Lodging Britany/Normandy region

Bayeux is a good base in Normandy for WWII sites and is a charming town. We've stayed at Hotel d'Argouges in Bayeux many times and love it. Beautiful manor house with lovely gardens, free parking, great breakfast, large rooms, good beds, large bathrooms, very quiet, very clean. The owner, Mme Ropartz, and her staff are extremely nice, helpful and make you feel very welcome.

These two areas are quite a distance apart. If you're thinking for one base for 4 days for both, probably Pontorson. I also have a favorable review of Bayeaux & Hotel d'Argouges. We found it a great base for Normandy. Are you coming from Paris? Are you coming by train or car?
Car rental in Bayeaux and one in Caen near Train station.

We like to stay in rural B&B's and prefer those in Normandy. Check out b&bnormandie.com, about 12 miles from Bayeux and close to a four lane motorway. WE easily drove to Mont St. Michel (90 minutes), the D Day beaches (only 20 miles or so)and drove into Brittany around the bay at MSM. We use the rental agencies across the street from the Caen RR station for several reasonseasy access from a train from Paris or ferry from the UK, open all day on Saturdays, and easy to drop off and catch a train to Paris or elsewhere. We like Bayeux and have stayed there but we prefer spending time in the Norman countryside towns, drifting along the back highways/roads, stopping to buy local cheese, picnic supplies, and Calvados. Do try to reach Cancale and have a seafood lunch on the quay with MSM visible across the bay. We found that a GPS and a Michelin roadmap of Normandy are invaluable. We brought our own GPS from home and had preloaded it with addresses and locations of places we wanted to visit. If there is no real address, like most rural B&B's, use googlemaps and home in on the B&B. Note the latitude and longitude at the bottom of the screen and put that into your GPS. We drove right to the driveway of La Ferme du Pressoir with no problem.

So, would you recommend we stay 2 nights in Normandy and 2 in Brittany?

If you'd like to explore both regions I would recommend two bases to explore them as distances would make it very difficult with only one base. Bayeux is a great base to explore Normandy. From there it's 90 min to Mt St Michel which is right at the border to Brittany. And from there it's another hour to get to some of the more eastern sites in Brittany like St Malo and Dinan (to get to the West it's again quite a bit more driving). For Brittany we stayed in a small B&B in XIII century Norman Farmhouse just outside Dol-de-Bretagne. From there it was only 20 min to Mt St Michel and 20 Min to St Malo: http://www.manoirdelagrandemettrie.com/ Dinan is also a great base to explore Brittany.

As far a renting a car goes, should we rent and return in Paris? Or, rent in Normandy and return in Brittany? I don't want to have to drive back to Normandy do I?

We traveled to Normany in October and spent a two nights in Honfleur....loved it !!! We then left for Bayeux, stopping first along the ocean in Trouville and Deauville...great towns - walked the beaches, had lunch, great shopping, etc. From there, we drove the "Cider" (Cidre) route, but put in GPS that we wanted to go to Beuvron En Auge (listed as one of France's most beautiful villages). We loved it, but don't go on Monday, as there is really nothing open. There are a couple of wonderful B&B's there that our friends stayed at (check Trip Advisor), and they loved it. Because we were there at the time of the harvesting of the apples, it was great. The back roads are beautiful, with trees covering the roads from each side. My husband and son loved it, too. We then went to Bayeux for two nights. So....I would highly recommend Honfleur, then stop in the two little towns on the beach (2nd town was great), and continue on to Beuvron En Auge. This was a wonderful, beautiful day trip.
Enjoy !

Susan described a great trip to Normandy. And if you had asked for tips for a trip to Normandy I would also have recommended a stop if not an overnight in Honfleur. But that is very far away from Brittany. So if you'd like to include Brittany in your trip (which Susan didn't) Honfleur might make the cut as a day trip but not as a base.

Susan described a great trip to Normandy. And if you had asked for tips for a trip to Normandy I would also have recommended a stop if not an overnight in Honfleur. But that is very far away from Brittany. So if you'd like to include Brittany in your trip (which Susan didn't) Honfleur might make the cut as a day trip but not as a base.