My wife and I are planning a ten-day trip to Normandy and wonder if using public transportation would be feasible.

We plan to arrive July 23, spend a day in Paris, then stop at Giverny. We'd like to continue on to the Les Andelys/Rouen/Jumičges area for a day, followed by six days based in Bayeux. We'd take day trips from there to Mont-Saint-Michel, WW II beaches (her father landed at Omaha Beach), etc., before returning to Paris for another two days, then back to the States August 2. We could modify this itinerary.

We're in good physical shape, have used buses and trains in several European and South American countries. She speaks basic French, mine is decent. We've traveled in France before: once together, also separately. On our previous trip we rented a car, no problems, so this isn't because we can't or won't drive. We just want to consider options, and what better place to do that than FT?

we (2 adults and 2 18-yr-olds) did something similar 4 years ago, touring Monet's home in Giverny, D-Day "Omaha" beach, Mont St Michel. We ended up renting a car after taking RER out to Mantes-la-Jolie. FWIW this was my first time to drive in France and was quite memorable.

I can't imagine getting to each of the fore-mentioned destinations using public transportation. I suppose there are buses to each but connecting to these from SNCF or RER seems to be more trouble than just renting a car. Hopefully others will chime in and supply more insight.

bon voyage!

I'd tend to agree that using public transportation outside or other than between big urban areas would be difficult and very limiting.

One of the pleasures of touring rural France is to drive down the very small back roads and stay in country chambres d'hotes.

I was there about 10 years ago - so i'm guessing the infrastructure has changed a bit but probably not that much.

I was based in Caen - I saw rouen, the local beaches, falaise, bayeux and many more places all over france all by bus(think it was the green bus? but that might have changed) and train - I always found the train to be good

The only problem I ran into was that the normandy beaches are not easily accessible by public transport - perhaps that has changed - so i was driven there (that said i think the Caen museum had a bus but I never looked into it)

Mont St Michel is also something I did by car, I think the trains weren't convenient for me otherwise, though they might be ok for you as you are on vacation(I was limited to weekend travel as I was working) - I also remember that one of the trains on some of those routes were really old and slow - but again this was a while ago so they are probably better now.

I would vote against the other suggestions that you rent a car, sure you can if you want, but considering your itinerary I doubt you would need one.

As I recently recalled in response to a French getting-around question, "when in Rome, we do as the Romans do." In French cities of all sizes, I'm all for taking public transportation. In the country, like the French, you're much better off with a car.

IME, SNCF will get you to Caen easily but provides limited service to other Lower Norman cities. This might work to get between cities for stays, but won't like work as transit options for day trips. Certainly there are no cities other than Caen that are large enough to have an urban bus network, and I'm not familiar with anything other than ex-Paris tourist coaches that get to the beaches or American cemetery.

As for the Mont St. Michel, the Veolia buses run between there and Rennes, with no SNCF connection between the area you'd like to see and Rennes. You'd have to drive.

As for car rentals, there are a number of agencies outside the Caen train station. If the rates are terrible (as they can be in high season), check out the local Super U supermarkets, which offer cars at €5/day and €.12/km (magasinsu.fr).

I'm basing this off of my experience in Normandy, and its similarity to Brittany - I wouldn't wish anyone to use the public transportation here to try to see the beautiul countryside.

Peace.

I spent some time in Paris and Bayeux/the Normandy region and found that it was easy to get to by public transport (train), but once you get there, that's where the ease stops. When we were there in 2007, we used rented and hired cars to get us around. As a previous poster said, getting to the beaches is somewhat difficult. Having a professional take us there took a lot of hassle out of it (he was even able to get us to some private, off-limits spots), and we were still able to enjoy the beautiful ride.

Getting around town (and in between towns) is no problem with a rental car as the pace is obviously slower than in Paris. I would recommend renting a car for exploring, but to do a beach/cemetary tour, a hired car is the best way to get the most out of the experience. Have fun!

Thanks for all the comments so far - and welcome to FT, Grammarous! I'm flattered that you chose this thread for your first post!

To clarify: if we base ourselves in Bayeux or Caen for the six days, we know it would be hard to reach all the destinations in the area by standard public transport. We'd expect to take commercial tours to most of them. Since we'd probably want a guide at places like the World War II beaches anyhow, going in a shared minibus rather than a rental car isn't a big deal.

At this point we're considering renting a car in Paris and dropping it in Bayeux as an option - perhaps keeping it one or two more days if there are specific places where a car is really the only practical choice. Hertz, at least, doesn't add an extortionate drop-off fee for this. (They add one, which isn't unusual. It's just not an extortionate one.)

Get a quote from Europcar as well. As far as I know, they don't charge a drop off fee within France.

Relatives of mine recently spent a few days doing Normandy based in Bayeux. The did organised tours for Mont St Michel and the D-day sites. It's do-able, but takes more time and is less flexible than having your own vehicle.

I think you can totally do Normandy without a vehicle-as long as you don't mind some extra time in train and bus stations and you don't want to go too far off the beaten path.

