Advice on Arrival Day – Stay at CDG or Train to Normandy

I like your plan B. I too figure that my arrival day is pretty much a wash, but by pushing on (without driving) to your actual destination (or someplace closer to it), you make the best use of your time on that groggy arrival day.

One variant you might consider: rather than going all the way to Bayeux after arrival, maybe just go as far as Rouen or Honfleur, both of which are nice stops worth a look (if you haven't been there yet).

Overall your plan looks great.

I'd go with plan B. Our general approach is that if we arrive in the evening or if we can save significantly on train tickets to stay 1 nite in the arrival city, otherwise go on after the flight so the next morning we are where we want to be. There is no saving for advance purchase on regional trains (although prices do vary thru the day).

Depending on how interested you are in D-day you may wish to switch day 3 & 4. We did the Overlord tour and thought it was great, but if we had another day I would have rented a car to go back to visit a museum or two. The tour did give time at Sainte-Mère-Église for lunch and to see the museum but there are others at the landing beaches they take you to.

Your day 4 is what we did, as RS recommends. On the way to MSM we left around 8am and went a bit farther for lunch in Cancale and to visit Fort La Latte. We stayed across the bridge and enjoyed the views both during the day and after dark. Note restaurants close early on MSM and the adjacent town so plan to eat around 7pm.

It may be easier to drop off the car somewhere like Caen and take the train into Paris.

Plan B! I’ve found the best use of time on your arrival day is to continue on to another destination, especially one that’s fairlu close like Bayeux. I’ve found as well, that going from the plane to train is a relaxing come-down. I’ll usually nap on the train even if I had trouble on the plane. I’m pretty sure there’s trains direct to Bayeux from CDG.

If you do decide otherwise, there’s no need to go back and forth between Paris and CDG. Enjoy the night in Paris and leave from Gare du Nord.

Absolutely plan B. Why would you waste a whole day? You can get to Bayeux probably in time to see the tapestry and certainly the Cathedral and it will be a lot more pleasant evening than hanging at the airport, plus the train you will want to Bayeux will leave from st. Lazare.

Thanks everyone! I'm sold on taking the train on arrival day. I'm thinking we can taxi to Lazare to catch the train to Bayeux, right?

I agree that sleeping on the train is much more comfortable than the plane.

After posting this, I ended finding more forums here on this topic, so my apologies! But I really appreciate the help!

We've done both A and B (not to the same destination as you, but the same approach).
We've come to really like option B. I personally don't sleep much, if any, on the train but my wife does. For me, it's just a good idea to put the jet lag day to good use and wake up the next morning somewhere in France, well on our way.

The hard part is to not sleep on the train, since sleeping will prolong your jetlag.

The hard part is to not sleep on the train, since sleeping will prolong your jetlag.

Agree with this. I'm in the "always stay up until after dinner on arrival day" club. Crash and burn after an early dinner, sleep deeply, wake up and realize "OMG, I'm in Europe!" then charge out there.

You all are so right, we're going to push on through to Bayeux the first day. That way we can do D-Day tour the 2nd day and have the third day for Bayeux / wherever else we feel like going.

Thank you so much for the suggestions and advice. I'll be back with my sample itinerary once complete.

Oh, and I'll be posting my London trip report soon. It's from December 2017 but I hope it will be helpful to anyone traveling there over the holidays.

The hard part is to not sleep on the train, since sleeping will prolong your jetlag.

This frightens me about any rail trip, but with jet lag the most. I have this fear of falling asleep and missing my stop.