Normandy, beaches, cider and stone.

What to see in Normandy

Normandy is the north coast of France facing the English Channel: white cliffs to the east, long beaches in the middle and the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel to the west, already up against Brittany. Inland there are meadows with cows, apple trees and villages of half-timbered houses. People come for three things, and it helps to know which weighs most in your trip.

• For the history of 6 June 1944, the D-Day beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword, with the cemeteries, Pointe du Hoc, Arromanches and the Mémorial de Caen. Allow two full days, and sleep in Bayeux, in the middle of the front.
• For the abbey above the sea, Mont-Saint-Michel, in the far west. A day is enough, better if you sleep nearby and go up early or at the end of the afternoon.
• For the cliff coast, Étretat, with its chalk arches above the shingle beach, on the Alabaster Coast. Honfleur, with its old harbour, is less than an hour away.
• For the countryside, the Pays d'Auge, between Caen and Honfleur: the cider and calvados route, cheeses named after villages (camembert, livarot, pont-l'évêque) and farms that sell at the door.
• For Monet, Giverny, already close to Paris: the painter's house and gardens open from 1 April to 1 November. Rouen, with its cathedral, is on the way if you arrive from Paris.

With four nights, split them: three in Bayeux for the beaches and the Pays d'Auge, and one near the Mont. With five, add a night in Honfleur or Étretat.

How do you get there from Spain?

By car is the most practical, because in Normandy you are going to need one. From Irún it is about 900 km to Bayeux: toll motorway via Bordeaux as far as Nantes and, from there, expressways via Rennes and Caen. If you are coming from Brittany, Mont-Saint-Michel is less than an hour from Saint-Malo, and the two regions combine well in a single trip.

By plane, fly to Paris or to Nantes and hire a car. Paris is about three hours from the D-Day coast and Nantes about three from Bayeux.

By train, from Paris Saint-Lazare there are direct trains to Rouen, Caen and Bayeux. It works for Bayeux and the guided minibus tours that leave from there, but not for touring the coast on your own.

How do you get around?

By car. Public transport between villages is scarce: the bus linking Bayeux with the American cemetery makes a single round trip a day, Monday to Saturday and only in season. Distances are short: from Bayeux to Omaha it is about 20 minutes, to Caen half an hour and to Mont-Saint-Michel a little over an hour and a half.

You can't drive to the Mont. You park in the paid car parks on the mainland, about 2.5 km away, and from there Le Passeur leaves, a free shuttle that runs from 7:30 until midnight, takes about 12 minutes and drops you 350 metres from the ramparts. You can also walk along the footbridge.

When to go and what does it cost?

From May to September. May, June and September are the best months: light until late and fewer people than in July and August. Beware of the dates around 6 June: there are ceremonies, road closures and the hotels in Bayeux fill up months ahead. In 2026 the D-Day Festival ran from 30 May to 14 June. In winter it rains, it gets dark early and many museums shorten their hours or close for a few weeks.

Normandy has mid-range prices for France: cheaper than Paris or the Côte d'Azur, slightly dearer in Honfleur, Étretat and next to the Mont. What adds up most is museum entry fees: the Explore Normandy Pass, which you get online, gives discounts at more than 70 sites in the region.