itinerary help with 5 days in Normandy/Brittany

You are correct in thinking you shouldn't drive upon arrival. Jet lag, being tired and sleepy, unfamilar road signs, and being on new ground isn't a good way to start a trip.

Staying in Bayeux is a good idea for exploring the D-Day area. Rather than doing it all on your own, there are several good tour companies that you might want to consider. Can't recall the names right off, but others on the forum who have used them will be able to give you that info.

You can get to Bayeux by train. However, since you will be tired, jet lagged, and with luggage, a private car service might be in order. Not sure about the price, but with two couples it migh not be that much more than train tickets.

Just food for thought.

thank you so much - looking like private car might be a good option - have to do some research on costs. Some have suggested driving to Giverny the first day from CDG - a bit over an hour which, from past experience, is about what we are capable of after the flight from Boston.

IMO for your itinerary you should stay in or near Rennes. The Brittany peninsula to me is the highlight of the area, so dramatic and focused on the sea. You're going to want to take multiple days exploring the peninsula.

Normandy and Bayeux are also lovely, more rolling farm country. But Rennes area to me feels central to more things you want to do and see, and it's an excellent small city in itself. And lots of killer villages 10 to 20 by car minutes outside of it if you'd rather. Bayeux is going to be inconvenient to more of the things/places you'll want to see than Rennes area will, certainly the Carnac stone but much else. From Rennes you can do daily driving itineraries heading out on different compass headings and be able to take in a huge sampling of the entire area.

As a bonus a couple/few direct TGV's go from CDG T2 to Rennes daily, 2.5ish hours. And then more with a quick switch in Paris 3.25-4 hours. So might work out well to TGV to Rennes on arrival day, spend the night, and then rent a car the next morning and be on your way. Blast back to Paris by TGV after you drop the car.

I suggest picking two bases since the region is large; it's about 200 miles from Rouen to Rennes. And Google Maps says it's over 3 hours driving Bayeux to Carnac. With 5 days and the places you mentioned you're going to spend a lot of time driving.

One possibility is taking the hi-speed train to Vannes which is near the Carnac stones. Vannes itself has a beautiful old town in walking distance from many accomodations. Or you could stay in Rennes, perhaps better for car rental. If you could add days to your stay I think you'd be able to use them productively. But if 5 is all you have then map out carefully your itinerary.

Another option would be to taxi to the St. Lazare train station from CDG. From St. Lazare you can train to Caen and rent a car or train to Bayeux without a car and just take a guided tour as suggested.

Another choice is to spend the first day and night in Paris in a hotel near St. Lazare and train to Bayeux the next day. This will get you more rested earlier in your trip and a little bit of time in Paris. I try to avoid car rentals if trains can get me places. However, since it sounds like you want to do more than D-Day beaches, you may want to rent a car in Caen.

A private car will be much more expensive than the train.

I agree with John on two bases, good idea!

But if one then Rennes-ish.

We just returned from France. After 4 nights in Paris, we took the train to Rennes and picked up a rental car. From there we stayed in Pontorson for one night; to visit Mont St Michel the next day. (Our plan to explore other parts of Brittany got sidelined by a medical issue; but there are a couple of wonderful towns we had planned to visit for lunch or just to explore.) Then we stayed in lovely Bayeux for 2 nights for WW2 tours and the tapestry; then 2 nights in Rouen; making stops in Honfluer and Beauvron-en-Auge on the way to Rouen. Wish we'd had at least another 5 days, but we had to head on to Belgium for further adventure.

KD Would you have done anything differently, especially as far as car rental and return and bases? I am planning on 6 nights in Normandy and 4 in Paris.

so helpful everyone! Thank you, thank you! I will check out Rennes for sure....

My suggestions.

Day 1. Tgv to Rennes, rent car and drive to Dinan. Explore Dinan town. Evening walk along the Rance. Sleep in dinan.

Day 2. Drive to san malo, see town then meander your way towards msm with the intention of arriving at 4pm. Sites highlighted in the rs guide include the sculptured rocks. Not included are the dole cathedral and an impressive menhir stone. If you like shellfish there’s an outdoor place along the route that is wonderful in Le Vivier-sur-Mer (they are oyster farmers). See msm, drive back to dinan. Sleep dinan.

Day 3 and Day 4. Choose between

A. Chill day in dinan, bike along the Rance river. Dinner in San Malo
B. Day trip to Carnac, Lockmariaque, and Gavrini. Gavrini is my favorite of the 3. All impressive.
C. Day trip to the rose granite coast

Sleep dinan

Day 5. Drive to Bayeux, see town and tapestry. Sleep bayeaux.

Day 6. Ww2 sites all day. Sleep bayeux.

Matt

Linda, picking up the car in Rennes was terrific. If you read Matt's suggestions day 1 & 2; that was our original plan. An unexpected injury kept us in Rennes for medical treatment, and messed up our plans. So I would definitely follow Matt's suggestions 1 & 2; but visiting MSM maybe day 3, and then on to Bayeux. We absolutely loved Bayeux. 2 Nights was nice, and could have stayed longer. We were happy in our Airbnb in the center of town.; and would definitely suggest accommodations in the center of town. We enjoyed Rouen, but had an agenda with that part of the trip; retracing my husband's grandfather's steps right after WW1. So Rouen was nice and we enjoyed our visit, but could have been ok with one night otherwise. We were headed to Belgium so that's why we drove the car to Lille. It was a Sunday, and all trains out of Rouen would take us back to Paris first, and Sunday train schedules just worked better for us to drive to Lille; drop off the car, and take the train to Ghent.

Sleep in Dinan.

Yes please! Dinan is a superstar tourist town. I'm surprised it's not much more widely known. Sleep might not be exactly right for you, but definitely at least visit.

Martha, we spent 5 weeks in southern Brittany last fall, basing in rentals first in Quimper then Vannes. They were good locations in and of themselves, but also made fine bases for the usual suspect daytrips. Do check ahead about Carnac. When we sailed past it on a day cruise, other (French) passengers on our boat remarked that it was closed indefinitely for restorations. I do not know whether that was 100% true or ? Might pay to contact them ahead for clarification.
Happy to further advise and will also post one of our big TR/foto essays in the month to come.

I am done. the clamz