Bayeux, Old Town and Cathedral

What it is

Bayeux is the natural base for exploring the D-Day beaches, a few kilometres from the coast. Its old town, around the cathedral and rue Saint-Jean, can be seen on foot in a morning, and almost all of it is free. This year its most famous piece is missing: the Bayeux Tapestry is in London and its museum is closed for building work.

The cathedral

Notre-Dame cathedral was consecrated on 14 July 1077 in the presence of William the Conqueror, his wife Matilda and Bishop Odo, William's half-brother. The tapestry may have been displayed for the first time then, and the cathedral kept it for centuries. The building mixes two eras: the crypt from around 1050 and the facade towers are Romanesque, while the choir and the upper part of the nave are 13th-century Gothic. It is 102 metres long and its spires reach 76.60 metres.

Don't miss:

• The Romanesque crypt, with three barrel-vaulted aisles and 15th-century frescoes.
• The chapter house, beside the north tower, with a glazed-tile floor that traces a medieval labyrinth and a mural of the Coronation of the Virgin.
• The central tower, Gothic in its first stage and topped in the 19th century with a copper dome.

The treasury can only be visited on guided tours. Check times of masses and tours with the cathedral or the Bayeux tourist office.

The old town

From the cathedral, walk down through the town centre and follow rue Saint-Jean, the main street, with half-timbered houses and stone facades. On Saturday mornings there is a market in place Saint-Patrice, and on Wednesday mornings on rue Saint-Jean itself. For lunch, La Table du Lion is at 71 rue Saint-Jean and Le Pommier on rue des Cuisiniers.

The tapestry, in London

The Bayeux Tapestry Museum closed on 1 September 2025 for a two-year renovation and expects to reopen in October 2027. In the meantime the tapestry is on show at the British Museum in London from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027. If you travel in these dates, you will not see it in Bayeux.

The Battle of Normandy museum and the British cemetery

On boulevard Fabian Ware, a short walk from the centre, the Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandie tells the story of the fighting in the summer of 1944 after D-Day. It is open daily: 9:30 to 18:30 from 1 May to 30 September, and 10:00 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 18:00 the rest of the year, with last entry 45 minutes before closing. It closes in the afternoon on 24 and 25 December, in the afternoon on 31 December and on 1 January, and for about two weeks in January.

• Price: €8.50 adults, €5 schoolchildren and students, free for under-10s. Ticket office only.
• Two-museum pass, with the MAHB (the city's art and history museum): €14.

Opposite is the Bayeux War Cemetery, the largest British Second World War cemetery in France: 4,648 graves, including 3,935 British, 181 Canadian and 466 German. At the memorial across the road you can read the names of 2,092 Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave, beneath a Latin inscription recalling William the Conqueror: those he conquered have liberated his homeland.

Getting there and parking

Bayeux has a railway station with services from Paris Saint-Lazare; from there it is a 10 to 15 minute walk to the centre and the museums. By car from Caen, take the N13 to exit 36. There are car parks next to the museums and around the centre; if you are in a motorhome, the Bayeux service area is a 10-minute walk from the centre.

With children and accessibility

The old town can be explored on foot and with a pushchair. The Bayeux museums are wheelchair accessible and lend wheelchairs; they do not admit animals or bulky bags. With children, the battle museum works from about 10 years old, the age at which they start paying.