France normandy itinerary

We did 5 nights in Normandy a couple of years ago. Maybe our snapshots will give you some ideas; in particular I recommend Etretat if you are going to visit a resort town. IMHO they are all rather similar but the arches at Etretat are just stunning.
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/normandy/

Thank you!

We took the early morning train from Paris to Caen and rented a car there. Since we had the car, we stayed at a lovely inn in Crepon. It served us as a good base to tour many of the areas that you mentioned. The beaches of Normandy were phenomenal, and after spending one half day with a private guide, the car afforded us the opportunity to go back and explore on our own. On the same trip we spent time in Bruges which we absolutely loved. One full day in Brussels was plenty, but like you, we prefer the smaller towns.

Your basic plan makes sense and I think you've allowed enough time for Normandy and Brittany. Caen might be the easiest place to rent the car, there are agencies close to the station (vs. Bayeux where they're less convenient). Try to spend one night at MSM, either on the Mont itself or nearby, so you'll have time there after the day-trippers have left and before the next wave arrives. Dinan and St-Malo are near MSM.

You must already know that dropping off a car in a different country is expensive. Look at train schedules (use the "Travel Tips" on this website to get started) and a map to pick a convenient city in NE France with good connections to one of your Belgian destinations -- and of course an office of your car rental company.

The "correct" places to see are really in the eye of the beholder, but from what I've seen and heard about you've made good choices. I'll pitch for a couple of specific sites. The "Memorial de Caen" is actually a large and well-designed World War II museum. There's another in Bayeux and reasonable travelers differ on which is better. My other suggestion is the Bayeux Tapestry, which was a highlight of our recent trip. Very well displayed, with interesting exhibits. If you're interested in the 1944 invasion from England to Normandy, you might be equally interested in the 1066 invasion the other way.

You can pick up the rental car in Paris or take the train to Caen for picking up the car there and visit the places you mention.

If your goal is staying in Ghent or Bruges you can think about the following:
Drop off in Rouen, also a nice place to visit and go with the direct TER to Lille Flanders railway station, needing some 2h 40min. From there train with one change in Kortrijk to Bruges needs 1h 46min or a direct train to Ghent needs 1h 16min. An option is to drop off in Lille and visit places like Amiens and Arras, but even without the stops you won´t gain time.

Or you can go from Rouen with the train back to Paris – Saint Lazare, RER to Gare du Nord and from there to Bruxelles-Midi (Brussel-Zuid in Flemish) with Thalys needing some 4hours in total. From the same railway station in Brussels one of the many direct trains go to Ghent needing a comfy half hour, Bruges is on the same line, needing an additional half hour. So for going to the latter two from Rouen, the Paris version is all in all more time consuming, has more changes and guess more expensive too.

Bruges to Brussels National Airport needs some 1h 30min., some trains are direct.

For timetables:
http://uk.voyages-sncf.com/en/
http://www.belgianrail.be/en/Default.aspx
http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml

I'm glad you're going in October, because Brugge is a desperately overgrazed destination. Gent will be a nicer experience. Know that Belgium is ideal for railroad daytripping. You don't have to change hotels every day. None of the places you have listed are small towns. They are good visits for a limited time schedule. But rural Brittany is filled with magnificent little villages frozen in time, and fields of megalithic stones amd dolmen. You can't spend too much time here. Don't forget the Cider Route, maybe with some harvest festivals? There's an Alligator Farm on the way to Mont St. Michel (Ironica Typeface ... )

It sounds like you have a nice trip planned,we have stayed in Brugge and enjoyed it.In France we stayed in Bayeux at the Hotel Churchill which is 300 feet from the D Day mini van pick up point and ten minutes from the Tapistry Museum,we day tripped to Mt St Michel and Honfleur in our rental car.This year we will be staying in St Malo and day tripping to other areas in Brittany.
Mike

Our August into September trip this year is very similar! We organized ours like this: Fly into Amsterdam, spending 4 nights (with a day trip to Haarlem). Train to Bruges for 3 nights. From there a day trip to Ghent (after researching, it sounds like a better city than for us than Brussels). Train from Bruges to Caen (France), where we rent a car and drive to Bayeux for 3 nights. From there we'll take an organized all-day tour of the Normandy beaches. From Bayeux we drive to Dinan for 3 nights, with a day trip to Mont St-Michel. From Dinan we take the train to Paris for 10 days. We'll take day trips from Paris to see several chateaux, Giverny (Monet's home), and Versailles. We'll buy a museum pass for museums in Paris per RS's suggestion. We did that last year and it worked out beautifully.
*We're staying in an apartment in Paris which I highly recommend if you are there for at least one week. Same price as a hotel, but with more space, including a separate bedroom, kitchen, washing machine, DVD player, coffee maker, etc. It's fun to shop at the open markets for food to make simple breakfasts and occasional dinners.