Car and motorcycle tours in France

Coastal Normandy 4 night tour - B&BYour itinerary The following pages contain general information about your car or motorcycle tour and the locations where you will stay. The order in which they appear on these pages may not be the order your hotels have been confirmed for you - for your individual itinerary please refer to your holiday documentation.

Gijón

OviedoLa Coruña

Lugo

PontevedraOurense

Braga

Vila Real

Porto

Aveiro

Leira

Lisbon

Evora

Beja

Faro

Almodôvar

Sétubal

Santarem

Portalegre

Coimbra

Castelo Branco

Viseu

Guarda

BragançaVianna doCastelo

León

Burgos

Soria

Zamora

Palencia

Valladolid

Madrid

Segovia

Salamanca

Cáceres

Merida

Sevilla

Cordoba

Sorbas

Marbella

Gibraltar (GB)

Malaga

Avila

Santiago deCompostela

SantanderBilbao

Vitoria

Logroño

Pamplona

Huesca

Girona

Lleida

Tarragona

Barcelona

Zaragoza

Teruel

PalmaCuenca

Toledo

Albacete

Murcia

Torrevieja

Alicante

Valencia

Cartagena

Ciudad Real

Guadalajara

Donostia -San Sebastion

Mâcon

La Rochelle

Biarritz

NiortGuêret

St EtienneClermont Ferrand

RoanneLyon

Annecy

Chambéry

Grenoble

Briançon

Privas

Monaco

Marseille

Avignon

DigneMende

Montélimar

Bourg en Bresse

Aurillac

Le Puy

Limoges

Tulle

AgenCahors

MontaubanAlbi

Alés

Gap

Nice

Cannes

St Tropez

Toulon

Lodéve

Carcassonne

Montpellier

Nîmes

Narbonne

PerpignanFoix

Auch

Tarbes

Toulouse

Rodez

Pau

Mont de MarsanHagetmau

Périgueux

Bordeaux

Saintes

Angoulême

Roscoff

Quimper

St Malo

Cherbourg

Caen

VillervilleOuistreham

Etretat

ArromanchesBar le Duc

Troyes

Chaumont

Charleville Méziéres

Metz

Nancy

Epinal

Vesoul

Lons leSaunier

Belfort

Basançon

Colmar

Strasbourg

Dijon

Chalon sur Saône

Le Havre

Bayeux

Honfleur

Franche Comté

Alsace Lorraine

ChampagneArdenne

Western LoireBrittany

Normandy

Poitou CharentesLimousin

Aquitaine

Midi Pyrénées

Languedoc Roussillon

Auvergne

Rhône Alps

Provence Côted’Azur

Plymouth

Cork

PoolePortsmouth

Maps and guide books Included with your travel documents you will find an excellent map of France to help you plan your journeys. For route planning you may wish to go to one of the travel websites such as

Google maps, viamichelin.com or www.theaa.co.uk.

Hotel directions With your travel documents you will find an information sheet for each hotel which has been booked for you giving directions together with some further details.

Arrival Unless stated, you will be expected to arrive at each of the hotels pre-booked for you by 6pm each day. This should allow you time to have a fairly leisurely drive between hotel stops but if you find you will be arriving later than this please ring and advise the hotelier so that your room is held for you.

Extra charges Details of which meals are included at your hotels are shown on your travel documentation. All additional meals, drinks, phone calls etc must be paid for prior to departure from the hotel.

This tour gives you the opportunity to visit many of Normandy’s most famous sights, including the picturesque harbour at Honfleur, Bayeux and its very famous ancient tapestry, and the D-Day Landing Beaches. It also takes you through some of the fertile Norman countryside, known for its wonderful cheeses, cider and dairy produce which feature prominently in the local cuisine.

Here we give some ideas of places you may like to see in the vicinity of each of your overnight stops

In and around Etretat

Etretat - the main attraction here has to be the famous cliffs and incredible scenery of the Alabaster Coast which has inspired so many works of art. This can be appreciated at all times of year and at different times of day when the intense colours and changing light gives the

chalky cliff face a special appeal. Monet painted here on many occasions from different sides of the cliffs and in various atmospheric conditions. Take the time to walk along the beach below or along the cliffs (the coastal GR21 marked walking route is recommended) to fully take in the magnificent natural beauty of this place. There's also an exceptional clifftop golf course here, 150 feet above the sea. Fécamp - (17k) a short drive along the coast, is a lively

Etretat

resort in summer with watersports and a marina. This is also where you'll find the strikingly beautiful Palais Bénédictine which produces a plant-based liqueur of the same name. A complimentary sample of Benedictine is given at the end of your visit to the palace and there's also a museum, religious art exhibition and gallery of modern art. Another treasure in Fécamp is the restored Abbé de la Trinité church which dates back to the time of William the Conqueror - it is well worth visiting to see the huge interior with its impressive stone arches and stained glass windows that have survived many wars through the centuries.

