We are planning our first trip to France in late 2012. We have 8 nights total, and will likely spend 4 in Paris, which leaves us 4 nights to visit the D-Day Beaches, Mont St Michel, The Bayeux Tapestry, and as many museums and cathedrals as we can. I am wondering what cities would be best for us to stay. Maybe Rouen for 2 nights and Bayeux or Caen for 2 nights. Suggestions? Recommendations? Thanks!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32462 posts
Ed, With such a short time frame, I'd suggest splitting your time between Paris and Bayeux. Does the eight days include your travel days to and from Europe? You'll have lots to keep busy with in Paris, as there's so much to see. You might consider getting a Paris Museum Pass, perhaps the two-day version. You didn't say how "late" in the year you would be in France, but queues at some sights can be a problem even in Sept. / Oct. Bayeux makes an ideal "home base" for touring the Normandy sights. While there you can see not only the Bayeux Tapestry but also the excellent WW-II Museum. For the beaches and landing sites, I would highly recommend one of the D-Day tours in that area! The important sites cover a wide area and it's not only difficult to get around the area without a car, but often visitors don't know the significance of some of the places they're seeing. Since Bayeux is often one of the starting locations for these tours, that's another reason to stay there. The Gun Batteries at Longues sur Mer are a short distance outside Bayeux, but I don't know if public transit operates there (I had a rental car). They were used for some scenes in the movie The Longest Day. For visits to Mont St. Michel, the Churchill Hotel provides a Shuttle Bus, but it returns fairly early in the afternoon, so only provides about three hours to tour Mont. St. Michel. Happy travels!
Posted by
OP
Dallas, TX, USA
3 posts
Ken, Thanks for the advice. Our flight arrives at CDG early morning on a Wednesday, and we figured we could go ahead and head north to Bayeux that same day and spend 4 nights there (or maybe split that time between Bayeux and Rouen if we can swing that). Then back to Paris for our last 4 nights. We will definitely be getting a Paris Museum Pass. Do you know if the D-Day tours and the Shuttle Bus to Mont Saint Michel run on the weekends also, or just during the week? Thanks