Where to Visit in Normandy & Brittany
 

My husband and I are making our first trip to Normandy and Brittany in September for about 2 weeks. We will land at CDG and take a train directly to Rennes for 3-4 nights (part of the 2 weeks). We plan to rent a car when leaving Rennes and turning it in prior to returning to Paris. We'd like 1-2 other places to spend a couple days before taking the train to Paris. . I figure a circle around visting the beaches at Normandy and Mont St. Michel. Other villages in Normandy which sound nice are Bayeux, Caen (probably more a town than village),Honfleur & Rouen. We need to end where we can return a rental car and take a train directly back to Paris.

We enjoy history, culture and good food. While we love off the beaten track places, since thisis our first visit to the area, we want to be able to see the main sites. Our preference is to generally stay in small, charming towns when possible. Any suggestions on where to locate & do day trips and places to visit would be appreciated. Thanks!

You have included most of the places people mention when visiting the area. We have spent lots of time in that area and I would also add a couple other places to research, St. Malo, Dinard (they have a wonderful market) and closer to Honfleur, Etretat with lovely sea walks.

http://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/disc...tat-207-2.html

We were there in September. We went first to Rouen for 2 nights, picked up a car and drove to Etretat for lunch then to Honfleur for 2 nights. Finally, we drove to Bayeux and returned our car. We stayed for 2 nights and did an all day D-Day tour the next day and the took the train back to Paris.

This was not our first trip to Normandy. The trip before that we included 2 nights at Cancale (Maison de Bricourt) to stay and dine at Olivier Roellinger's hotel/restaurant. Our room faced Mont St Michel and was amazing!

We also went farther into Brittany to Pont Aven.

Europcar rentals ordered through Autoeurope or Kemwel usually does not charge a one-way fee in France. You thne would not need to plan on a round trip and the train fare from Rouen is probably cheaper than from Rennes.

Bayeux is a very nice town to stay in, be sure to see the Bayeux tapestry that is in Bayeux, amazing. Close to Normandy where you could most likely drive. Also agree that Honfleur is another very nice spot. Watch out for the raw oysters, got pretty ill on them, in Bayeux. Sue

Hi, yestravel --

I truly enjoyed my time in both Normandy and Brittany. I didn't file a trip report, but am linking in my planning thread, which includes my more-or-less final itinerary. I suspect it was much more fast-paced than anything you would want, but you might get some ideas about places to visit. And of course, I'll be happy to chime in if you have any questions that I think I can answer.
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...m#last-comment

Hope that helps!

I think that Honfleur is just worth an afternoon.
I'd go to Etretat, if you can...

Aah, but Honfleur is lovely in the evening, with the lights reflecting off the water. :-)

Honfleur is a charming and beautiful town in a great location, worth a few days. Bayeux, while not as pretty, has the remarkable Bayeux tapestry, and is a good base for touring the beaches. We only stayed one night in Rouen, but it’s definitely worth longer. We loved Dinan, too. Really pretty town.

We stopped in Caen for the museum only so didn’t visit the rest of the city, but it seemed to be a much larger town.

Thank you for all the comments. You have given me some good ideas. I need to read some more and will be back with additions. Any suggestions for places to stay would be appreciated.

jpie - thank you for that wonderful video -- it looks gorgeous in Normandy.

judy - Maison de Bricourt looks like a good possibility. Although I have to say after reading kja's planning thread from 2010, the crowds in Mont St. Michel are a bit daunting. Can only imagine how much worse they will be in 2018.

kja - your planning thread was very helpful. Also fun to read what you did back then in the Dordogne. We just spent 2 weeks there this past September. So yes, you are correct, we travel a lot slower than you do. Your TRs and advice are always so useful. I will appreciate your help as I plan this trip. It was also sad to read tower (Stu) on your thread. His comments are so missed since he passed away.

Michael - our plan is to train to Rennes from Paris and then drive from Rennes and end somewhere in Normandy. We likely will take the train back to Paris for our week there. We generally do use Auto Europe or its sister company Kemwell, so glad to hear they don't charge a dropoff fee in France. I enjoyed your photos in kja's planning thread. (Assume that is you?)

