normandy trip

I would highly recommend picking up your rental car either in Rouen or Caen as opposed to Paris airport. We have done both!! We used Deauville as our base for Normandy and the little towns, off the beaten path are beautiful.

It's unclear from the way you've phrased your post whether you realize that Honfleur is not near the D-Day beaches.

I highly recommend taking one of the D-Day van tours rather than just driving yourself around. The driver/guides provide very valuable information and they know where they are going. You will learn a great deal more with their assistance. Most of the van tours originate in Bayeux, which has an attractive historic district, an interesting cathedral, an excellent WW II museum, and the Bayeux Tapestry. It has been pointed out that this year is the 75th anniversary of the Normandy invasion, so visitor levels are expected to be considerably higher than usual. If you are traveling this summer, you should not dally about making reservations for lodging in Bayeux, and you shouldn't wait too long to book a tour, either.

I used Overlord Tours, which has several different itineraries, including a 2-day tour. But there are other good companies.

I have never rented a car in Europe, but Honfleur is really small. I don't know how many car-rental options it has (and will you need an automatic?), and if you don't drive there you'll have to deal with bus schedules; there is no train service. I'd investigate renting in Rouen myself. But if you want to stop in Giverny for Monet's garden, that would argue for rental in Paris. I would not, however, rent in Paris and head north on the day I arrived from the US/Canada after an overnight flight. I am a zombie upon arrival.

Ten days will allow time for a nice visit to Normandy. I enjoyed all of these places, but you'll want to do your own guide book research to see what sounds most appealing to you.

Rouen (much to see here)
Honfleur (smaller)
Deauville (smaller)
Cabourg (smaller)
Bayeux (small, but many points of interest, plus D-Day tours)
Caen (very large Peace Museum, which some find overwhelming)
St.-Malo (touristy but popular on this forum)
Dinard (across river from St-Malo; small)
Dinan (larger)

I haven't been to Mont-St-Michel, but I liked these places in eastern Brittany, which are just south of Mont-St-Michel:

Rennes (larger)
Fougeres (smaller)
Vitre (smaller)

Honfleur does not have a train station. We had a car for Normandy. We actually picked up in Chartres, but Rouen would be a good spot for you to pick up. If you are interested in Giverny, there is a Hertz in Vernon (the train station for Giverny). Etretat is close to Honfleur and we loved the coast line there (we didn't go into the town) I highly recommend staying in Arromanches or at least making a visit to the town. There are remnants there of the artificial harbor with an excellent small museum right off the beach. Don't miss the Utah beach museum and Point du Hoc. My husband is crazy about WWII, and we found we could have used more time at Utah beach and the Caen museum. When we visited Mont Saint Michel, we stayed just off the island a couple miles from the shuttle parking lot. It worked well for us. The views of MSM from the mainland over the farm fields are lovely. We went over to MSM in the very late afternoon for a bit, and then again in the am, arriving to the abbey about 15 minutes before opening. We left the island before noon and picked up a picnic to enjoy on the mainland with a view of MSM.

Normandy 10 Days Itinerary :

(Fly into Paris)

Day 1 - Paris

Day 2 - Paris / Rouen via Train then get Rental Car in Rouen.

Day 3 - Rouen (Day Trips to Caen and Lisieux)

Day 4 - Rouen (Day trip to Giverny)

Day 5 - Honfleur

Day 6 - Honfleur (Day trip to Bevron En Auge)

Day 7 - Bayeux

Day 8 - Bayeux (MSM and Omaha Beach)

Day 9 - (Return Rental Car) Bayeux / Paris (Train to Paris)

Day 10 - Paris (Fly home)

I disagree with RJean's itinerary.

• Rouen is not a good base for day-trips to Caen and the D-Day beaches. Those destinations should be seen from Bayeux, which is much closer.

• Rouen is not a good base for a day-trip to Lisieux. It's much closer to Honfleur.

• Honfleur is a not a good base for a day-trip to Mont-St-Michel, which is more than 110 miles away. Bayeux is substantially closer to MSM, though still something of a drive.

• Bayeux is not a good base for a day-trip to Le Havre, which is across the Seine from Honfleur.

I disagree with Acraven's disagreeing with the my posted itinerary. The poster will be driving to these locations after Paris and not using public transportation

Rouen is a 1 hr 10 minutes drive according to google to Lisieux. Rouen to Caen is just an hour's drive not hours. I don't have Le Havre listed on the Itinerary. Acraven why don't you post a more efficient Itinerary and enlighten us on the best option to navigate the Normandy terrain.

