Hello - We are driving the Normandy coast in 2 directions (2 different days) and are curious where to stop to break up the trips. Forum travelers' opinions are welcome on where to pause and what to see / do for a few hours. Thank you.
First, Etretat to Bayeux: Should we stop at Trouville or Deauville to walk around, take in the Art Deco, perhaps have lunch.
Second, Bayeux to Honfleur: Should we stop in Cabourg to walk around, have a coffee?
One thing I can recommend is driving from Honfleur along the coast – D513 – to Trouville and is to my opinion very scenic, so certainly worth doing. But driving in the opposite direction is lesser to prefer as you will see the industrial complex of Le Havre at the background.
Trouville is nice, Deauville and Cabourg are very nice too but more in the area around their casino’s. And the same for Houlgate you can easily fit in. In Deauville you can see the Walk of Fame at Les Planches along the beach. Know that much of the roads will have speed limits of 30 km/h, meaning driving there will be very time consuming. Depending the time of the year you won’t see many foreign tourists there, so good for an off the beaten path experience.
Still have to visit it, but think if having time and interest is Calvados Chrisitian Drouin between Trouville / Deauville and Pont-l’Évêque worth to consider.
As I recall, the two tend to blend into each other. What time of year are you going? The beach, especially along the boardwalk in Deauville, is popular with Parisiens in the summer. And the Art Deco beach huts and stands are what sticks in my mind (and less about the towns, although both are pleasant). Assuming you will be spending time along the D-Day beaches, and you may want to take a quick route back to Honfleur.
I love all of those cities you mention, but it's not a mecca for culture. They're generally where Parisians take their trips. But you'll find splendid restaurants and a beautiful environment.
I spent multiple hours just walking around Deauville and Cabourg back in 2017. It was very enjoyable. I didn't have a car, so I didn't get to explore any of the really small places.
If you're a fan of Impressionist paintings then you'll enjoy Trouville/Deauville. They were easily reached by trains out of Paris at the time and so a number of Impressionist paintings were set there. When we stopped in Trouville we recognized some of the houses from the paintings although the boardwalk now looks completely different. For example the steeple in this painting is still there: https://www.wikiart.org/en/claude-monet/the-boardwalk-at-trouville
I'm a little confused about the order. If you drive from Étretat to Bayeux, you will practically drive right through Honfleur. Why drive there and then backtrack?