Sue81 - Definitely want to see the tapestry in Bayeaux. Sorry about the oysters -- I love oysters & am hoping to feast on them in September.

fuzzbucket - Etretat looks beautiful and will plan to go there. Do you recommend staying there?

Caen was virtually destroyed in WWII so lacks the historical charm of other places. And it's a biggish city. But the Peace Memorial Museum is great.

Pleasant Bayeux is on a line between the Caen museum and the WWII beaches so makes a logical place to stay. And the Bayeux tapestry is surprisingly fascinating.

Rouen is a biggish place too through interesting to visit.

Another vote for Dinan, cute town, nice place to stay.

I found Etretat kind of interesting but not worth a detour.

In addition to the usual choices mentioned above, all of which are lovely, I would add Chinon, Saumur, and Angers. Chinon makes a great base because it's about halfway through the whole valley and you can easily go in either direction.

Angers is a fabulous town. Don't miss the Apocalypse tapestries in the château there, and then visit Jean Lurçat's atelier, where he re-interpreted them.

Have a meal at Le Cheval Blanc in Bléré and L'Epicerie in Amboise and La Rapière in Bayeux.

Places to stay: Clos de la Bellefontaine in Bayeux; Le Choiseul or Le Lion d' Or in Amboise.

Are you going to just dip into Brittany or spend some time there. If the latter, Vannes is a fabulous town and Vitré and Fougères are well worth a stop as you head south from Normandy.

Hi, yestravel,
I just found my trip report from 2006, which includes a bit of Normandy and Brittany. I had just finished graduate school so after 2 years as a f/t student, our budget was pretty limited, but we covered a lot and enjoyed it thoroughly. I hope you enjoy it! I'm having fun reliving it!

It would help if I posted the link!

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-heat-wave.cfm


(the photo links to Shutterfly no longer work)

I'm glad you found some merit to my planning thread -- I got some great advice, and oh, I do miss Stu Tower!

I wouldn't skip Mont St. Michel just because it can get crowded. It is delightful in the evening after day trippers have left, and if you can stay there, you can see the abbey before another horde arrives. BTW, visiting the Mont has changed a bit since I was there – it has now be returned to its natural island state, with a bridge that can be crossed any time if I understand correctly.

We were only in Bayeux 2 nights.....goals were to see the tapestry and take a D-Day beaches tour. We stayed at Hotel Churchill as the tours left from less than a block away and we were walking distance to the tapestry. The hotel next door looked very nice, Villa Lara.

My daughter and I did a trip last May that includes a few days in Brittany. We flew into Rennes but did not stay there. Instead, we got a car and drove less than an hour to have Dinan as our home base. We stayed at Le medieval: Hotel Le Challonge. (An apartment in the old town, though they also have a hotel B&B). Loved walking this walled town with nice restaurants. It is only an hour to drive by highway to see Mont St. Michel (so wouldn't need to stay at the very touristy hotels near there). You can also take a 1/2 day to drive the Brittany coast and also visit St. Malo. We returned our car at Rennes airport and flew to CDG and to the US that day. If we had more time, we would have driven back to Paris and fit in seeing some of the Chateaus south of Paris such as Chenonceaux.

Gottravel - Yestravel’s husband - here. Thanks for the suggestions. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts about St Malo? We were thinking about using that as the base for exploring the Channel Coast after staying at Rennes.

I may be a bit of an exception, but I was not enamored of St. Malo -- I found it a bit too stage-set-like. I'm glad I saw it, particularly as I timed my visit to catch both high and low spring tides, but beyond that, I preferred kerouac's pictures of it to my actual experience there. JMO.

I thought St Malo was really neat but this is always subjective -kind of re-built town from war damage but its fortifications are unique and a great base for both Brittany and southern coast of Normandy.

Many people here seem to love Dinant.

I thought Grandville on southern Normandy coast was really neat.

I loved Etretat.
But I think I would just wander the cliffs beside the golf course, and have lunch. Spend about 3 to 5 hours there...climb to the other side where the little church is.

Well, after more research and your comments we have rethought our trip. We decided there is plenty to see in Normandy to keep us busy at our leisurely pace for pretty much the whole 2 weeks. We're going to stay in Normandy and plan to come back maybe next year for a visit to Brittany.

