I will be traveling to Paris and Normandy March 24 to April 4. I am going to Bayeux first and am taking the 2 day
Battlebus tour. I would also like to visit the museum in Caen and have some time to relax in Bayeux.
I am thinking of staying 4 night in Bayeux and 6 nights in Paris. I have already been to Paris once before. Will 4 nights in Bayeux be too much?
And yes I realize I forgot the s in nights.
Hi Kyle,
I spent 4 nights in Bayeux in October and that worked well for me. I really only had 3 full days because I arrived after 5pm the first day and I took the train back to Paris the morning of the last day. It worked fine for me. I took the two day Battlebus tour also and it was great. Those are full days, so there really isn't time to do other sightseeing. The other day, I took the shuttle to Mont St Michel and also saw the Tapestry.
I thought 4 nights with 3 full days was a decent amount of time for what I wanted to accomplish.
If you decide you don't want to stay that many nights, it is possible to take the train back to Paris after the Battlebus tour ends.
Since you are doing the 2 day Battlebus tour, you will have gotten the chance to visit several different museums, including the one at the American Cemetery. We also spent several hours in the museum at Bayeux. The town lends itself to strolling and we enjoyed our 3 days there. since you are visiting all the other museums, don't know if the one in Caen is really needed. Hopefully someone who has done all of them will chime in.
You will love the Battlebus tours. They are so personal, driving around with such a small group (maximum 8 people) and the guides are fantastic, relating stories from the soldiers and answering all of our questions. We were very happy that we did the 2 day tour and not just the one day tour. Well worth the money spent!
I agree with Steve-- Honfleur is one of my favorite cities in France, so I'd suggest spending a night there at least.
Kyle,
I don't believe four nights in Bayeux will be "too much". As you're taking a two-day BattleBus tour, you'll need three days at least (arrival day, Tour Day 1, Tour Day 2 and free day).
Rather than take the time and effort to change Hotels for one night in Honfleur (or other location), I'd suggest using the time to:
explore the wonderful small town of Bayeux (there are some nice restaurants there!)
perhaps take a day trip to the Museum in Caen (one of the best, although you could stop there for a few hours on your arrival day also).
explore the WW-II Museum in Bayeux.
if you have a car, have a look at the Gun Batteries at Longues sur Mer, provided those aren't covered on the tours you'll be taking - the Batteries are only about 15 minutes outside Bayeux, and you'll probably recognize them from The Longest Day. You can rent a car for the day if necessary - ask your Hotel to make the arrangements, especially if you don't speak French.
visit the historic Bayeux Tapestry, which describes a much earlier battle.
After two full days of tours, I feel there's more than enough to keep busy with around Bayeux.
Happy travels!
Four nights is not too much in Bayeux, IMO. We spend three nights plus one night in Honfleur last fall. We loved every second of our time in Normandy, and I would have loved to have another day in Bayeux.
We took two one-day Battlebus tours and spent a day touring on our own. There are lots of things we didn't see because we ran out of time. I don't think you'll regret your time in Bayeux.
If you don't mind switching hotels, you could try another city/town like Honfleur. We chose to spend out last night in Normandy in Honfleur because we were heading east anyway. We did love it.
With a car, you could also go to Mont St. Michel, about an hour and half drive to the southwest.
Does the Battlebus tour include a stop at the Musee Liberte at Quineville, north end of Utah Beach. It's more about civilian life in occupied France, http://www.memorial-quineville.com/. I haven't been but am planning on it--a different take on the war from the landing beaches. I'll be there around the same time as you, April 2-7.
Enjoy!
Thanks to everyone for all the help! This is my second solo trip to France. I wanted to visit Normandy last time but things didn't work out. I can't wait!
Definitely consider going to Mont St Michel on your "extra" day. It's one-of-a-kind. It appears as a silhouette on the horizon long before you arrive. While we were there, the tide came in, changing many views as we left, at beautiful sunset. I would have loved to spend longer there, and our whole family (including 3 college-age kids) were glad we took the time to go there.
