Normandy is a beautiful region in France, and is close to Paris. It’s super easy to book a train, or even cheaper a bus, to Normandy for the weekend. Or rent a car for the weekend if you want to head to the coast !
There are many things to do and see in Normandy (too many for one weekend !), so in this post, I’ll focus on the coast. Being from Maryland in the United States, I love the water and I love being near the water.
On the coast of France, there is so much history. There are things to visit dating back to the time of the vikings (the Normands in Normandy), as seen in the history told in the Bayeux Tapestry. And more recently was World War II, known as the Deuxième Guerre Mondiale in French. During this war was the construction of the Atlantic Wall by Axis powers (the Germans) to try to prevent an Allied invasion. You can still visit areas of the invasion, the artificial harbor built by Allied forces at Arromanches, cemeteries, monuments, museums, fortified structures, German bunkers, bridges, like the Pegasus bridge, etc.
A must see on the coast in Normandy is the American cemetery at Omaha Beach in Coleville-sur-Mer. This cemetery commemorates the American soldiers who died during the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach during World War II.
June 6, 2024 is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, so if you want to go, prepare yourself for large crowds and book well in advance, that means now !
Click here for a tour from Paris to the D-Day beaches, including Omaha Beach.
A good time to visit the cemetery is around 4pm. You will have a chance to see the whole cemetery and you will be around for the lowering of the two American flags where TAPS is played at 6pm every evening. The whole place and the lowering of the flag ceremony is very moving.
While in this area, also visit Pointe du Hoc. At this site, the Rangers scaled the cliff to disarm German guns to better protect the men landing on Omaha Beach.
There’s lots to do on the coast of Normandy relating to D-Day. Book your tour here.
Here is a tour of the D-Day beaches from Paris.
The next day go to the town of Bayeux. This is a very cute Norman town.
Take a private tour of the town here.
See the beautiful cathedral. It’s free to enter.
Then go see the famous Bayeux tapestry. It is a tapestry from the 11th century which tells the story of William the Conqueror. It is 230 feet long and is numbered, so when you visit you have an audioguide (free) telling you what you’re looking at. The story it tells is very interesting and the audioguides come in many languages. I most recently did the guided tour in French, I previously did the tour in English.
**It is not allowed to take photos of the tapestry, these are photos in the museum you can go to after you visit the tapestry ( this is included in your ticket price).
Before you head back to Paris, I recommend stopping in the town of Honfleur.
Take a private tour of the town here.
This is a beautiful seaside town and is home to the oldest wooden church in France.
It’s name is Sainte Catherine’s Church and was built in the 15th century. You can tell the architects of this church were also shipbuilders by the style of the ceiling.
So travel to the region of Normandy ! It’s a beautiful region of France. I love it here !
*This post contains affiliate links where the price is the same for you but I make a little bit of money.