Road trip idea / Northern France
Discussion
Hi,
I was thinking of a driving holiday along the French coast (12-20 Jul), so I am looking for recommendations to towns or hotels for overnight stay (hotel with parking is a must), plus any interesting tours/events including WWII sites to visit along the way.
I have visited Le Touquet quite a number of times in the pass, but I fancy a return for old times sake:
Le Touquet - 1 night
Honfleur or Deauville - 2 nights
somewhere else?? - 4/5 nights spare?
(I did a coastline road trip many years ago taking my little old E36 318iS, and I remember staying at le Touquet, St Malo and ended at La Rochelle. Also remember visiting Omaha beach (I would return again) and Mont St. Michel (box ticked, would not return).)
Thanks
I was thinking of a driving holiday along the French coast (12-20 Jul), so I am looking for recommendations to towns or hotels for overnight stay (hotel with parking is a must), plus any interesting tours/events including WWII sites to visit along the way.
I have visited Le Touquet quite a number of times in the pass, but I fancy a return for old times sake:
Le Touquet - 1 night
Honfleur or Deauville - 2 nights
somewhere else?? - 4/5 nights spare?
(I did a coastline road trip many years ago taking my little old E36 318iS, and I remember staying at le Touquet, St Malo and ended at La Rochelle. Also remember visiting Omaha beach (I would return again) and Mont St. Michel (box ticked, would not return).)
Thanks
Edited by chip* on Saturday 11th May 21:36
I`ve visited the D Day sites a number of times, always used the old D514 coast road. Start ( or finish ) at Honfleur, over Pegasus Bridge and just keep on going along all the D Day Beaches.. So many museums and sites to mention, apart from the new British D Day Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer.
If you want a complete change how about up north near Belgium? The V2 rocket base near St Omer is a short drive from Calais ( https://lacoupole-france.com/ ) and is very interesting.
Then we stayed at the Hotel Saint Louis in Bollezeele.( https://www.hostelleriesaintlouis.com/ ) Over to Dunkirk then along the coast to the tunnel past various WW2 Atlantic Wall sites.
If you want a complete change how about up north near Belgium? The V2 rocket base near St Omer is a short drive from Calais ( https://lacoupole-france.com/ ) and is very interesting.
Then we stayed at the Hotel Saint Louis in Bollezeele.( https://www.hostelleriesaintlouis.com/ ) Over to Dunkirk then along the coast to the tunnel past various WW2 Atlantic Wall sites.
ChocolateFrog said:
There's a decent WW11 museum centred around V2 rockets in an old fortified concrete bunker. Can't remember the exact location but it's not far from calais and is worth a couple of hours.
I mentioned this in my post above. It’s La Coupole , https://lacoupole-france.com/ just of the A26 from Calais, near Saint Omer.Huge underground complex and museum. Well worth a visit.
There is another one not far away, The Blockhaus. https://www.leblockhaus.com/en
As it’s a massive bunker, probably this is the one your thinking of.
Edited by Old Merc on Tuesday 14th May 19:21
Been to Normandy a couple of times and the best WW2 museums and spots are along Omaha/Gold Beach, that look/walk along Omaha is spine chilling.
Pont Du Hoc, up that end, Longues Sur Mer, Port Bessin nice, arromanches-les-bains agia nice always has a nice buzz and you'll see the old remnants of mulberry. Also another site is Maisy Battery, quite the good adventure and still has that trenches feel to it.
Pont Du Hoc, up that end, Longues Sur Mer, Port Bessin nice, arromanches-les-bains agia nice always has a nice buzz and you'll see the old remnants of mulberry. Also another site is Maisy Battery, quite the good adventure and still has that trenches feel to it.
Old Merc said:
ChocolateFrog said:
There's a decent WW11 museum centred around V2 rockets in an old fortified concrete bunker. Can't remember the exact location but it's not far from calais and is worth a couple of hours.
I mentioned this in my post above. It’s La Coupole , https://lacoupole-france.com/ just of the A26 from Calais, near Saint Omer.Huge underground complex and museum. Well worth a visit.
There is another one not far away, The Blockhaus. https://www.leblockhaus.com/en
As it’s a massive bunker, probably this is the one your thinking of.
Edited by Old Merc on Tuesday 14th May 19:21
We've done coastline of Normandy each year since 2017 each time trying somewhere else.
We head coastline on the way and then make our way back visiting places a bit further inland in the Calvados region. We love Bayeux & Pont L'Eveque and if going around D day then Caen is great too with everyone dressing up.
We are heading over in a weeks time
We head coastline on the way and then make our way back visiting places a bit further inland in the Calvados region. We love Bayeux & Pont L'Eveque and if going around D day then Caen is great too with everyone dressing up.
