your recommendations!
Macross, thank you for the suggestion to get a place with a cathedral view, sounds wondeful.

The Peace Memorial in Caen is the 'main' museum of the Battle of Normandy, but there are smaller museums in many towns and at the landing beaches.

I hope everything is open by July. If not, I'd definitely reschedule the trip.

https://normandy.memorial-caen.com/

Getting around Normandy can be slow. The E46 is useful to be on to assist this. Bayeaux is perfect for this but so would be a B&B with evening meal somewhere else near the road. I like Ouistreham mainly for the fresh fish in the restaurants but perhaps a bit far off.

Caen is considered to be the best base for people whose principal interest is D-Day. Bayeux is preferred by some people looking for more cultural options.

Etretat is currently overrun by domestic tourists due to the Netflix series Lupin. They have absolutely never seen so many visitors in January and February. Once tourists of other countries are allowed back into France, the trend should become more intense. I really like Etretat in any season (I have even seen it in the snow.) for the cliffs and the panorama. You can forget the idea of "beach" if you're thinking of sand. It has a round rock beach (forbidden to take any of the round rocks as souvenirs, but I confess that I have 3 or 4 of them because they are irresistable as doorstops and such). If you visit when there is a lot of surf, the roar of the rocks makes a sound such as you have probably never heard

(you can see the people on top of the cliff)

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beach detail...

I need to watch Lupin now. I did take two small bottles of sand home from Omaha beach. One was for a friend's Dad that landed there. He said that his job after was to clear the beach of bombs. He kept that bottle of sand on his table by his chair. When he died he lived on Davis Island and they found a grenade in his garage he brought home. They had to call the bomb unit from Tampa to dispose of it. Still had the pin in it but was very unstable.

We went to the Airborne Museum in Sainte Mere Eglise. Very nice drive. The German Cemetery La Cambe should be visited. So many young boys there.
Ouistreham had a seafood market and we had the best mussels and scallops. I want to go back now but we are planning a trip back to Ypres for Remembrance day this year. I can hope and we have been doing everything so we can cancel. So nice to plan.

A never-mentioned sight that I found remarkable in coastal Normandy was the hedges.
In North America, when (previously) I had read of troops crossing hedges with difficulty, I pictured neat 2' high privet hedges, and thought, "How much of an impediment could THAT be?
Naive me!
You've really got to see these hedges to appreciate them. They're so old, they're 12' high. And maybe 8-10' thick.
Obviously slowed down the invasion forces.
They have to be seen, to fully appreciate the D-Day challenge. That, and the cliffs. And the openness of the beaches.

The hedgerows are fabulous obstacles everywhere in northern France.

Eight years ago I read the Lupin books. The ideas and scope were good but they were dull.

What surprised me was not the height of the hedges, but that they are planted on narrow earthen banks that even support large trees.


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kerouac and Coquelicot, wow and wow! 📸

We have been to Normandy twice (2004 with our older granddaughter and 2011 with our younger granddaughter) splitting our time between the Chateau de Sully near Bayeux and the Dormy House in Etretat on both trips. We loved everything about Normandy and I have posted way-too-long trip reports of both trips if you want details and links to some pictures. We experienced the weird, roaring sound at Etretat on the day we had heavy surf (thanks for reminding me kerouac). This picture is from that day in 2011.

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