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Four Days in Normandie

Our WWII themed trip is getting closer. We have 3 1/2 days, 4 nights staying in Bayeux. We will leave Rouen in a rental car mid to late morning. I am planning on stopping in Honfleur, Deauville, Pegasus Bridge, and Caen on our way to our accommodation. Depending on how we feel, we may visit the Caen Centre for History and Peace. I realize that is is a big museum, but we don't have to see it all.

Day 2 will be a private tour from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. It covers: Morning tour of the Omaha sector: Longues sur Mer – Omaha Beach – American Cemetery – Pointe du Hoc Afternoon: Sainte Mere Eglise + 2hrs Jeep Tour of the 101st & 82e Airborne sector.
Dinner at La Rapiere

Day 3 will cover the Musee Memorial Battaille de Normandie, La Tapisserie de Bayeux and MAHB. Depending on energy levels and how long this takes us, perhaps an afternoon trip to MSM and a late return.

Day 4 This day has no plans. It will probably include a sleep in. Any of the above that are missed could be placed here. Also we may get enamored by someplace we drive through on our tour and want to go back.

Would you like to make any suggestions for day 4?

Posted by
2545 posts

The thought of adding an afternoon trip to MSM on day 3 seems very ambitious. If you really want to go, I would move it to day 4. Use the afternoon of day 3 to explore Bayeux and just relax.

Posted by
3439 posts

Also we may get enamored by someplace we drive through on our tour and want to go back.

During our 2019 stay in Bayeux, we talked to a couple of groups who went back to the museum at the American Cemetery the day after their tours, since their tour stops didn't allow enough time to do the museum justice. One group had a rental car, and the other used a taxi.

Looking forward to your trip report!

Posted by
28073 posts

I don't think you'll have time for all those stops on the way to Bayeux on Day 1, even excluding the Caen museum--which I would exclude, though I like it a lot. It's very expensive, it's crowded, and you just don't have enough time to make it worthwhile to go.

Although I enjoyed walking around Deauville (after taking the train from Caen), I think perhaps you might settle for a slow drive around, assuming there's no traffic restriction preventing it. When I was there, there wasn't much vehicular traffic; it happened to be Bastille Day 2017. Trouville is right there, too; I didn't have time to see it.

I found the relatively new museum about civilian life during the war, located in Falaise, quite interesting. It also covers Resistance activities in the area. It's fully English-accessible. However, it's 35 miles south of Caen, so it doesn't appear to fit very well with the rest of your itinerary.

Posted by
112 posts

I've never been to the museum in Caen, though from what I understand it's an excellent museum that can easily occupy several hours of your time. However, since you're devoting a full day to DDay sites already (Day 2) then I'd suggest other alternatives. Sure, Deauville is lovely but even lovelier is Trouville (IMO) which is right across the harbor from Deauville (they are separated by a harbor so you easily cross the bridge and walk between them). You could easily spend 1-3 hours walking around Honfleur and 1-3 hours walking around Deauville/Trouville without visiting any type of museum. Also, allow yourself time in one of those places to eat, whether that be sitting down at a restaurant or grabbing a sandwich from a boulangerie for something quick.

https://www.honfleur-tourism.co.uk/

https://en.indeauville.fr/

https://www.trouvillesurmer.org/

Since you'll have a car then an alternative you could consider would be doing a scenic countryside drive through the Pays d'Auge region south of Deauville/Trouville. This is cheese and cidre country (if those things interest you) but it is also a lovely place to wander on scenic country roads and stop from time to time to spend a few minutes walking around charming villages.

To do this get yourself Michelin map #303 (Calvados, Manche). These are a crucial resource for researching scenic drives and finding interesting towns/villages/sites to visit. The maps have nothing to do with using goole maps (or similar) to get driving directions from point A to point B (though you can use them for that in non-congested, rural areas). You want the ones of the scale 1:200,000 (regional maps) or 1:150,000 (departmental maps, more detailed, cover slightly less area) for whatever regions you visit. The Michelin maps have icons for all kinds of historically/touristically interesting things such as châteaux, ruins, churches, abbeys, scenic view points, caves, Roman sites, megaliths, designated scenic roads (highlighted in green) and many other things. A nice feature of the 1:150,000 maps is they show the starred attractions in the corresponding Michelin Green guidebooks.

You'll notice loads of designated scenic roads on the map in this region (highlighted in green) and they are all lovely. As a matter of fact, most of the roads in this area that aren't designated as scenic on the map are also lovely. Towns/villages you can consider stopping in to stroll around for a few minutes are Beuvron-en-Auge, Beaumont-en-Auge, Cambremer, Cormeilles, Blangy-le-Château etc.

https://www.normandie-cabourg-paysdauge-tourisme.fr/en/

https://www.terredauge-tourisme.fr/fr/

https://www.lieuvinpaysdauge-tourisme-normandie.fr/

A place I really enjoyed visiting in that area was the Domaine Saint-Hippolyte, a 16th century farm/manor you can visit where they are making/producing cheese and you can explore the grounds and buy all kinds of wonderful products from their shop, and have a picnic on the grounds if you'd like:

https://www.origenplus.com/notre-ferme/

https://www.calvados-tourisme.com/offre/origen-plus-domaine-saint-hippolyte/

Do what you wish but if it were me then after leaving Rouen I would first visit Honfleur and then take advantage of the fact that I had a car and skip Deauville/Trouville and do a scenic drive through the Pays d'Auge region. For me, the best part about visiting/vacationing in France is getting off the beaten path and wandering around in my car on scenic country roads and passing through/stopping in anonymous country villages (where I often have encounters with the locals).

