"Charming" village in Normandy wanted

I'm not quite sure why Bayeux doesn't fit your criteria? The old town part around the cathedral has the half-timbered buildings, there are some great restaurants and you have the Bayeux tapestry as well. Look at pictures and reviews for Hotel d'Argouges. A number of us have stayed there and loved it.

Yes Hotel d'Argouges! Love it. Bayeux is a great choice. A small, wonderful, charming town.

I guess I was looking for validation that Bayeux is the best choice. I'll settle that one and move on to other decisions. Thanks! Any thoughts about crossing on the ferry to Cherbourg? We definitely want the high speed ferry and landing in Cherbourg would allow us to hit Ste Mare Eglise in way to Bayeux. But I'm interested in others' experiences...

You know, I'm in Bayeux right now and don't find it exceptionally pretty. It's certainly not unattractive, and it didn't sustain wartime damage, but to me it doesn't hold a candle to Rouen or Honfleur if you're looking for old-style buildings (much of Rouen is rebuilt). Deauville and Cabourg are mostly newer but also more distinctive-looking to me than Bayeux.

This is not to say that Bayeux isn't your best choice. I just don't want you to be umpleasantly surprised by the aesthetics. The Battle of Normandy Museum is good, plus there's the tapestry, the cathedral, and the art & history museum. And you'd be extremely close to the Memlrial museum at Caen, where 6-1/2 hours were not enough for me. The walking tour run by the tourist office highlights some of the most interesting buildings, including a few half-timbered ones. But don't expect Bayeux to look like Colmar or Troyes.

The fact is that the important cities and towns in Normandy were targeted by both sides during the war, so a lot of the places with the richest architectural heritage lost much of what they had.

This just highlights how everyone is different... I don't care for Honfleur or Rouen. I find Bayeux much more charming.

The typical Normandy style half-timbered houses area starts east from Caen. Think it will be hard to find them near Bayeux. If you like to stay in a half-timbered house I would look around for a B&B in “Pays d’Auge” the countryside around Beuvron-en-Auge. Just google for an impression.

Till Rouen and even a bit further to Paris you will find plenty of places with this kind of building style.

If you Google the "Calvados et Camembert" roadtrip from the Normandie tourisme bureau, you'll have all the half-timbered barns, houses, cows, cheese, and cider/Calvados you can handle.

The way you describe it, I think you would like Honfleur the best - as long as it's near the old port. Rouen has the biggest half timbered center, but it's too big of city to be considered charming.

Bayeux is a nice little town too and much more convenient for exploring D-Day beaches.

I received Bayeux in response to same question 5 years ago, followed advice , and was always appreciative that I did. Great WWII museum, Tapestry, and wonderful restaurants. Plus great proximity to top sites.

Enjoy

Mike DC

Mike mentions the WWII museum in Bayeux... it's by far my favorite one in Normandy.

I am with Susan on Bayeux and not mentioned is the British Cemetery as well as some fine dining spots and bakeries.
Mike

+1 for Bayeux. Honfleur, although beautiful, was absolutely overrun with tourists (mostly Asian) the day we drove there. I'm sure there were tourists in Bayeux too but it didn't feel the same level of crazy as Honfleur.

Bayeux definitely doesn't feel as touristy as Honfleur and Deauville.

cbrencincy, as far as the ferry goes, I think it's a good plan. I'm no expert but I've done it four times (from Cherbourg to Portsmouth twice and Calais to Dover twice), it was easy and we enjoyed it.

Honfleur is geared to tourists, it felt sleazy to me, like Fisherman's Wharf in SF. We spent 3 nights there, regretted it and couldn't wait to leave. Bayeux is not geared to tourists, it's authentic and has real charm imo. Plus, as Patty and both Mike's have said, it's got timbered bldgs, the museum, the British cemetery, the tapestry, the cathedral and is great for most D-Day sites. The outdoor market is fantastic. We've stayed there, at Hotel d'Argouges, 6-7 times for a week each time and we are always sad to leave.

I am incredibly grateful for all these responses! I think we will stick to staying in Bayeux (keeping our WW2 priority) for about 3 nights then road trip through sites that I saw googling "Calvados et Camembert" for a day or two. Thanks for that! We will either drive to the northern outskirts of Paris where we can be picked up by our relatives that live there, or we will dump the car in Caen, LaHavre or somewhere and take the train into Paris for the last few days of our stay. Thank you, again. This has been so helpful!

We took the regular ferry from Portsmouth to Quistreham (the actual ferry port), then the bus the 10 miles to the Caen railroad station. Right across the street are three rental car agencies. We used Auto Europe, based in Maine and with a US phone number. They had our car ready and waiting and we drove the 15 miles or so to Bayeux for the first night since the slower ferry crossing was around 5-6 hours. Check out www.bandbnormandie.com for a B&B about 12 miles southeast of Bayeux which we used as our base. It's a 400 year old farm with lots of cows, Calvados, and Odile's cooking is to die for. We drove to Mont St. Michel from La Ferme du Pressoir in about 90 minutes arriving before the hordes from the tour buses so we had the place almost to ourselves. We spent the day and night before the ferry in Portsmouth where there are lots of British naval history items including Lord Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory at the battle of Trafalgar. La Ferme du Pressoir is just outside Villers-Bocage and there are lots of delightful little towns where we stopped and bought local cheeses, meats, and Calvados on our way back from MSM. One of our favorite trips to France.

George what a fantastic itinerary and tip on the b&b just south of Bayeux. I plan to investigate your entire itinerary but am already strongly leaning toward this plan!