Bordered by the English Channel, Normandy is a sleepy French region that sees many visitors arrive via its major seaports – Cherbourg, Dieppe, Le Havre and Ouistreham.
Between these last 2 is Deauville, home to some of the most exclusive Normandy hotels by the beach. Its pristine sands and international film festival have secured its prestige for the glitterati. The surrounding region of Calvados is famous for its cider and brandy, and Normandy also home to camembert cheese.
Calvados was also the site of the Allied landings and Booking.com has a great range of B&Bs and hotels near D-Day beaches. Caen, the Normandy capital, is a lovely city that houses the Memorial for Peace, a museum detailing the effects of conflict, and World War II in particular. North of here in Bénouville is Pegasus Bridge, while the D-Day beaches span from Ouistreham to Arromanches, home to another of Normandy’s WWII museums.
Inland is the Bayeux tapestry, a huge, hand-stitched depiction of the Norman conquest of England. Off the region’s western shores are the Channel Islands, while at its south-west corner are Avranches and nearby Mont Saint-Michel, accessed via a causeway.
Other Normandy attractions include Rouen, a historic city with colourful, half-timbered houses and an archaeology museum housing finds from the Roman amphitheatre down the Seine River in Lillebonne.
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