Where is a good place to cross to England from Normandy coast area? Where/what is a 2-3 day fun adventure. Take rental car or walk on? All ideas welcome.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33762 posts
For a "fun adventure" do I take it that you aren't interested in the D-Day areas?
Are you talking about taking a rental car on the ferry to England? If so, are you then returning to France or do you expect to drop it in the UK? If dropping in the UK, are you OK with paying the huge drop charge?
If taking the car to the UK are OK with driving on the left? With the driving position on the left?
There is a ferry from Caen, and from Cherbourg.
You may well find that the fastest way, and maybe the cheapest if you buy far enough out (when are you going, how many traveling?), would be a train from Caen or Bayeux to Paris, short cross Paris RER, and Eurostar to London.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
We are in Normandy area for 2 weeks and will thoroughly visit all the sites. We have a rental car during our stay. We fly out of Paris at end of trip. We are interested in1-2 day side trips, perhaps England??
Posted by
Used to be Steilacoom, now it’s Las Vegas
2291 posts
Our trip was in May of 2010, so I'm not sure what's available currently. We took a hydrofoil from Cherborg to Portsmouth as walk-ons. . I think the trip took about 1 1/2 hrs. Portsmouth is pretty centrally located for train travel to other areas.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
http://www.seaviewferries.co.uk/ is a good ferry resource for that region. Although Southampton has the Sea City Museum, focused on the Titanic, you'd probably want to move on from there to Brighton (direct train, under 2 hours) or Portsmouth (one hour in the opposite direction by direct train) as an overnight base. Rick's England book gives more coverage to towns along Britain's south coast than does his Great Britain book. You don't need a car for most of that area and it can be expensive to take a car on the ferry (or possibly not even allowed by the rental company in France).
Posted by
Kansas
1175 posts
We went the opposite way, a ferry from Portsmouth to Quistreham/Caen. We really enjoyed our two nights in Portsmouth prior to sailing, with all the historical naval museums and sights plus the waterfront dining and shopping. You can check it out on Trip Advisor, Portsmouth forum. Lots to do and see there.