For those who have been there, is there a strong pro / con situation of staying in Bayeux versu Arromanches-les-Bainsr?
We will have a car and assume it will be easy enough to drive in and park for the day to connect with the Overload Tour (thanks for those who chimed in on an earlier post) as well as visiting the Tapestry and a little historic walk around before heading out of the general area.
Any other reason to choose Bayeux over staying near the ocean?
About 10 years ago we had a rental car and stayed in a motel in Arromanches-les-Bains for our Normandy base, and we loved the convenience. For going into Bayeux (to see the Tapestry, etc) we drove in and parked the car without any problems. We drove to see the WW2 invasion sites and cemetery, drove down one afternoon to MSM, and each day we would return to our motel and park, and we would typically eat an evening meal in one of the nice restaurants near the beach that we could walk to...if we ever did this trip again with a rental car, we would do it the same way.
Without a car, I would probably stay in Bayeux since clearly if the intent of your trip to this area is to do one of the Normandy tours like Overlord it would be most convenient to be in Bayeux. I found having a car for this region was very helpful, though, and would recommend having a rental car.
This was several years ago (one of our first trips to Europe) but I can still answer your question. We rented a car when leaving Paris and eventually made our way to Arromanches-les-Bains, first an overnight stop in Rouen, the next day into Bayeux for lunch, a walk around town and to see the beautiful tapestry. We then drove on to Arromances where we stayed in a lovely small hotel with a glorious 2nd floor front view of the remains of Mulberry Harbor, the beach and small town. We spent 3 nights there and day tripped to the other sites. I enjoyed our Bayeux visit but I loved staying in Arromanches-les-Bains. This was the beginning of a wonderful 3 week trip during which we saw and learned so much about France. We had a truly memorable time.
**Me, too, JojoRabbit
Thank you both! "Ocean side" it is ;-)
We stayed in Bayeux when we visited some years ago , and spent part of our first day seeing the Overlord sites starting with the museum in Arromanches .I was reallly taken with the place , and maybe ,someday , I'll go back . I would stay in Arromanches in a heartbeat , it was absolutely beautiful . Bayeux was also nice , what with the tapestry and the cathedral , but as I recall it was only about six miles between them , so convenience isn't an issue if you have a car
I believe you will have more dining options in Bayeux. I think a lot of places in Arromanches cater to day-trippers. But I stayed at a quiet B&B in Ryes several years ago, which is between the two towns. With a car, it was easy to zip back and forth between these towns. You will have to figure out parking in both towns however. On street parking is limited, but both towns have hourly lots an easy walk to the center.
I believe you will have more dining options in Bayeux
Well, Bayeux is a much larger town, and of course you will have more dining options. But Arromanches-les-Bains has plenty of nice restaurants, particularly for the evening when one is most likely going to return there after a day of adventures in Normandy.
We stayed in Arromanches on the beach, had a car, it was perfect. Bayeax is great to visit but it was great fun staying in Arromanches. Glad you decided to do that, too! Have a great trip.
Thanks everyone! We are really looking forward to it and appreciate all the backup information!
When is your trip? We stayed in Bayeux in late Nov. 2019. Because it was off-season, at least half of the restaurants, and quite a few shops, in Bayeux were closed. They would re-open in a week or two before the holidays. Some of the villages were ghost towns. We couldn’t find a single restaurant open anywhere near Utah or Omaha Beach. If you’re going in peak season, you shouldn’t have a problem. But off-season, it could be a big problem.
We went to the 360 Cinema and drove through Arromanche. Very small little town, but it was easy enough to drive to nearby sites with a car.
