We are planning a trip to Normandy and would like to know of a good spot to use as a base; looking at Carentan and Bayeaux; would prefer B&B to stay in for 5 nights. We will have a car to visit not only WWII sites but other towns, sites etc. prefer a small city or town and a place that is walkable for dinner out etc.
Posted by
Middletown, RI
1137 posts
Bayeux is a pretty good bet. Somewhat central to many sites (From British to American), lots of lodging and restaurants, and a lot of history in its own right. Plus it is very walk-able. Carentan is okay too, but not as nicely preserved as Bayeux—although I stayed there on my last Normandy trip in 2019 due to limited availability of places for the 75th D-day anniversary. I usually stay in Sainte-Mère-Église, as it is more central to the U.S. Airborne operations, and is ground zero for the D-day anniversary celebrations. And I will stay there again this June. But there are not nearly as many places to stay or eat there than in Bayeux. The small town feel is definitely better though IMHO.
Posted by
5 posts
Arromanche is very nice and right on the sea . We stayed a 15 to 20 minute bike ride from arromanche last summer and would go for dinner. It is not far from Bayeux by car and very charming.
Posted by
Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️
3227 posts
We just returned from Bayeux and highly recommend it!! The cathedral, tapestry, the Aure river, all wonderful!
Posted by
Franklin, TN, USA
873 posts
We stayed in Bayeux at the Hotel Churchill…..did not expect to fall in love with Bayeux but we did! The town is charming…..visit the incredible cathedral there ( where the one and only death in the town happened when a guard in the tower was shot and killed) and visit the tapestry….we were encouraged to visit the British cemetery there in Bayeux as it is very different than the American one at Omaha….the Brits allowed the families of the deceased to write messages at the graves and plant flowers and it makes for such a sweet tender tribute as you walk the grounds……each grave has a dirt plot filled with roses, irises and dear messages to the deceased…….love the American cemetery but this is also a very special place to visit to see different sides of Normandy. We walked into the Bayeux cathedral one morning and heard a choir practicing…..wow…..and we took the Overlord tour from there where they picked us up at our hotel….also had a great laundry we used in the town…..We were thankful we had a car…..we took the tour but took our car out the next day to the places we had wanted to linger in and we took more time to see things than the tour had allowed….like the American cemetery and St. Mere Iglese……..
Posted by
Columbus, OH, USA
2026 posts
We stayed in Bayeux several nights at the Logis Les Remparts. Very nice room and ample free street parking out the front door.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you all! These comments are so helpful. We shall do some more exploration but I am thinking Bayeaux sounds like the place to stay.