France: side trip to Normandy - please critique itinerary

G.Maria, I have a few comments regarding some parts of your proposed Itinerary. > Day 3 - IMHO, a guided tour IS a "must". The battle front extended across a 50-mile front and some distance inland, and unless you know where to look, you'll waste a lot of time getting to the different sites. You also won't have much information on the significance of what you're looking at when you do reach the sights. Two other EXCELLENT tour companies are: www.ddayhistorian.com www.daleboothnormandytours.com When in Bayeux, don't forget to see the famous Tapestry, which describes a much earlier battle. For rail information, I'd highly recommend using the German rail site, www.bahn.de (it covers train schedules in much of Europe). There's a tab at the top to select which language you wish to use. I don't have any information to offer on the car rental question. Last time I stayed in Bayeux, I rented a car there and returned it to the same location. Happy travels!

D Day beaches tours are booked up through August so you need to move quickly if you want a tour, and I'd advise taking one. Train tickets are available 90 days prior to travel and you might not be at 90 days quite yet if you are looking at the end of September for a Paris return. We have taken the early train from Paris to Caen and picked up our reserved rental car right across the street from the train station--so convenient and open late and on Saturdays too. Not all are open late nor on weekends in smaller towns. We then drove the 20 miles to Bayeux with ease and visited the same towns you like and MSM in the days we had. We returned our rental at Caen, hopped a morning train back to Paris, and all was stress free. If you use Caen as the starting and end point, you can accomplish the same things and see the Caen museum first. If not, email your auto rental company and check on the possibilities you mentioned about the pick up and drop off.

HI Just back from Normandy and you will love it. My suggestions are : 1) Skip Honfleur-not that special really 2) Drive to Bayuex as home base-they have a great WWII museum , wonderful attractions and food. Really convenient to all you want to see. We stayed at Lion D'Orr and enjoyed it very much. One day we spent just touring in Bayeux, ...Tapestry, Catheral, shops...it was nice to have a non-car day in the middle of our four day stay there 3) Don`t know about guided tours-we did self driving tour using Steeves and a good local map from hotel and did pretty well I think. 4) You could pick up car in Paris and return there as one suggestion as well Cheers Mike
DC

Just about any rental outfit will let you return it somewhere else. Use something like kayak.com and toss in a separate drop-off location and see what happens. Four hours is too much for Rouen, two will do, three if you have lunch. Skip the Caen museum and go to the one at Bayeux which is much better. See the tapestry museum as well (the audio tour takes about an hour, no more). According to bahn.de, the last train out of Caen is at 5:58 and takes an hour and three quarters. You can drive it in three. MSM to Caen is an hour drive. MSM to Paris is a four hour drive. Mid-September sunset in the area is at about eight, evening twilight will end about a half hour later. I've taken people through the area several times and have found no need for a guided tour.

Thanks, everyone! I appreciate your comments. I was in Rouen 8 years ago for a couple of hours. Initially, I thought my husband would like to visit, but now I'm thinking that it might not be worth a stop there for only 2-3 hours. If I eliminate Rouen, then I'm not sure if I will keep Honfleur. Anyone else have opinions about this town? From the descriptions it sounded like a picturesque coastal town worth a visit - and even an overnight. Anyone who would choose to spend the night at/close to MSM instead of Honfleur? Depending on whether we skip Honfleur or not, then I'm thinking we could train directly to Caen, pick up/return the car there and leave to Paris on the last train. However, the only reason I was including Caen was because I had read the best WWII museum was there. Thanks, Ed, for your opinion. I have followed before and you've been right on. So... there may not be a need to specifically stop at Caen anymore, unless it is not as easy to rent cars in Bayeux - without more research, I have no idea right now. Thanks for your comments about guide/no guide to tour D-Day beaches. We couldn't think of spending an entire day in a tour, that is why we have only chosen Omaha & Arromanches. I didn't know RS had included a self-guided tour in his guidebook. I will have to check it out and make a decision on this. We'll be there during the last week of September. If I reduce the number of stops, then we may be able to do this trip in 3 days instead of 4. What do you think? Finally, still on the subject of Honfleur - would you anyone add this town as a day trip from Bayeux or just do the 3-day trip and move on?