I'm actually in Caen right now-half a day and you can see the major sights here. Yesterday I took the train (20 minutes) to Bayeaux, saw the sights, then took bus 70 (about 20 minutes, 3.40 Euro Roundtrip) from the train station to the American Cemetary. The town of Bayeaux is a quick walk from the train station. I would recommend Bayeaux as a more picturesque base then Caen, but alas, I couldn't find a place there in my price range with it being D-day landing anniversary.

For a tour of the Normandy beaches, I highly recommend the tours organized by the Caen Normandy Memorial Museum. The Museum itself is awesome-especially if you're a history buff. For 59 Euro, you can go on a mini-van tour of approximately 4 hours to see the beaches, german barracks, the cemetary, and pont huc. I think there is also a full-day tour. This is what I did today and it was awesome-just me and two other people on the bus, and the guide spoke excellent English. If you're based in Caen, you take Bus 2 to the Memorial to meet your tour. If you're basing yourself out of Bayeaux, they also have tour option that will meet you at the train station. Another option they have is a coach tour that goes a few times a week, I think it's around 35 Euro.

Game plan for tomorrow is a train to Vernon (the nearest train station to Giverney), around a hour and a half ride, then I hear rumor of a bus that meets trains coming in from Paris that goes to the Giverney sight-otherwise it's a 7km walk or a 10 Euro taxi ride or a 12 euro bus rental. Thursday is another train trip to Mt. St Michel.

Could you see more renting a car-probably, but sometimes it's nice to leave the driving up to someone else

Hope this helps!

It sure does. Thank you!

Regarding Giverney: you can, or at least you could when I was there some years ago, also rent bicycles at the Vernon train station. (Perhaps your "12 euro bus rental" should have been "12 euro bike rental?" Price sounds about right.) The stationmaster will let you into the room where they're kept to pick the one(s) you dislike the least. A short trip to a local store for bread and cheese, and you're on your way. It's an easy ride or walk along a flat path that used to be a railroad bed. (A quick Web search suggests that this is still an option, with one or two other places in town to rent them as well.)

If you take a taxi, it's a good idea to have the taxi pick you up at a predetermined time. There were no taxis available on the return when we were there. There's a lovely little restaurant nearby that serves a wide variety of delicious crepes along with other items. When you walk out of Monet's house make a right on rue Claude Monet. It's about a short 2 block walk on a little country lane. Restaurant is on left called La Musardiere.

Bobette

Efrem,

My wife and I also have a 10-day tip to Normandy in our sights, so I'd be interested in any discoveries you make along the way.

We were able to spend one night in Les Andelys last September. We got a river-front room at La Chaine d'Or and had dinner there after a visit to the castle ruins. It was my way of whetting my wife's appetite for a longer trip focusing on smaller towns in the French countryside (Burgundy is up after Normandy), and boy did it work! Now she says, "We don't really need to spend any time in Paris!"

If you opt for a car after all, and if you care much about art, it might be easy to miss the fact that a drive from Paris to Les Andelys takes you right past a little town named Auvers-sur-Oise. This is where van Gogh spent his last year, where he painted some of his most stunning masterpieces, where he committed suicide, and where he's buried, next to his brother, Theo. One of my favorite paintings in the world is his view of the Church at Auvers (at the Musee d'Orsay), and of course the church still stands at the center of this little town. It may not be all that compelling to you, but I'm an ENORMOUS van Gogh fan, so my heart almost skipped a beat as we were driving along the autoroute and saw "Auvers" on the sign.

are taking the shuttle from one of the local Bayeux hotels. We are picked up around 8:30 and return around 3:00...

That's exactly the place we booked for our night en route from Paris to Bayeux, splurged for the river side as well. Good to hear that you liked it!

Thanks to all for the suggestions so far (and hopefully for more to come). We'll post on our experiences when we return. When will you be going, BTW?

We stayed near Bayeux which is a charming town.....we so much enjoyed the cathedral and the Bayeux Tapestry is absolutely incredible. That brings me to something no one yet has referenced: the conterpoint of the Normandy invasion to the life of William the Conqueror and his invasion of England. If you are a WWII buff, you will not want to miss Falaise. My husband couldn't wait to see the Falaise Gap. That town is also the birthplace of William and there is a 12th century castle, much restored, that is amazing. I can honestly tell you that my husband enjoyed the castle as much as imagining all the troops and tanks. The drive is easily made from Caen and the countryside is so beautiful....very thick, rich and green....a difficulty for the troops as I understand it. We drove from Paris and kept our car the whole time driving down to the beaches that we chose...depending on his particular interest of the invasion. By the way, the WWII museum in Bayeux (hope it's still there since we haven't been for several years) is fabulous. We enjoyed it much more than the one in Caen. But couldn't help thinking of the two invasions as we saw so much history relating to both. Unless you really want a guided tour, I think you'll enjoy keeping your car. Either way it is a magnificent experience. I would like to add that your knowledge of French will be a tremendous asset if you need to make any travel arrangements while there. My French was fluent years ago and is quite good now, but my abilities increased rapidly since we were in Normandy during a trucker's strike. There were blockades all over France....so we had to leave our car in Bayeux, taking the train to Paris. It was our experience that railway clerks do not have sufficient English to make bookings easily....that extended to the rental return location as well since it was a car dealership in Bayeux. Very few in the countryside speak English...no problem for basics. But your French will stand you in good stead for anything more complicated. You will love this trip!