Hello travelers
We are in preliminary stages of planning trip to Normandy area of France and then travel to the Netherlands in April of 2019. We have booked the airfare but now starts the planning. We will be flying from SFO to Paris and out of Amsterdam back to SFO. Have 17 nights in total. Planning on 7 nights in France and 10 days in the Netherlands, but this is flexible right now.
Day 1: Flight landing in Paris at 4:30 pm, get on train and go to Rouen * 1 night*
Day 2: See Rouen most of day after sleeping off some jet lag, then pick up car and drive to Honfleur (2 nights) Drive to Honfleur looks to be an hour? Or is it worth it to take "The Route of the Ancient Abbeys"? Will that add a lot of driving time? Stay in Honfleur 2 nights.
Day 3: Enjoy Honfleur
Day 4: check on Market in Honfleur that am, Sat. and then drive to Mont St. Michel, arriving in late afternoon 1 night
Day 5: Spend some time on Mont before hordes of tourists arrive, then drive to Bayeux. Enjoy town of Bayeux 3 nights
Day 6: take van tour of D day beaches
Day 7: more D day or Bayeux sights
Day 8: Drop off car in Bayeux and take train to Delft, Netherlands
Time in the Netherlands until home 10 days later (I will be posting under Netherlands for advice on that part of Itinerary)
So....does this all make logistical sense? What about the times spent in each place?
Also, a little place called Beuvron en Auge sounds intriguing. Where would I best fit that in? Also, is Etretat a must see? And, if so, where would that fit in?
Really appreciate any feedback on this, as well as suggestions as to where to stay
We are a couple in our mid 60's that have spent a lot of time in Europe and are in decent shape. We especially love to discover the small villages and prefer less rather than more moving around, so maybe more of a home base would be a better fit?
Thank you in advance!!!!
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11779 posts
I am planning a week in Normandy next spring as well, arriving May 1. While we have not been yet, We are taking a base camp approach and staying 7 nights in Bayeux.
I can understand your one night in Rouen on arrival and one at Mont St. Michel, but I wonder if your 2 in Honfleur and 3 in Bayeux can be combined? I expect to take a day trip to Honfleur from Bayeux as the drive is not long and we dislike changing locations so often.
FWIW, we are skipping Mont St. Michel. We dislike one night stays and the daytime crowds sound ridiculous. I have in mind to get close enough to see it from a hike I found directions for.
Just a thought!
Posted by
SF Bay Area
882 posts
We did Mont St. Michel as a day trip from near the beaches. We got there early and it was fine. The WWII museum in Caen is excellent.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I also thought the Memorial (museum in Caen) was great.
Caen may be an easier place to drop the car than Bayeux, which is a smaller town with fewer car rental options.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6486 posts
We loved Arromanches. You can see the remnants of the artificial harbor and there is a great little museum right next to the harbor and beach. Though we didn't spend any time in the town, we loved the views along the coast at Etretat. There also is some remnants of German bunkers.
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2088 posts
There are a whole lot of abbeys in Normandy, so hard to say wich of them is the most interesting. But following the D982 from Rouen to (toll free) Pont de Brotonne you can visit the abbeys of Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville, Jumièges and Saint-Wandrille-Rançon, the latter still having a living community and the village itself is very lovely.
From Pont de Brotonne you can follow further Route des Chaumières (cottages) to Vieux-Port and the valley of Marais-Vernier. Be aware you will drive through a whole lot of villages with a 30 km/h speed limit what wil consume most of your time. In case you don’t have that as an alternative you can skip Route des Chaumieres and take the free ferry across the Seine west of Jumièges for driving straight to the A13 to Honfleur.
Instead of staying in Bayeux you can look for a B&B in the countryside, there are loads of them. An organization I have a good experience with for many years is: https://www.gites-de-france.com/en
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7889 posts
Laurel, if you have a car, a daytime visit to MSM is entirely practical. We saw no reason to sleep on the island (or in the modern hotels that line the approach road), and did not change our mind after visiting. Since the parking was upgraded six years ago, they are ready for the masses that visit.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6486 posts
I agree with Tim. We enjoyed our trip to MSM. We didn't stay on the island or along the shuttle route. We stayed about five minutes from the parking lot and visited late afternoon/evening when we arrived (the golden hour for photos) and then visited for a couple hours right away in the morning.
Posted by
Rockville, MD, USA
653 posts
When I visited Normandy in April 2013 I spent five nights in Bayeux which meant four full days of sightseeing. We trained there from Paris, spend a day exploring the town/cathedral/tapestry, spent two days with Dale Booth on his "Two Day American tour", and rented a car for one day to visit Honfleur.
Your plan sounds like a good one to me. I might suggest turning in the car on Day 5 if Bayeux has a branch of the company you rented from in Rouen.
We stayed at the Hotel Reine Mathilde - they had large quiet rooms in the new section at the back, one with a view of the cathedral. The bar/restaurant seemed to be open whenever we were hungry.
Posted by
OP
175 posts
Andrew
Your comment about getting into Rouen so late on our arrival date has me thinking.
Is Gare Sainte Lazare station outside of CDG airport?
Would you have a suggestion as to where we might stay that first night and then catch train next day for Rouen after a decent night sleep? We do not want to go into Paris, we have been there before.
Thank you
Karen
Posted by
Washington DC
28096 posts
Posted by
USA
402 posts
Would you have a suggestion as to where we might stay that first night and then catch train next day for Rouen after a decent night sleep? We do not want to go into Paris, we have been there before.
Sometimes that's the way the ball bounces. If this was me I'd go into Paris, walk around a bit, have a nice meal.
You can't count on the plane arriving at 4:30pm. Often they do, but until this year the previous flights I was on to Europe all arrived late (between 1 - 4 hours). If you have a hotel room reserved then it really doesn't matter. If you're pushing on to Rouen, well, it may end up being a very long day...