car travel in Normandy

Corinne-we drove to Normandy from the outskirts of Paris in 2002. We found it to be VERY easy to drive in the Normandy region. The D-Day sites were easy to get to and for the most part the towns are fairly small and easy to navigate. We did not do a tour but just used Rick's France book to decide what we wanted to see. We do like to drive in Europe and we have always done this as a family of 4 so the car seemed to be a good deal pricewise as well.

Corrinne,
We drove from Mt. St. Michel into Normandy and all around the area for several days with no problems whatsoever. Some of the D roads are narrow and you just slow a little (and many don't even use them). We did our own itinerary using RS for a lot of the decisions. The American cemetery is stunning and poignant but a couple of kilometers away, the German Cemetery is also worth visiting. Above all, visit the new museum in Caen. Audrey isn't into military history but stayed until she had read every letter and document. Bon Voyage. George

My husband drove from Paris to D-Day beach, Mt. St. Michel and Bayeux and had zero problems. The highways are nice, plenty of rest stops, and we went on a Monday in July.. zero traffic.

The GPS in our car really came in handy. I'd suggest making sure your car has one. We didn't ask for one, but the company we got our car advertised most of their cars automatically has one. Our car was a stick shift, less than 180 kilometres, and a diesel.

We didn't have problem finding diesel in Normandy but did in Paris.

We also took Rick's book with us, and in the back it tells you the international road signs. One thing we read was you cannot turn right on a red light. You also pump gas first then pay.

corinne, in my experience, the traffic in Normany is usually quite light, but this depends to some extent on which roads you choose. The motorways are bit busier, while the smaller roadways seemed to have very little traffic.

I definitely agree with the others on the subject of GPS units. I didn't have one on my last visit, and just tried to "get by" with a map. That worked well for the most part, but I found I got a bit "lost" on a couple of occasions. This usually occurred near larger towns, perhaps as I wasn't reading the signs correctly.

I also agree that getting the full CDW is a good idea. I didn't have any problems, but I wanted to be sure that everything would be well covered if there was some kind of an incident.

While Rick's book does list the international road signs, you might find it worthwhile to pick up an International Driver's Permit before you go, which also has a chart of the signs. This is not a "license" in itself, but MUST be used with your home D.L. It provides translation of the details of your home license in several languages (an IDP is mandatory for driving in Italy).

I think you'll really enjoy the BattleBus Tour!

Happy travels!

Corinne,

I have driven from Paris to Normandy without a problem. I did it without a GPS but having a GPS is much better. I say this having recently purchased one (Garmin Nuvi 370) and used it this past trip to Europe. They are very convenient to say the least. They can be set for car travel, walking or other forms of transportation (motorbike/truck etc). They will tell you where gas stations are, parking lots and restaurants etc. Although I still advise having a good map. With that said, you should have no problem at all. Overall the traffic is light and most things are fairly well marked. I did not use one of the local tours but I did have local TI map and I picked up the book “The Landing Beaches” by Jean Quellen. I highly recommend this book. It was filled with great info about the beaches and really added to the enjoyment and gave us great info. Give yourself some time at Poine Du Hoc – which seems to be given a cursory run in many accounts of D-Day but it is fascinating. Ronald Reagan gave a very famous speech here – some say his best speech ever. There is even a way to scale the cliffs if you look closely you can see a hole in the bushes - a little utside the fenced in area of the actual site. You can see some fishermen down at the bottom. Bon Voyage!

Thank you so much everyone. I truly appreciate the time you have taken to write me.

At this point, I think we will rent a car at the cdg airport and drive to Bayeux and St.Michele rather than try to make connections with trains. Do you have any other suggestions or tips about driving?

Please know that you have been such a help in making thiis decision, which will save us a great deal of time. Corinne

I drive in France, but still never yet in Paris, even though my husband says"try it in August, there's no traffic"...sure , sure. And after several years in the country i tend to shut my eyes in the round-abouts..France has too many of those amusing features...However, Normandy will be quite normal. I noticed that there's a reduced speed limit for the summer season on many of the coastal roads. Enjoy the independance that a car gives you..and appreciate the USA gas prices

Sorry...didn't see your last post..that's a good idea to get the car immediately..Might be a tiny bit stressfull at first, especially if you're in morning or afternoon rush hour traffic, but once you're aimed west you'll be fine.

I agree with Regina, the only difficulty you may have is rush hour traffic, but like here in the states (or anywhere for that matter) if you take your time and not get yourself stressed you will be fine even in heavy traffic. Certainly though once you are away from CDG you will have no problems. If you plan to return the car to CDG look for gas stations on the way out - so you know where they are as you head back in becuase rental cars need to be filled back up as you return - of course if you have a GPS that will tell you as well.

We just took the train to Caen and rented a car there. Drove through Normandy, Brittany, and then to the Loire valley. Beautiful countryside, beautiful roads, and considerate drivers. We had a TomTom GPS which was wonderful when we were trying to find tiny, out-of-the-way places. Except for gas prices, I loved driving in France -- much better than driving in Texas!

My husband and I drove from the Loire Valley to Bayeux in May 2006. After spending a great week exploring Normandy we drove to CDG airport. (sans GPS, avec good maps) You will have no problems negotiating the roads, traffic or parking. Granted sometimes we weren't exactly sure of where we were but we never felt "lost". But then we have the pholosophy that there are no wrong turns only new adventures!

The Route de Cidre was a beautiful road trip.

I highly recommend Omaha Beach at low tide. This whole area is best explored on your own at your own pace. I also think the German cemetary should be visited after you see the American. Carry tissues, this area is incredibly moving and emotional.

We spent 3 weeks in France, taking a train to Chartres and renting a car there. We drove south to the Dordogne, west to Charente Maritime, and then north to Normandy. We left the car in Caen and returned by train to Paris.

I did most of the driving and my husband the map reading. One tip is to be familiar with the names of towns on the way so that you recognize which directional signs to follow. (At least with round-abouts, you can circle if need by while you figure this out). We knew the names of larger towns along our way, but sometimes the road signs were for more immediate towns and we needed to check them out on the map to know which way to go. (Love those round-abouts!)

If you are on a freeway, remember the left lane is for passing--and then get back over right away. Cars driving much faster are used to this and they will be on your tail.

When we were in Brittany or Normandy, we noticed one of our turn signals was burned out. Even though we were driving a Peugeot, we stopped at a Renault garage and they replaced it for us. Our two sons were in a French Immersion elementary school then, and the man at the garage was teaching them lots of new vocabulary on car parts.

Normandy residents were very friendly to us as Americans. Don't miss Utah Beach,Pointe du Hoc, Le Mémorial de Caen, un musée pour la paix - "The Caen Memorial, a Museum for Peace," and cemeteries, too.