Normandy Trip

[Dunt1]

Thinking about going to Normandy while in France this summer, anyone ever been? Any suggestions for restaurants, cideries, or hotels to visit?

 

[GetchaPull]

Certainly not the answer you are looking for (because a lot of it might be obvious or you probably know already), but we visited Normandy in 2011 on a guy's WWII history trip around western Europe (Dad, buddy, myself), we stayed in a couple of different Normandy-area towns. Bayeux (Hôtel De Brunville Et Restaurant Le 7ème Art -- very modest place with optional breakfast, but we were trying to save a few pennies) and another town I can't remember. General rule applies, which shouldn't be surprising, the closer to the memorial beaches you get, the quality/cost relationship diminishes rapidly...especially when it comes to food. Highly recommend staying in Bayeux and further out, especially if you have a car. The area is pretty remote, as you can imagine. If driving much outside the Normandy region, be prepared for expensive tolls. We drove there from my place in Belgium and I think tolls were 60+ euros, one way. Unfortunately, I don't recall any of the places we ate at, but I use TripAdvisor over here almost to a fault and it's never let me down, at least entirely. I do remember having traditional/stereotypical French cuisine, mussels, etc. Everything ranged from good to outstanding outside of the touristy areas.

Incredibly humbling/sobering/rewarding from start to finish, I want to visit again. In my experience, the locals are extremely nice, down to earth, and welcoming to (non-*********) Americans and seem to carry with them, or at least acknowledge, what occurred 74 years ago. An amazing experience.

Hope you go...