Our outline is to take the train from Paris to Rouen for 3 nights. Pick up a car as we leave Rouen. We'll stay in Honfleur for a couple nights with a visit to Etretat from there. Bayeux will be another stop with day trip(s) to D-Day beaches. We want to visit Mont Saint-Michel (may stay overnight). Then end in Rennes for a couple days and take the train back to Paris. Or we could reverse it and still start in Rennes. That may work better becasue I wwant to finally see Giverny and we could stop on the way back to Paris at the end of the time in Normandy.

Judy, thanks for the hotel suggestion for Bayeaux -- it looks nice. Villa Lara, really nice, but at almost twice the price. Do you recommend your tour company?

Fuzzbucket- I think Etretat will be a day trip.

PalQ - did you by chance mean Granville on the coast of Normandy? That has a Chrstian Dior museum that I wouldnt mind checking out.

So anyother places that you recommmend visiting in Normandy or places to stay?

Places we have liked or even loved in Normandy:

Loved! Veules les Roses, Varengeville sur Mer (2 outstanding gardens there plus the Manoir d'Ango), Mont Saint-Michel, Monet's garden at Giverny, Belleme, and Mortagne au Perche.

Liked: Pont-Audemer on its market day, Bernay, La Bouille, L'Aigle on its market day which is Tuesday, Jumieges.

Sounds like a great plan!

If Giverny is a priority -- and I'm glad I made it one! -- then reversing the order of your itinerary makes a lot of sense to me.

In Honfleur, I was very pleased with La Cour Sainte-Catherine, which still gets very positive reviews.
http://www.coursaintecatherine.com

In Rennes, I had a stunning meal at Le Cours des Lices, another place that continues to get very positive reviews.
http://www.lecoursdeslices.fr

Enjoy!

Coquelicot -- thanks so much! Will check these out. What time of year were you at Giverny? Given that it will be mid Sept when we are there I am wondering what the gardens will be like?

Last year we spent four nights in Normandy/Brittany tagged onto a business trip to London. I think the region is fantastic and the cider is amazing! I think the area is underrated. Due to circumstances we flew into Heathrow, then took Eurostar to Paris and then train to Rouen. Rouen is a lovely town and we were fortunate to see the night light show on the cathedral which takes place Saturdays in the summer.This cathedral is seen in several Monet paintings. There is also a very nice art gallery in the town. We then rented a car from the train station, drove to and had lunch and walked around in Honfleur enroute to Bayeux. We stayed at an amazing bed and breakfast in the outskirts of Bayeux called Chateau de Damigny. I found out about it on this forum. The owner of this old historic chateau previously was a chef in Paris. The rooms were lovely and the setting very rural. The breakfasts were incredible and we also took advantage of a family style dinner with a few other of the guests ( we were 7). I think Chateau De Damigny is a real find. Seeing the tapestry does not take very long and I recalled that it had decent hours. We took a D Day tour the following day which was very interesting. We spent 2 nights at the Chateau and then travelled to Dinan stopping off for a walk around St Malo and then a walk in Dinard. We loved Dinan,a walled town which is very charming. We stayed at a fabulous B&B called La Maison de la Tortue Bleue. It is an old house that the family totally renovated to make two suites with modern bathrooms. The owners previously ran a B&B in Morocco so the decor in the rooms had a Mid eastern slant. The rooms had views of the walled town a short walk away. I think Dinan is a hidden gem of a town. At that time Cityjet flew to London City airport and we dropped off our rental there. I wish we had more time to explore this glorious region with extremely friendly people.

We were posting at the same time, yestravel! BTW, the place I mentioned in Honfleur is a B&B that has an option for parking -- or at least it did.

We used Overlord Tours for our D-Day beaches tour. We had friends who did their 2 day tour and highly recommended them.

We thought the tour was extremely informative, the guide was very knowledgeable and personable and the pace 8 AM- 6 PM was right (kept moving all day and kept all 6 of us engaged.)

I like your new plan very much and think you'll have plenty to do and see by focusing on Normandy. I also recommend staying the night on Mont St Michel -- come late, leave early, but it is lovely being there at night when the day trippers have gone.