We are heading over in a weeks time
simons123 said:
On the back of my other thread decided I will catch the ferry to Calais, drive to Honfleur (spend 1 night there) then drive to St Mal (4 nights there) then 2 nights in Bayeux before catching the ferry back from Caen. Thoughts on this itinerary?
Other than taking the tunnel on the outward crossing (which I prefer) that's a very easy itinerary.Honfleur always takes slightly longer to get to than I first imagine, however, it's all motorway. If you are moderately closer to Folkstone/Eurotunnel than the the Caen/UK terminal, I'd be very tempted to tunnel both ways.
simons123 said:
On the back of my other thread decided I will catch the ferry to Calais, drive to Honfleur (spend 1 night there) then drive to St Mal (4 nights there) then 2 nights in Bayeux before catching the ferry back from Caen. Thoughts on this itinerary?
From my own experience (which has been with small kids in tow, but I do like quiet and picturesque France)Honfleur - yes. 1 night is enough here though.
St Malo - worth visiting but not to stay 4 nights - Dinan is worth visiting and close by.
Bayeux - and indeed the coast from Ouistreham along to the Maisy Battery (Sword and Omaha beaches) - all worth seeing. The Bocage region here, i.e. inland from the D-Day beaches/ is wonderful. Have stayed at a gite called "Fleurs Des Pommiers" in Couvert on the D33 - would stay again.
St Mere Eglise - excellent museum (https://airborne-museum.org/en/homepage/). I would like to see more of the Contentin peninsula in general. Cherbourg Cite de la Mer (https://www.citedelamer.com/en/) worth a visit - the restaurant worth it alone in my humble experience!!
Calvados, South of Pont l'Eveque - fantastic. We stayed at Le Brevedent (https://www.campinglebrevedent.com/?lang=en) - which does not seem to be your style, but the area was beautiful - presume some excellent driving to be had.
If you are in the Bayeux area for more nights (which I would, over St Malo) - then there's a signed scenic/touring route around Suisse Normandie - would *absolutely* recommend - especially the view from Rochers des Parcs near Saint-Omer (near Clecy, not the one near Calais).
johnpsanderson said:
From my own experience (which has been with small kids in tow, but I do like quiet and picturesque France)
Honfleur - yes. 1 night is enough here though.
St Malo - worth visiting but not to stay 4 nights - Dinan is worth visiting and close by.
Bayeux - and indeed the coast from Ouistreham along to the Maisy Battery (Sword and Omaha beaches) - all worth seeing. The Bocage region here, i.e. inland from the D-Day beaches/ is wonderful. Have stayed at a gite called "Fleurs Des Pommiers" in Couvert on the D33 - would stay again.
St Mere Eglise - excellent museum (https://airborne-museum.org/en/homepage/). I would like to see more of the Contentin peninsula in general. Cherbourg Cite de la Mer (https://www.citedelamer.com/en/) worth a visit - the restaurant worth it alone in my humble experience!!
Calvados, South of Pont l'Eveque - fantastic. We stayed at Le Brevedent (https://www.campinglebrevedent.com/?lang=en) - which does not seem to be your style, but the area was beautiful - presume some excellent driving to be had.
If you are in the Bayeux area for more nights (which I would, over St Malo) - then there's a signed scenic/touring route around Suisse Normandie - would *absolutely* recommend - especially the view from Rochers des Parcs near Saint-Omer (near Clecy, not the one near Calais).
We stay at Le Brevedent each time we go (adding onto other gites at other coastal stop off points) its a fantastic site. Honfleur - yes. 1 night is enough here though.
St Malo - worth visiting but not to stay 4 nights - Dinan is worth visiting and close by.
Bayeux - and indeed the coast from Ouistreham along to the Maisy Battery (Sword and Omaha beaches) - all worth seeing. The Bocage region here, i.e. inland from the D-Day beaches/ is wonderful. Have stayed at a gite called "Fleurs Des Pommiers" in Couvert on the D33 - would stay again.
St Mere Eglise - excellent museum (https://airborne-museum.org/en/homepage/). I would like to see more of the Contentin peninsula in general. Cherbourg Cite de la Mer (https://www.citedelamer.com/en/) worth a visit - the restaurant worth it alone in my humble experience!!
Calvados, South of Pont l'Eveque - fantastic. We stayed at Le Brevedent (https://www.campinglebrevedent.com/?lang=en) - which does not seem to be your style, but the area was beautiful - presume some excellent driving to be had.
If you are in the Bayeux area for more nights (which I would, over St Malo) - then there's a signed scenic/touring route around Suisse Normandie - would *absolutely* recommend - especially the view from Rochers des Parcs near Saint-Omer (near Clecy, not the one near Calais).
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff