Normandy, Britney or elsewhere?

If you are interested in WWII history and the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry which depicts the Norman conquest of England up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Normandy is your destination.

I can't speak for Brittany since I haven't been there -- yet.

Brittany is more scenic than Normandy. The coast in particular is quite dramatic and the towns of Dinan, Josselin, Quimper as well as villages such as Locronan are very attractive. However, it is a surprisingly large region and a car is very helpful for sightseeing.

However, Normandy has the D-Day beaches, which are usually very interesting to Americans and Canadians.
Mont Saint Michel is between Normandy and Brittany, so can be visited from either region.

In addition to Bayeux, I would add that there are a number of coastal towns worth a visit...Honfleur and Etretat come to mind. Basing yourself in Rouen with its magnificent cathedral and medieval quarter gives you a midpoint to visit those areas, along with Giverny.

Not sure you have time, when I went I made it a trip just for Normandy, Brittany and Loire.

I started and ended in Paris. The loop started with an early train to Rouen and a half day walking the center. I then rented a car and drove to Etretat and Fecamp to see the cliffs. I stayed one night there then drove to Bayeux, specifically to see the tapestry (I'm not a modern history buff, I prefer 15th century or earlier) the next morning.

Afterwards I spent the afternoon at MSM then had dinner and stayed in Cancale (world famous oysters). In the morning I visited St. Malo then drove to Dinan and stayed two nights. I really liked the old center in Dinan as well as the port area down the hill. Dinan had a fire recently in the center. I'm not sure how much damage was done?

Not far away Ft. La Latte is a great 13th century fortress that has served many purposes but now shows like it did in the middle ages. I thought it was a good castle visit. There is also a lighthouse nearby. The cliffs and ocean were nice but I'd recommend that mostly for bird watchers. The cliffs are covered with seabirds.

Next I drove to some towns in western Brittany with Parish Closes that are somewhat famous. The towns are small and not busy. They are a good off the beaten path stop. It wasn't at all touristy when I was there (September). I went south to Locronan. It's a beautiful little town that has been used as a backdrop for many movies/TV shows. Afterward I worked back along the southern coast. I stayed two nights in Vannes and really liked it. It has a huge medieval center with ramparts and a nice port with cafes on the water. I also liked Auray, kind of a smaller version of Vannes. If you're in Brittany in summer, check out the schedule for Pardons and visit one. They're traditional festivals (clothes, food, music, dancing) and probably every town has one during one weekend in summer.

Southern Brittany is famous for all the Megaliths, Dolman and Henges around Carnac. They are certainly worth seeing. My favorite is a tour by boat to Cairn de Gavrinis (from Larmor-Baden). It's a prehistoric passage tomb that reminded me of Newgrange in Ireland. The tour is all in French but would still be worthwhile for non-French speakers. My French is far from good. Fortunately a lady on the tour, who had lived in the US, adopted me and translated as much as she could.

After that I drove to Chinon, traded my car for a bicycle and rode through Loire before returning, by train, to Paris.

For one week or even less, it is quite a rush to have an overview of both regions (both Brittany and Normandy would be worth spending at least 2 weeks each to really explore). You could concentrate on one and keep the other for a next trip. But you could also choose to spend 3 days around Bayeux to have an overview of Calvados, and then 3-4 days to explore around St Malo and Mont St Michel (not to spend all your time driving).
If you choose to orient your trip on Brittany, you may have a look at http://visite.bretagne.free.fr/index.php/en/itineraries.html to get ideas for places to see.

Thank you, everyone! My apologies for not responding sooner. I was in France and had computer issues. Does anyone know about transportation from Rouen to Honfleur? Is it easily doable by train? Or do I need a car?

The Bayeux Tapestry is amazing for 900 year old. The colors are still vibrant. The tapestry tells the story panel by panel. The book 1066 provides in depth understanding of what was said in each panel and the history behind the history.

There is no train station in Honfleur. You can take a train to Deauville/Trouville or to Le Havre and then a bus (for about half an hour), but there don't seem to be many rail/bus combo connections, there being no morning departures, and the whole trip seems to take 2 hours or more.

If you want to dig into the bus schedules, drill down on Rome2Rio.com until you find the names of the bus companies.

Thanks very much! I would very much like to see the Bayeux tapestries but I don't think we'll have time. We are thinking about a day trip or possibly an overnight from Paris to Rouen. Because of our arrival time at Charles de Gaulle and other logistic challenges we will probably have to skip Brittany and most of Normandy are hoping to at least get to Rouen. We hope to visit those areas another time. So again, many thanks your help.

Guess you still want to visit places other than the Provence and Dordogne. On the way back to Paris you can base yourself for instance in Tours for visiting the châteaux of Villandry, Amboise and Chenonceaux. If you have no car they are reasonable easy to reach by train or bus. For planning transport you can use: https://www.rome2rio.com/

In Tours you can take the TGV from St-Pierre-des-Corps railway station to Paris, dropping off the car there is possible too.

Thanks, Wil

andrew rais: thanks for your input. I have been to the Lot (all the mentioned places) and enjoyed it very much. I've been to Albi 3 times and liked it better each time. Wonderful Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Cathedral and oysters in the marketplace. I've been to Loire and Chartres but not west of Saumur. I've been to Carcassonne twice. But I have not yet been to Savoie, or the Massif Central. I think this trip we will focus on the Dordogne which is our favorite area in France with 2 or 3 nights in Bordeaux just to see the city. Then to Paris (what can I say? It's Paris) with the daytrip or overnight to Rouen. I will certainly keep in mind the areas you've mentioned for our next trip. Again, many thanks to all.

Hi from Wisconsin,

Normandy has two things: the WWII landing and invasion sites, and a small number of unspoiled towns and cities due to the invasion destruction.

Brittany has rugged landscape.

To try to due more than these two places in a week is asking a lot. These are large provinces.

wayne INWI

Thanks, wayner. I know you're right about this. There are some pretty serious distances involved. At this point, it looks like we will be staying in Paris for 7 to 10 days and will use 2 of those days to visit Rouen. We will have to visit the other sites another time.