Get the Michelin Green Guide to Normandy and help plan your trip in addition to what you have gotten here. We found it easy to do our own tour of the beaches and visit the exhibits of the main sites.

yestravel, we've been at Giverny in May and September and both times the gardens were packed with flowers.

Since you had had said Normandy, I didn't mention La Roche-Guyon, which is in the Val d'Oise, but it's so close to Giverny and is a treat to visit after Giverny, since probably there won't be any other visitors there! It's a very small village at a bend of the Seine at the foot of the cliffs. It has a chateau in the cliffs (paying) and a huge walled garden (free). It's on the list of France's Most Beautiful Villages (http://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/en).

I just looked at the PBV website and see that Veules-les-Roses is a new member. I so agree! We'll drive out of our way to see one of the Plus Beaux Villages.

In Giverney see more than just the often mobbed Monet House and Gardens - this is a quintessentially cute small French village and check out Monet's grave in local cemetery.

If you do go to the Dieppe area (Varengeville, Veules les Roses, Manoir d'Ango), here's a very good B&B we've stayed at twice.

https://www.gites-de-france.com/loca...-76G21008.html

To tempt you to see Manoir d'Ango:

http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...crollTo=289405

And if you're a fan of gardens and architecture, this place is beautiful.

http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com...s-des-moutiers

Yes I did mean Granville not Grandville (though it is!)

We need to end where we can return a rental car and take a train directly back to Paris>

Rennes going and Caen coming back - Bayeux apparently has limited car rental places if any. that is if you end in Bayeux area - and seems your limited time would dictate.

And book train tickets early at www.voyages-sncf.com for discounted fares sold in limited numbers - check www.seat61.com for erudite info on that -general info on trains www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Wonderful info! Thank you all

PalenQ -- how far in advance can we boo the train tickets? Thanks for the tip on Monet's grave.

Coquelicot -- Thanks for all your suggestions and glad to hear there will flower at Giverny in September. Yes, love the PBVs that we have seen.

Gretchen -- we will need to decide about a guide for the beaches. Sometimes I think we get more out of a guide then just following a guidebook. We'll see.

Judy, thanks for the name of your tour guide.

progol -- I think we will stay the night in MSM. Loved your TR.

kja -- the BnB looks like a possibility and they do still offer parking for a small fee. I will make note of the restaurant in Rennes. Yes, I do want to see Giverny. We are generally in Paris in the winter months so it has not been an option. Finally went to Paris in June, but it was sooo hot we backed out. So I do plan to make it there this trip. Of course check back in October:).

jft -- great info. I am torn about Dinan as it sounds wonderful and gets so many recommendations. Still figuring all this out, so who knows?

Time for some more reading and deciding...

I think book train tickets for France 90 days out or so. Suggest you play around with www.voyages-sncf.com and see - some folks here recommend www.thetrainline.com instead - same trains same fares but easier to get to work for Americans at least. www.seat61.com should have that info.

Whether you work with a guide or not, the Michelin Green guidebook is excellent. The cost is comparatively little for a LOT of value.

There's a wonderful castle in Fougeres, if it happens to be on or nearby your way.

ditto to Michelin Green Guides for any motoring trip - and Michelin 1:200000 maps available anywhere in France - gas stations, newsstands, tourist offices.

I think we will start in Rennes, pick up a car when we leave Rennes. Go to MSM for 1 night and then to Bayeaux for 2 nights. From Bayeaux to Honfleur, then Rouen and down to Giverny before going to Paris.

I tried playing around with car rentals and oddly there were none that I could find starting in Rennes and ending in Vernon or Rouen. Only one showed for returning to Paris--it was Hertz. I mostly looked at Auto Europe, but I thought that odd that nothing was showing for Rennes - Vernon. Anyone have suggestions for a car rental company that we could do a one way drop off with a start in Rennes?

kja & Pal -- Don't have the Michelin Green Guide for Normandy yet, but plan to get it. We have maps we picked up with in France this past fall.

PalenQ -- thanks for the train info. I'll mark my calendar to start paying attention come late Spring.

Fra_Diavolo - will make note of the castle.