I am planning our summer trip to Paris and Normandy for our first time. We will rent a car and stay in Normandy for 3 nights. Plan on visiting Omaha and Utah beaches, Utah Beach Landing Museum, Normandy American Cemetery, Pointe du Hoc, Mont St Michel and maybe if time Caen Mermorial Museum. What is the best city to stay, or that you have and really enjoyed? Or if you can suggest any sites that are a must see. Any info greatly appreciated!
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Travelers reporting in here, who are doing a tour of that area (guided tour or do it yourself) often stay in Bayeux.
Caen is another possibility.
And you can sleep in Mont St. Michel, seeing what it is like after the hordes of day-trippers leave.
Posted by
franktown, colorado
2252 posts
We took the train from Paris to Rouen, stayed overnight and picked up our rental car there. We stopped in Bayeux to see the Tapestry on the way to Arromanches where we stayed for several nights. We took day trips to the beaches, cemeteries, Pointe du Hoc, etc. from there. We enjoyed our stay in the small beach town very much. We felt as if everything was a "must see" and enjoyed the luxury of the rental car to enable us to stay as long as we wanted where we wanted. We did not day trip to Mont St Michel but stayed overnight there when we left Arromanches on our way to Dinan. That overnight was a unique experience, one not to miss if possible; so peaceful and quiet after day trippers have left. We visited Caen on a different trip!
Posted by
2081 posts
karen,
i can only comment about where i stayed. Bayeux. I found it a really charming and cool town/village. really nice to walk/wonder around during the day and night.
When i go back i want to spend a night(s) on Mont Saint Michel.
In Bayeux there is also a war museum and the Bayeux Tapestry. I found the Tapestry really interesting and could hold its own as far as attractions go.
when you go to the beaches, try to go at low tide so you get an idea on how exposed our soldiers were when they landed. Its a real eye opener.
happy trails.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6713 posts
All good advice above. Unless your only interest is WWII (and, if it is, why visit MSM?), I'd recommend the Bayeux Tapestry also, a unique relic and portrayal of the time the invasion went in the other direction. Bayeux is a good place to stay, the cathedral also well worth a visit. Caen may be a better place to rent a car because the rental offices are close to the train station, but the city took so much WWII damage there's not much left to see. Except the very excellent Memorial (aka museum) on the northern outskirts. You could train to Caen, get the car, visit the Memorial, and drive on to Bayeux as your base for beaches. Or, as suggested, stay in Arromanches or another town closer to the coast. I haven't been to MSM in over 50 years, but RS and his fans recommend spending the night there if possible to escape the crowds and experience the site best, and I can see why.
Posted by
Tucson
4183 posts
Three nights means only 2 full days in the area. You have a lot on your list for 2 days.
I stayed in Arromanches in the 80's. I remember just about nothing about it except visiting some of what you list by car.
My husband and I stayed in Bayeux in 2009. We had 3 nights and 2 days.
We both really liked the ease with which we were able to take a small-group tour which included most of what you list plus some things that we certainly would have missed if we had not been on that tour. One example is Sainte-Mère-Église with its Airborne Museum -- http://www.airborne-museum.org/en/.
Another is the part of the tour I really liked best, probably because I had been to everything else before. It was driving through the countryside, seeing where much other fighting was done beyond the beaches and learning about the hedgerows, why they were so hard to break down and how it was that the flooding of the fields by the Germans caused so many drownings of those who jumped in. That tour took one solid day.
We also enjoyed the town itself, the food, the cathedral, walking around and seeing the Bayeux Tapestry -- http://www.tapisserie-bayeux.fr/en/latapisseriedebayeuxen.html. It was a bucket list item for me.
We stayed at the Hôtel Reine Mathilde -- http://www.hotel-bayeux-reinemathilde.fr/en/hotel.html. We had a nice room, breakfast was great and we had the best pizza ever (imagine a quatro stagioni style pizza with 4 different types of amazing French cheese) for lunch one day. The place was very nice when we were there and from the website it looks like it is even better since it has been renovated.
Mont Saint-Michel is about 130 km on the fastest route from Bayeux and takes about an hour and a half to drive. I think it is better saved for another trip unless you can add an extra night and day to this one.
Posted by
shingle springs, CA, USA
782 posts
My wife and I stayed in Bayeux at the Hotel Churchill which is 150 yards from the mini bus Normandy Battlefield Tour pick up stop.The hotel is close to the Tapestry Museum and has parking around the corner.The rooms are nice and very clean with a great staff.
Mike
Posted by
Everett, WA
1299 posts
We stayed out in the countryside on a farm both times we visited. The farm we stayed at in 2012 no longer operates as a B&B. However, we found this farm for our visit in 2014 and loved it:
A car is required and there is not anything within walking distance. However, you are close to the beaches and it gives you a french farm experience. Most of the beach towns have great restaurants, and Bayeux is about a 10-15 minutes drive.
Lo- We love the restaurant at Hôtel Reine Mathilde. We ate there in 2012, and it was on our "must return" list for 2014. I love the Savoy "pizza" (I think they call it something else). I had never had pizza with potatoes on it, but it is fabulous. I talked my sister into trying it in 2014 and she loved it as well.! Highly recommend.