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Coastal Normandy Hiking 2009
4 Nights / 5 Days
Dates
This tour departs any day, subject to hotel availability.
Price
815 euros per person, double occupancy; solo supplement 360 euros. Triple rate at 730 euros/person. Single supplement when 2 or more - please inquire. (convert)
Level
Level is moderate (2)
This tour is open to all levels of walkers/hikers and does
not have any technical difficulty. There is no special hiking
material (poles, compass…) required. The smooth and
gentle ups-and-downs are negligible, but participants should
be fit enough to cover the daily distances between 14 and
16kms (8,75 and 10miles) without any difficulty and customers should be capable of interpreting maps.
The trip includes
Hotels Le Dauphin in Caen and Lion d'Or in Bayeux. 4 nights lodging: in 3 star charming hotels. All rooms with private
bath and complete facilities. Buffet breakfast, 2 dinners, orientation by phone with our France office on day 1, baggage transfers from hotel to hotel, taxi transfers as shown, detailed road book with colored maps and guide book with tourist information and GPS, local telephone support available throughout the tour for emergency support. We also include free travel planning to add Paris hotels, car rentals, France hotels, trains, airport transfers, and more.
Additional Nights: please inquire.
Details
Arrival city is Caen. Train access via Paris. Trains from
St Lazare station.
If you would like to shorten a day of hiking or in case of
bad weather you can add some site seeing excursions by minibus
or private tour, combining your points of interest and guided
by multilingual experts. (added charges apply)
Book
this Tour
Book a Hotel in Normandy
What
is self-guided touring?
Misc Info
Triples and larger rooms are occasionally available, please book in advance.
NOTE: The original
coastal hiking trail along the cliffs is since 2001 NOT always
passable due to some washouts of the cliff areas. The French
governement put warning signs on these locations. For this
reason we leave the coast line from time to time. The trail
route fully has been walked by our team and the itinerary
is without any danger if followed.
In our itinerary we included also some nice inland spots.
The places where you overnight also offer many points of interest.
On arrival you will receive your package with all the useful
information on hotels and sites, maps and route descriptions.
Normandy
Regional Events and Festivals
You are important to us; so we make you thoroughly
prepared and include:
Pre-trip travel documents: you will receive extensive information
as a customer prior to your departure. Upon confirmation we
will send you some general information about preparations
including passport info, training tips, and reading lists.
As a customer you can also Purchase product from Hammer Nutrition,
get 2 FREE issues to Velo News, and much more!
Upon final payment, we will send to you a complete list of
documentation by email including Hotel List, contact numbers,
itineraries, sites to see and information about sites and
culture of the region. We include road signs, packing lists,
travel tips, language phrases, holiday info, tour details,
culture and customs tips, and much, much more!
See more of this region by clicking below for the virtual tour
Click on a day to see that days itinerary.
DAY 1
Day 1 Arrival in Caen - the main city of the region and home of the WWII Peace Memorial. Check in to your hotel and then free time of your own choosing. A museum visit of the Caen Memorial is a highly informative and complete start of your tour. (Other sites in Caen.) Orientation by phone at 6pm and dinner at the hotel. (D)
Caen
Le Dauphin is a charming hotel offering quiet rooms and a delightful restaurant. Located in the hear...
Day 2: After breakfast, a taxi will transfer you and to the Battery Museum of Merville-Franceville-Plage sur Mer in the Calvados area, from where you follow a part of a local GR (Grand Randonnée/Long Distance trail) along the Orne River.
During this walk you will, at several places, have a view on the sea of Sword Beach . The trail brings you via the fauna and flora of the Orne river estuary to the Benouville Bridge, renamed Pegasus Bridge where you can visit the Pegasus Memorial and museum, dedicated to the first liberators who arrived in Normandy on the night of 5th/6th June 1944. The west bank of the canal will bring you to Ouistreham where, on Riva Bella you will have an overview on the landing area of Sword Beach. Here you can visit the Atlantic Wall Museum, inside the “Big Bunker”, a former German headquarters. The Belvedere has an interesting orientation table and in front of the casino you can visit the Landing museum. Return to the hotel by taxi transfer and dinner on your own.(B) Hiking 14-16 km. We offer the option to have a professional guide accompany you today. This supplement is 440 euros/2 persons.
Caen
Le Dauphin is a charming hotel offering quiet rooms and a delightful restaurant. Located in the hear...
Day 3: To day starts at an interesting point about 500 m east from Arromanches-les-Bains. On the descent to Arromanches you walk past Arromanches 360, a circular theatre where “The Price of Freedom” is shown on nine screens. In the D-Day Landing Museum in Arromanches you learn about the construction and operation of the artificial harbors assembled in front of Arromanches on the days following D-Day. After a short walk along the cliffs we take some country lanes to pick up the trail to the Longues sur Mer battery site in front of Omaha and Gold Beach. More country road lanes bring you to Port-en Bessin. As soon as you walk in the town, the shipyard and trawlers of the fishing fleet will tell you that you are in important fishing harbor.
After a taxi transfer to Bayeux, you may take the opportunity to visit one of the many points of interest of this town of art. The Bayeux Tapestry –70 m long and 50 cm high, completed in the 11th century-is unique in the world. Other visits include the recently re-opened Musée de la Bataille de Normandy and Mémorial du Général de Gaulle.
Dinner at the hotel, (B,D) 14-16 km
Bayeux
DESCRIPTION OF HOTEL: This charming and historical property is located in the town center ju...
Day 4: Colleville-sur-Mer, a nice quiet village will be our point of departure of today. A nice walk brings you to the see where we have a superb overview of Omaha Beach. You walk along the vacation resort and reach, after an uphill through a former battery site, the US Military Cemetery. You can visit the cemetery (172.5 acres) , the chapel and the memorial dedicated to the youth of America. There is also a viewpoint which overlooks Omaha Beach. The GR brings you up to the coastline where you can walk on the beach (part of Omaha Beach) until les Moulins. Here again you have to follow the trail until the Omaha viewpont and museum of Vierville-sur-Mer. Return to Bayeux and your hotel, dinner on your own. (B) 14-16km
Bayeux
DESCRIPTION OF HOTEL: This charming and historical property is located in the town center ju...
Day 5: Departure after breakfast, at your leisure. Trains from Bayeux to Caen and Paris possible.)
Extra Nights in Caen or Bayeux, minivan addon tours.
Travel insurance, Paris museum & metro passes, Paris day tours, Lido
shows, and other services. Cell phone rental and luggage storage services.
Note: prices subject to change based upon currency fluctuations. See Booking Terms and Conditions.
Walking Tour Regions |
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| Alsace | Burgundy | Dordogne/SW | Languedoc | Normandy | |
| Brittany | Champagne | Paris/Ile de France | Loire Valley | Provence | |