Normandy Area
 

How much time would you allot for the following places:

Giverny

*Etretat

Honfleur

Caen- Peace Museum

*Bayeux-as a base to see: D'day Beaches, cemeteries

Mont St. Michel

I will be visiting Paris for 8 days, and would like to take a side trip to see the Normandy area. These are my places of interest. The two starred are my must see. If I have only 2-3 days, am I able to add anything else from my "wish list"? If not, I'll just save it for the next trip! Thank you for the advice and reality checks as always fordors!

<<Giverny

*Etretat - I wouldn't bother

Honfleur - worth a night

Caen- Peace Museum - 4 hours

*Bayeux-as a base to see: D'day Beaches, cemeteries - well, what do you mean as a base? Are you planning to take time out of this 8 days in Paris to stay there and go to the beaches from there? Your post doesn't really make sense in light of this. I'd want to see the tapestry and the cathedral and then move on to the Mémorial in Caen and then spend a day or two visiting the WWII sites, but if all you're asking is how much time to spend in Bayeux, then a half-day minimum

Mont St. Michel - half a day if you get there early.

Thank you for your reply. Regarding Bayeux, I meant seeing the town and visiting WWII sites.
I am planning on taking time out of my 8 days, or adding it to my overall itinerary. What don't you like about Etretat?

There is so much to see, and I can understand now why the seasoned travelers and posters recommend visiting very few places at a time. I have a month planned and it is not nearly enough time for what I want to see. Just from my small amount of researching, I could spend a month in each place I want to see! I guess it is all the more reason to plan more trips.

<<What don't you like about Etretat?>>

It's a cliff... Meh!

As for Bayeux, I've never spent fewer than 3 days there to visit the DDay sites and the attractions of Bayeux itself, but many people breeze in and out in a day or two. If I had only 8 days in Paris and was planning all the other Normandy excursions you're looking at, though, I'm not sure what I would do - probably plan for a few more days in France.

You say you're planning a month-long trip. What else does it include?

I laughed out loud at "It's a cliff... Meh!".

My month long trip (excluding travel days) includes 14 days in Italy, 8 in Paris and 7 in London.

Maybe I should save this for another trip, when I can spend adequate time and really enjoy it. I do not want to rush the WWII sites, as it is a personal interest of mine. I do appreciate your take on how much time to spend in each place, it will help my future planning.

Take some days out of Italy? A say or so from London? You can see Bayeux and the environs in 3 days. Not Honfleur or Etretat. You have a goodly amount of time. Use it.

Hi Vivi004,

When you mentioned Mount Saint Michele, do you mean as a day trip from Paris?

Would you drive there or take public transportation? In my view, it is much too far if you are thinking of a day trip.
Better to save it for another time. I hear you – so many places, so little time.

Enjoy your adventures in Europe…

PS. Caen Peace Museum is great.

We recently spent a week in the area. For the sites you mentioned it was 0.5 days for MSM, 1 day for Bayeux/Caen, 1.5 days for the D-Day beaches (1 day tour + some extras on our own).

We also drove out to see Etretat and Honfleur (and preferred Etretat, so different strokes . . . .)

We also saw some other things with our extra time.

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/normandy.html

@indy dad

Thank you for your reply and the link, very helpful! You have a darling family.

indy-dad,

Loved the report and photos!

Etretat is a favorite with my husband's Parisienne cousin; she took us there last trip. We had good weather, so enjoyed it for a hour or so. But it's a bit of a detour.

Speaking of weather, when is this trip? Giverny is closed from November until April. If it's open, I'd give it 2 hours or more. (I really liked Monet's house.)

The Peace Memorial museum at Caen kept us entranced for 5 hours or so. But we like museums. We went around the Bayeux Tapestry twice; it's surprisingly interesting, a linear cartoon.

We actually spent a week or more in Normandy. It's fairly full of sights. Given your interests, you might save this area for another trip when you can see everything you want.

We visited the Etretat cliffs for about 2-3 hrs last year & enjoyed them. But we were in Normandy for 2 weeks & had plenty of time to see lots of stuff (not the D-Day beaches - we've visited them twice before).

Stu Dudley

You might enjoy this trip report about the belle epoque period of Marcel Proust's Cabourg and the race goers of Deauville

http://andrewchum.blogspot.co.uk/

Giverny - depends on how much you want to photograph it. I think I spent about 4 hours there.

Honfleur - at least 1 night. I spent 2 nights and found that I was pretty rushed to see all that I wanted.