Are you planning a road trip to Normandy? Thinking of staying there for a couple of days or maybe a long weekend? Hopefully, this post will help you plan your visit to the beautiful region of Normandy. This region will not leave you indifferent, since it offers a wide variety of things to do. During this 4 day Normandy road trip, I was able to visit a Unesco world heritage site, discover beautiful coastal towns, hike along white cliffs, and enjoy the cultural offer of the city of Rouen.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PLANNING YOUR ROAD TRIP TO NORMANDY
Transportation
The best way to move around Normandy is by car. You can reach all of the places I visited during my trip with public transport but driving your car will give you more flexibility. For this trip, I used my own car but if you are thinking of renting a car I always use Rentalcars.com since it compares the prices of the biggest car rental companies and gives you the flexibility to cancel until 48h before your trip in case anything happens.
Accommodation
When choosing your accommodation, you will also have to decide whether you prefer to change hotels frequently or to set a base in a specific place. They both have pros and cons.
- Choosing to change hotels every night will mean less driving time since you will only drive one way each day. Otherwise, you will have to drive back and forth every day.
- On the other side, if you decide to stay at a fixed place during your trip you will not have to worry about opening and closing your suitcase daily.
In general, I am not a fan of changing hotels every night and since this was a short trip, I decided to opt for the second option and set base in Rouen where I stayed at the hotel Urban Style de l’Europe.
5 DAY NORMANDY ROAD TRIP ITINERARY
Let’s dive right into it! Here is my 5-day Normandy Road Trip Itinerary!
Day 1: Getting to Rouen
Route: From Brussels to Rouen (Distance: 343 km; Driving time: 3h 30 minutes)
Hotel: Urban Style de l’Europe
The first day is all about getting to Normandy, France. In our case, since we live in Belgium, we chose to drive there. It took us approximately 4 hours to get to Rouen, where we were going to set base.
If you’re flying into France, the closest international airport to Normandy is probably in Paris. From there, you will have to rent a car and drive to Normandy. This should take you somewhere around 2 hours.
Day 2: Mont Saint Michel
Route: From Rouen to Mont Saint Michel and return (Distance: 249 km; Driving time: 2h 25 minutes)
Hotel: Urban Style de l’Europe
To get to Mont Saint Michel you have to park your car in the parking located 2,5km outside the island. From there, you can either walk to the island which takes around 30 minutes, or take one of the free shuttle buses that connect with the island. In my case, I decided to walk because the waiting line to take the free shuttle was very long.
Even though it was a 30-minute walk, it went by quite fast. We stopped to take photos of the island every few hundred meters. It is impressive to see how it gets bigger as you get closer.
Before you enter the town and if the water is low you can walk around the town walls.
Tip: If you plan to do this, you might want to think about wearing some shoes that you will not mind getting muddy. Remember this area is covered by the sea daily!
Once you enter the town walls, it will feel like you have walked back in time! Just walk around its streets and enjoy the ambiance. I recommend that you get there as soon as possible. Mont Saint Michel can get really busy during the summer months.
You should also plan to visit the Abbey of Mont Saint Michel. On their website, you can find all information about opening times and prices. Remember you need to book your visit in advance!
If you want to see the water go up and surround the island, you might want to book a hotel to spend a night in Mont Sant Michel. In our case, since we had to drive back to Rouen we could not stay to watch this.
Day 3: Etretat
Route: From Rouen to Etretat and Return (Distance: 168 km; Driving time: 2h 10min)
Walking: 15 km
Hotel: Urban Style de l’Europe
On Day 3 of our road trip, we spent the day hiking the beautiful white cliffs of Étretat, a small coastal town known for its cliffs with natural arches.
The town of Étretat and its surroundings are so beautiful that you will not be disappointed. There are many things you can do:
- Walk around its charming streets;
- Visit the Étretat Gardens;
- Go for a hike and enjoy the amazing views from its cliffs;
- Rent some stand-up paddle and enjoy the view of the cliffs from the sea;
- Enjoy a day on its beach.
If you want to know all about our hiking day in Étretat be sure to check my blog post: Hiking the chalk cliffs of Étretat
Here is some trivia you might not know about Étretat:
- Étretat is also famous for the Arsène Lupin books and the recent Netflix series adaptation Lupin
- The painter Claude Monet painted the cliffs of Étretat and its arches. You can see them in the Musée D’Orsay in Paris.
Day 4: Honfleur and Le Havre
Route: From Rouen to Honfleur, Le Havre and Return (Distance: 194 km; Driving time: 2h 44 minutes)
Hotel: Urban Style de l’Europe
On the fourth day, we were a bit tired from the previous day hike so we decided to take it a bit slow and visit Honfleur and Le Havre
Honfleur
Honfleur is a charming small port town on the coast of Normandy. It is the perfect place to get lost through its paved streets admiring the cute houses and enjoy the local shops on a slow morning.
My favorite part was Le Vieux Bassin which is the name of its port. It was so pretty that we decided to sit at a coffee place overlooking the port with its boats and colorful houses.
Other places you should not miss are Saint Catherine’s Church, Notre Dame de Grace Chapel, and Normandy’s Bridge which connects Honfleur and Le Havre.
Le Havre
In the late afternoon, we decided to drive through the bridge of Normandy and visit Le Havre. There was not much to do there, but we watched a beautiful sunset there.
Day 5: Rouen and Return Home
Route: From Rouen to Brussels (Distance: 343 km; Driving time: 3h 30 minutes)
On our last day, it was time to visit the city we had established as our base during our short getaway. We had already discovered its charm with night walks on our way to dinner and we could not wait to visit it during the day.
We began with a visit to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Did you know this cathedral inspired Monet for his series of cathedral paintings?
During our visit, we were also quite lucky because there was a light show every night in the cathedral.
Afterwards, we continued to walk around Rouen and visited the Big Clock Tower whose mechanism is one of the oldest in Europe.
If you like Impressionism painting, another must-visit in Rouen is its Museum of Fine Arts. This museum has an amazing collection of impressionist paintings from Monet, Renoir, etc. We were really impressed with it.
We finished our visit to Rouen with an amazing lunch in the Old Market Square (Place du Vieux Marché) before we started our drive back to Belgium.
MAP WITH LOCATIONS
And that’s it for my 5-day road trip itinerary in Normandy. I hope you liked it and it made you want to visit this region of France. Let me know what you think in the comments!
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