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If you have only a week and it's your first trip to France, do Paris, Normandy, and the Loire. If you have about 8—10 days, consider a loop linking Paris, Normandy, and the Loire. Or do a one-way trip, such as flying into Nice and out of Paris, seeing the Riviera, Provence, the Alps, and Burgundy along the way. For a to day trip that highlights Paris, Provence, and the Riviera, fly into Paris and out of Nice.
After touring Paris, take the TGV train to Avignon, rent a car there, and drop it in Nice or use trains, buses, and minivan tours to get around. This trip also works well in reverse.
While this trip is doable in 22 days, most will appreciate adding an extra day here and there to rest their engine. Day 1: Fly into Paris save Paris sightseeing for your trip finale , pick up your car, and visit Giverny en route to Honfleur sleep in Honfleur. Day 2: Morning in Honfleur, afternoon in Bayeux to see its tapestry and cathedral sleep in Bayeux. Day 4: Drive to Dinan and see its sights.
Tour Chambord, then settle in Amboise and take my guidebook's self-guided town walk sleep in Amboise. Day 6: Day trip to Chenonceau and Cheverny or Chaumont — or all three if you don't need more time for Amboise sleep in Amboise. Day 7: Leave early and head south to the Dordogne region, stopping en route at Oradour-sur-Glane. Day 8: If it's market day in Sarlat, start there early , then take a relaxing canoe trip and tour a prehistoric cave. We liked the middle of both ranges.
We got a bottle of that to take with us. They also happen to make good apple alcohol. In Bayeux, you can find the historic Bayeux Tapestry which we visited at the end of day 2. Pay special attention to the story before the invasion where Harold swears an oath to William and even fights alongside him. The tapestry is housed in its own museum which takes about an hour and a half to visit. It is well-presented so that even non-history buffs can appreciate it.
On our 3rd day, we needed to make our way back to Charles de Gaulle to catch the TGV the next day down to southern France for our luxury canal barge cruise.
We worked our way back through two old historic cities of Normandy. It was a major harbor for the French until the building of the modern harbor at Le Havre. It started to decline during the 18th century which preserved the historic nature of the old city. Besides the colorful harbor the other site to see in Honfleur is the wooden church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria which is the oldest wooden church in France.
The church builders were shipbuilders and you can see how its double nave looks like two upside-down ships. One of the reasons it still stands is that the bell tower was constructed unconnected to the church in case of fire started by lightning strikes… which did happen.
When we arrived there was a large market near the port and by the church, with clothing, baskets, fish, meat, baked goods, and lots of produce. Rouen is the capital of the Normandy region.
It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasty founded by William the Conqueror. During that time it was one of the largest and most important cities in France. The city has numerous streets with historic half-timbered buildings. The city is perhaps best known for the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Near that spot today is a church dedicated to the now canonized Joan.
The church is a very modern church and quite different than the typical French church you have seen. It is free. Some of my favorite works are in a gallery to the left of the main entrance. Along with your glass of cider, the quintessential Normandy meal to have is a galette which is a buckwheat crepe.
They are usually savory and quite filling. In Bayeux, we enjoyed a galette at Le Moulon de Galette. For dessert, we had the Notre Dame, apples, salted caramel, and we added ice cream. Less traditional but so good. See all my Normandy Photos. My roommate in college usee to bring Calvados back for us. It made some days in college much more enjoyable.
Great post on the beaches of Normandy. My father landed on Utah Beach on D-Day. Thank you for this! We are headed to France in November and will overnight in Bayeux. If you had to choose between Honfleur or Rouen for a day trip, which would you pick? Rouen is closer to Paris and Honfleur to the rest of Normandy so it will make a difference where you are coming from.
I would have to say I liked Honfleur better but there might be more to see in Rouen as it is larger. I am planning for a group of 8 people, 12 days tour to Europe. While browsing, i got your blog and really liked the itinerary for Normandy. This is a great article. I am going to Normandy next year for a few days. We trained to Caen for the car and spent a night at Mont St. Michel, two in Bayeux and two in Honfleur. We arrived late near MSM and spent the evening and had dinner on the Mont and then returned the next morning for the Abbey before driving in early afternoon to Bayeux.
That afternoon we visited the Tapestry and Cathedral. The full day we took an Overlord tour of the American beaches. The following day we drove to Honfleur and enjoyed the town that evening. On the full day we drove to Etretat and climbed the cliff paths.
We drove back to Caen and trained back to Paris the day after. We took this in a leisurely fashion and loved it. We could have squeezed in a few more towns. If you haven't been to Paris before, you haven't left yourself much time for that.
The one day tour of WWII sites was way plenty for us. If you get an apartment you could do all this from one base, but we who generally don't move around a lot and get an apartment and stay put, found that moving worked well for this trip. We have a sort of 'seen one, seen em all' view of villages and towns in a region. A day visit to 3 is not superior to a leisurely evening spent strolling around one and then dining in one of the nice little restaurants. Honfleur is lovely especially its small harbor -- once a working harbor and now the parking place for the yachts of the rich.
Etretat is a nice little beach town in a stunning setting. Having spent the afternoon there we didn't feel a need to see more cute beach towns. Unless you are doing organized tours each day in Normandy, you will need a car to get around. Janettravels has a very good point about Paris. Have you been there? If not, of your 12 nights in France I personally would spend more time in Paris. There is so much to see and do there. You would still have more than enough time to spend in Normandy.
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