If you want suggestions on days 3 and 4 then maybe you could mention if you have to return to the car to Paris at the end of day 4 or what your plans are at the end of day 4 as that can influence advice given.

Posted by
112 posts

And by the way, I did notice that yours is a WWII themed trip so I get that but if you wanted to mix it up a bit then my post was meant to offer alternatives to WWII stuff.

Posted by
1601 posts

Thank you for the suggestions! I will go look through all of the links. We sleep in Bayeux day 4. On day 5 we drop the car off in Rouen and spend the night there. I was planning to drive straight there so we have most of a day (one night) to see Rouen.

They are actually days 6 and 7 as we have a short 2 days in Paris prior to this.

From Rouen we go to Liege, then Luxembourg City.

Posted by
1601 posts

Will definitely drop the idea of the Caen museum on day 1. We will spend the time we have in Honfleur and Pegasus Bridge and whatever else we have time for. Will eat lunch in Honfleur.

Posted by
112 posts

For the sake of keeping in line with your post let's forget about the 2 days in Paris. So, if I understand this correctly you start day 1 in Rouen and then you will spend the nights of days 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Bayeux (so that makes 4 nights in Bayeux) and then on day 5 you drive back to Rouen. Is that correct? Are you open to not spending all of your nights in Bayeux while still keeping your plans for a guided DDay tour on day 2 and starting day 3 with DDay/Bayeux stuff? So perhaps spend the nights of days 1 and 2 in Bayeux but maybe spend nights 3 and 4 elsewhere?

Posted by
1601 posts

Mystique,
Certainly willing to spend the nights 3 and 4 elsewhere if an alternative plan would make sense. I want to be in Rouen by 9:30 am on day 5.

Posted by
3561 posts

We spent 3 days in Bayeux last spring. It’s a wonderful little town, make some time to just wander around. If you are there on a Sunday, there is an inexpensive walking tour done in English that we really enjoyed. The WW2 museum in town is also excellent. Also, if you need some nature, there is a boardwalk that is just on the outskirts of town ( near train station) that is lovely and if there at the right time, you can see and hear the frogs 🐸 ( so, so many of them), calling for their mates. I really got a kick out of it!

Posted by
112 posts

Before I get into specific suggestions I want to ask if you are firm on arriving in Rouen by 9:30AM on day 5. In such a case then unless you want to start driving earlier than 7:45AM you'll have to be no further than Bayeux to keep your drive to Rouen under 2 hours. I say this because I was going to make a few suggestions where your day 4 overnight could either be on the Cotentin Peninsula or in the vicinity of Mont Saint-Michel (Dinan or Saint-Malo) and the places I might suggest would put you at 3 hours or more driving distance from Rouen.

With that being said it seems like you want to be in Rouen by 9:30AM in order to spend the whole day there. Perhaps you have an intense interest in Rouen and not only want to stroll the medieval section of the city and visit the cathedral but visit a few museums and other lesser known sites. For me, and I think many/most tourists, 2-4 hours would be enough (depending on your level of interest) to see all that is of the greatest touristic interest. Perhaps you've done a lot of research on Rouen and there are several things on your list there that will take most of the day to complete, hence the need to arrive at 9:30AM to accomplish everything on your list. However, if that is not the case then I don't see any need to arrive in Rouen by 9:30AM when arriving between noon and 1PM would be fine and allow you to enjoy spending your vacation time at a leisurely pace and in lovely places on day 4. I'm sure there are people who could easily occupy themselves for a whole day or more with things to see and do in Rouen (not including its environs) but I am not one of those people.

So let me know if you're flexible on arriving in Rouen later than 9:30AM and also, if you can provide the specific dates you'll be traveling that will be helpful in terms of knowing if you're visiting during holiday/vacation periods, weekends etc. and knowing what types of things may be open or closed during your visit. if you haven't done so already then have a look at the Rouen tourist office website to see what might interest you in Rouen and perhaps its environs:

https://en.visiterouen.com/

Posted by
1601 posts

@Mystique,
Thank you again for your posts.
I think that I will leave the late afternoon of day 3 and all of day 4 open for whims.
I would welcome any suggestions you have for us from our base in Bayeux.
The reason for this is that I tend to over plan am trying to take a step back and leave more space for some spontaneous activities. My son might also want to go back to the beaches that day on our own.

Posted by
112 posts

Hi vandrabud. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but I've been busy. Anyway, I can't determine what you're asking me:

"I think that I will leave the late afternoon of day 3 and all of day 4 open for whims.
I would welcome any suggestions you have for us from our base in Bayeux."

I'm sorry but I am totally unclear on what this means so if you want to be very clear about whether or not you are open to other bases than Bayeux then say so. That was the question I asked you.

Posted by
1601 posts

To be clear: will stay in Bayeux for the 4 nights. Will decide what to do late day 3 and day 4 after we have our one day Beach tour.

Thank you for your previous suggestions.