Me and my girlfriend are going to be in Paris in early November and want to take a day trip to Normandy. I really would rather not drive in Paris, so would it be better to take the train from paris it Bayeux or Caen and rent a car, or rent a car in Paris and drive?
Thank you,
Daniel
We were in Paris last year and I saw the traffic and not sure I want to deal with that :)
Is it your intention to visit some of the D-Day beaches on your own? If so, pick up a rental car from an outlet in one of the suburbs west of Paris. I recommend AutoEurope, a consolidator that finds you the best deal from among the companies with which it has contracts.
If you wish to take a guided tour of the beaches, then the best way to do this in one day is to take a morning train to Bayeux, go on a tour in the afternoon, and take an evening train back to Paris. Most guided tours are for a full day, but you won't be able to get to Bayeux before they depart. One company that offers an afternoon tour is Overlordtour.
The biggest problem with your "daytrip" will be the ability to rent a car for just a few hours. If you really just want a day of Normandy then you might want to consider a tour company that will pick you up in Paris and drop you back in Paris that night.
Ideally you should really spend more than just a few hours in the Normandy area...it's really worth your extra time.
An alternative might be to visit Rouen, a classic Norman town, for the day. It's about an hour from Paris by train.
(Possibly when you said "Normandy" you meant "D-Day Beaches," if so Rouen would be a poor choice.)
Thanks for all the help. I am still not sure, I think the best thing to do would be to take a train to caen or bayeux and stay the night and take a tour the next day?
If you decide to take the train and stay overnight, here is one possible plan. Take a morning train to Caen and visit the war memorial museum. Take the very short train ride to Bayeux in time to visit the cathedral and/or see the tapestry. Spend the night in Bayeux. Take an all-day tour of the D-Day beaches. Take an evening train to Paris.
RS recommends taking the train to Bayeux and renting car there. However, having just returned from fabulous stay in Bayeux, I must say renting a car will not allow you to see what you really want to see in a day trip. If I were you, I would stay at least two nights in Bayeux and take a Battlebus Tour or Overlord Tour. That way you make the absolute most of your time. We used Battlebus Tours for three days, and it was wonderful. We would NEVER have found all the special places we visited on our own in a rented car in a short period of time. We stayed in Bayeux for 4 nights, but if your trip doesn't allow for that many nights, then 2 nights if possible. The tours leave from central Bayeux at 8:30 in the morning, and trains from Paris won't get you there in time. You should book tours well in advance, but November tours may not be as difficult to book.
Daniel, your best bet is to travel by train from Paris to Normandy. The train for that area leaves from Gare St. Lazare, as I recall, which is easily reachable by Metro.
If you're planning to visit WW-2 sites, then I'd strongly suggest spending at least a couple of days there. Bayeux is a good place to use as a "home base". As others have suggested, BattleBus Tours are superb, but as these depart at about 08:00 they can't really be done as "day trips". The information they provide and some of the "special sites" visited on their tours are some of the best memories of my visit to Normandy! I took both the U.S. highlights and Canadian highlights tour (two days, as they're about 9-hour tours), and both were excellent!
It's certainly possible to rent a Car in Bayeux if there are specific sites you want to access. I rented a car for one day to visit Longues sur Mer and Pegasus Bridge. There's a rental agency not far from the main square. The Hotel owner kindly set up the rental for me, as the people at the rental agency don't speak much (any?) English. I was able to get through the rental process with my "rusty" high school French, but wasn't exactly sure what I was signing! A good map or a portable GPS unit would be a good idea!
Good luck and happy travels!