In and around VillervilleVillerville - midway between Trouville and Honfleur, this seaside village makes a perfect base to discover some of the lovely places along this part of the Côte Fleurie. Trouville (5k), Deauville (7k), Villers sur Mer (14k) and Cabourg (25k) are upmarket resorts (in particular Deauville which has a very expensive image with high end shopping and luxury hotels) all with beautiful sandy beaches and elegant seafront promenades. Honfleur - (10k) this picturesque, enchanting town has inspired many artists with its old harbour surrounded by tall narrow houses. There is plenty to visit including gardens, museums and art galleries, the largest wooden church in France, as well as pavement restaurants and cafés where you can sit and take in the surroundings. Pont l’Evêque - (18k) known since the 13th century for its cheese.Pont Audemer - (33k) is a pretty town on the river Risle. Although it was quite badly damaged in 1944 the town still has some very attractive half timbered houses dating from the 17thC and some lovely waterside views. Le Havre - (34k) this city has undergone a regeneration in recent years and has a number of interesting landmarks, museums and galleries such as the Maison Témoin Perret and Musée des Beaux Arts André Malraux which has a wonderful collection of Impressionist and modern art.

Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp

Honfleur

Trouville

In and around OuistrehamOuistreham - you may like to see the Café Gondrée, the first building to be liberated in 1944, and nearby Pegasus Bridge. Caen - (16k) a large commercial centre and river port and also a university city with lots of cultural interest. The city centre was almost entirely destroyed during two months of bombing in 1944 but has been attractively rebuilt to blend in with the architecture of the surviving castle ramparts, churches and 2 abbeys, the Abbaye aux Hommes (resting place of William the Conqueror) and the Abbaye aux Dames. Amongst the many things to see is the Musée des Beaux Arts (fine arts) and the Normandy Museum, a folklore museum depicting many aspects of Norman life. Also the Mémorial museum is highly recommended, with audio-visual shows of life during the Occupation. On a lighter note, the city has excellent shops and restaurants, arguably the best shopping centre in Normandy.Port en Bessin is a lively little seaside resort with an attractive fishing harbour, known for its scallops and early morning fish auctions.Cambremer, Beuvron en Auge and Bonnebosq - these three villages all offer cider tasting and visits to see how the local speciality is produced (each is a 30-40 minute drive from Ouistreham).

Approximate driving distances and times to/from ports

Etretat

Caen (Ouistreham) - 80 miles/128k. 1 hr 30 mins

Cherbourg - 147 miles/237k. 2 hrs 45 mins

Le Havre - 17 miles/28k. 40 mins

St Malo - 177 miles/284k. 2 hrs 15 mins

Roscoff - 283 miles/455k. 4 hrs 55 mins

Arromanches

Caen (Ouistreham) - 20 miles/33k. 40 mins

Cherbourg - 64 miles/103k. 1hr 20 mins

Le Havre - 81 miles/131k. 1hr 42 mins

St Malo - 106 miles/171k. 2 hrs 16 mins

Roscoff - 213 miles/343k. 3hrs 53 mins

In and around ArromanchesD-Day Landing Beaches - following the coastal road from Ouistreham in the direction of Luc sur Mer you will see many signs for the beaches used for the Normandy Landings in June 1944 - Sword, Juno, Gold, Arromanches and Omaha (Utah is further west along the coast). There are also museums and memorials well signposted along the way. Arromanches - is best known for its vital role during the events of June 1944 and the Allied invasion. Today this is a holiday resort and although it was not used as one of the landing beaches reminders of its history are much in evidence with the remains of the artificial Mulberry Harbour and museums to visit including the Musée du Débarquement and the evocative Arromanches Cinema 360°. Courseulles sur Mer- (9k) is a popular seaside resort with a fishing harbour and marina and a very long beach of pale sand. Bayeux - (10k) as well as housing the famous tapestry this is a beautiful city with the huge 900 year old cathedral of Notre Dame. It was the first French town to be liberated by the Allied troops and here too is a museum about the Battle of Normandy and military events prior to and after the Landings. The British War Cemetery makes a sobering yet worthwhile visit - it is the largest British WW2 cemetery in France. If you plan to visit the tapestry during your stay it is advisable to set aside a few hours to see this remarkable piece of history. Balleroy - (27k) a village known for its 17thC castle and museum with formal gardens and parkland where hot air ballooning often takes place.

Arromanches

Ouistreham

Café Gondrée