We can agree to disagree. I know the OP will be driving. But if you plan three bases and a bunch of day-trips, it seems only logical to make each day-trip from the closest of the three bases. Who wants to spend extra time in a car when there are so many great places to see in Normandy?

Edited to add: At the time I prepared my response, Le Havre was mentioned in your post, since edited. You've also moved the Mont-St-Michel day-trip from Honfleur to Bayeux, which looks right to me.

Look, we all make mistakes if we post very much. I know I do. We're all trying to help travelers who are (mostly) less experienced than we are. A lot of what is discussed on the forum is a matter of opinion, and it's very valuable to hear what multiple people think of specific destinations, or issues like the safe amount of time to allow between two separately-ticketed flights. But geography is geography, and in the absence of such complications as worrisome traffic or especially scenic detours, I think most travelers would rather spend more time sightseeing at their destinations and drive fewer miles.

I was also puzzled by the itinerary. Granted, I would much rather change inns more often than sit in a car for a couple hours a day, but I wouldn't visit any of those places from Rouen. I personally would stay one night in Rouen. From Honfleur, I would only consider a day trip to Etretat. MSM is a long way from Honfleur and would get you to MSM when the masses are there. Honestly, I feel like you need to be very close to MSM to visit it in any pleasurable way. Now if you wanted to drive from Honfleur to MSM and spend the night close and then see it right away in the morning, that makes sense. From there, you could double back to Bayeux, Caen or Arromanches. In my opinion, to visit the WWII sites, the only cities that make sense to base in are Bayeux, Arromanches and Caen.

I don't typically draw up itineraries for people. Seems like a lot of spinning of wheels if you ask me. After gaining info from the forum, the web, the library, guidebooks, etc., I think the traveler could choose the mode of travel and draw up their own itinerary and then perhaps post for feedback.

Well I can't wait to hear what the original poster has to say after all it's not our trip to debate over it. I was editing the itinerary before i saw your comment AC. It was not the final version. Most of us on this forum are savvy travelers and no one is trying to do one over the other. We try to provide info to help people travel more efficiently. However, Mr. Acraven the manner and the tone you posted your comment was a bit abrasive.

I apologize for the tone. I didn't mean to be abrasive, but I'm reading the forum and trying to plan a long trip of my own at the same time (leaving in less than 2 months), so my responses are tending to be rather abrupt. Not brief (I'm never brief...sorry), but abrupt.

I accept your apology. In addition, I would like to say that I have valued your travel inputs on this forum for quite sometimes. You are a well rounded and knowledgeable traveler. Good luck on your future trip and as Rick would say "Keep on Travelin".

Hi Melissa,
Here's my suggestion, based on 7 trips to Normandy over the years (note: in your message your specifically said Normandy, so other than MSM did not recommend sites in Brittany -- which is lovely in its own right):
Day 1: Fly into Paris and train to Rouen (assuming your flight is scheduled to arrive before noon or so; otherwise, might be safter to book first night in Paris)
Day 2: Spend day in Rouen (no need for rental car/plenty to see and do), recover from jet lag
Day 3: Pick up rental car and drive to Honfleur.
Day 4: Honfleur>>Deauville>>Honfleur
Day 5: Drive to Bayeux
Day 6: Take full day tour of D-Day beaches
Day 7: Spend half-day walking around Bayeux, seeing tapestry, war museum, cathedral; drive other parts of D-Day beaches you didn't see on Day 6 (if prefer, more than enough in Bayeux to spend full day in town)
Day 8: Drive to MSM
Day 9: MSM and drive to Caen to drop off car; train back to Paris

We stayed in a cottage near Arromanches for five nights in Normandy (after a night in Giverny to see Monet's gardens in afternoon and morning light). We had a car, and found it a great location for two days seeing all the D-Day sites and Caen museum, one day in Mont-St-Michel, and one day in Bayeux.

I think Shelly hit the nail on the head. Go straight to Rouen on arrival day, get over jetlag, then give it another full day, then onward. Use a guided tour to see the beaches, based in Bayeux. Spend a night at or near MSM.

Ten days for Normandy is a luxury we seldom encounter on this forum. More often it's people trying to "see Normandy" on a day trip, or maybe overnight, from Paris. You can fine-tune your itinerary to fit your priorities and you'll have a great experience.

If Normandy is your whole trip, and you're flying out of CDG, you can drive and turn in the car there, saving more time for sightseeing. We enjoyed a partial day in Honfleur on our way from Bayeux back to CDG.

many guidebooks have suggested itineraries such as the Green Michelin guides.

On the Fodors forum there is a poster Stu Dudley who will send his recommended itinerary on request. I used it a few years ago and it was helpful. See https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/normandy-and-brittany-stu-dudleys-revised-itinerary-1656187/