Yes, I would choose a night on MSM over a night in Honfleur. With your limited time, I'd focus on Bayeux, the WWII sites, and MSM. Loved Bayeux and MSM in the evening is special.

I'm not a museum expert but I've been to both and liked Bayeux better. My post was based on the fact that I was last through there a couple of years ago while traveling with the former director of the Marine Corps museum. He says that, hands down, Bayeux is far better. We both know a little bit about amphibious warfare. Honfluer has been a tourist/resort town for a couple of hundred years, at least. It's even mentioned in passing in 'Gigi'. It's one of my favorite Norman small towns, mostly for the old port and the grub. I don't go near the place in the summer because of the crowds.

Thanks for taking the time, everyone! I'm a planner and running my itineraries through this site has always helped.

I agree with Mike and Ed and have been saying for a long time now that the WWII museum in Bayeux is much better than the one in Caen. We spent 2 nights in Honfleur in '08 based on RS recommendation and didn't like at all. I wish we hadn't wasted our time there. We've been to Normandy many times (Love it!!)... twice we've taken a train to Caen and picked up a rental car there and once to Bayeux and got a rental car there. If there is a rental place close to the station in Bayeux, I'd go there and save the drive from Caen. When we did it, the company we rented through (AutoEurope) only had a rental place on the other side of town. We took a taxi there from the station, and back again when we left. We love Mont Saint Michel, but you could do that as a day trip from Bayeux. I would spend as much time as possible based in Bayeux and touring the D-Day sights, we never feel like we have enough time doing that. Driving is easy. And when staying in Bayeux, we love to drive the country roads exploring the area, it's very fun. I highly recommend Hotel D'Argouges in Bayeux - a really wonderful hotel with a wonderful owner and staff. It's listed in RS France guide. You can Google it if you'd like.

A few thoughts... 1) Don't cut your trip to three days - Normandy is a really special place with so much to see. 2) I htought Honfleur was just magical. Try to plan to be there in the evening and/or early morning with the light is ideal. 3) Reconsider your bias against a full day tour. As Ken said, there is so much to see, and a good guide will be able to tell you stories that will make it so much more meaningful. Happy planning!

We basically did your tour last fall and I would keep Rouen and Honfleur. Rouen has the cathedral, the astronomical clock, the half-timbered houses, the site where Joan of Arc was burned, and it's just a nice town. But you don't need to spend a lot of time there. A nice place for lunch. Honfleur is also interesting and reminds me a little of Bergen, Norway. Spend an hour or two there. Then stop in Deauville, the playground of the rich and famous and the site of a casino and the recent G8 conference. Again, it's good for an hour or so. I too would recommend bypassing Caen and going straight to Bayeux. I also agree that the museum there is better than the one in Caen. Enjoy Normandy!

Thanks! I think I'll stick with the 4 days, as suggested. I'm cutting out Rouen since I've been there before, but my gut feeling says to check out Honfleur! You all have different opinions about the place! I guess we'll have to find out for ourselves... My husband is a sailor and he's always attracted to towns with a harbor - no matter how small. Now this presents an issue because if we spend 1 night in Honfleur - do we take the train to Caen then drive to Honfleur - and then backtrack to Bayeux? I don't see any other way other than maybe still arrive at Rouen and leave for Honfleur then continue our trip west... Indecisions.... Arrrrgh. The other decision to make is whether to spend 2 nights in Bayeux OR 1 night in Bayeux and 1 night in MSM. I'm intrigued with the comments that MSM is particularly special at night... The revised itinerary may look like this (downside 3 1-nighters) Day 1: arrive early to Rouen, pick up car, to Honfleur. Day 2: after breakfast to Bayeux. WWII Museum & Arromanges. Day 3: D-Day Beach(es), cemeter(ies). Drive to MSM b/4 sunset.
Day 4: early to MSM, high mass, then drive to Bayeux or Caen for car return. Train to Paris. Thanks for the hotel recommendation in Bayeux. I will check it out. Thoughts anyone?

The revision is the only thing that makes sense.

Thanks for the all the help. I've made up my mind. Thanks!