10 ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR TRAVELING TO NORMANDY

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This list of tips for traveling to Normandy We hope that I can help you organize this trip to one of the most incredible areas of France, which we are sure, will not leave you indifferent.
Known worldwide for being the location of Mont-Saint-Michel, the Normandy region also has breathtaking landscapes such as the Cliffs of Étretat, a fascinating story that you can live in the Landing Beaches and charming cities like Honfleur, where it will seem that time is stop

Based on our trip to Normandy, we leave you what we believe, are 10 essential tips for traveling to Normandy. We start!

1. What is the best time?

Although as we always say any time can be perfect for a trip to Normandy, considering the weather there are certain times of the year that are better options for this trip.

High season (June, July and August): these are the busiest months of the year in addition to the hottest and during which in general, you can enjoy better weather and more hours of sun.
Mid season (April and May / September and October): Although the weather is more unstable during these months, the weather is usually quite benign, so it is also a good time to travel and also find more adjusted prices and much less people in the most tourist places.
Low season (from November to March): these are the worse months of the year to travel to Normandy due to the weather, which is usually more gray and rainy, in addition to the few hours of sun.

Remember that if you are traveling in high season, weekend or holiday, it is highly recommended to book in advance, both flights and accommodation and the rental car, to avoid the high prices of this time and also find more options between The ones to choose.

2. Entry requirements

To enter Normandy or any area of France, if you are Spanish or a citizen of the European Union, you only need your ID or passport. If you have another nationality, it is advisable before traveling to Normandy, check the entry requirements on the Embassy page.
In addition to this documentation, it is very important to carry the European Health Card, so that if necessary, you can be treated at any public medical center. In addition to this, it is also highly recommended to have the best travel insurance for Europe, to have the best assistance in the best centers and also have a repatriation included, if necessary.

We always travel insured with Mondo, with whom we carry a totally adequate insurance to the needs that we will have on the trip. Hiring your insurance here with Mondo, just for being a Street Travelers reader, you have a 5% discount.

3. Security

Traveling to Normandy, like all of France, is totally safe. Regardless of this, it is highly recommended to travel with common sense, as you would in any other destination and for example, have your belongings guarded in public places where there are many people, in large cities, if you are going out at night, ask in the accommodation if there are little advisable areas and try not to leave valuables in sight in cars or public transport.

In addition to this, another of the tips is that before traveling you upload to the cloud all the important documentation such as ID, passport or travel insurance policy, in case of theft or loss, to be able to carry out the procedures in a quick and agile.

Mont Saint Michel an essential when traveling to Normandy

4. How to start the trip to Normandy?

For travel to NormandyThe first and most important thing is to know how many days are necessary to know the essential places on a route through Normandy. After our experience, we recommend you have 4-5 days to make a complete route, always taking into account the flight schedules.
Once you have clear the days of the trip, the next point is to book the flights, being in this case the best option to fly to any of the airports of Paris, either Charles de Gaulle (CDG), which is the main airport of Paris, where most companies or Beauvais usually operate, where low cost companies like Ryanair usually land. Whichever option you choose, we recommend you look at this flight search engine, where you will find the best options at the best prices.
The next point is to book the accommodation, especially if you are traveling in high season, since in areas such as Mont Saint Michel, prices tend to skyrocket and places quickly run out. For this, it is best to review this search engine for hotels in Normandy, where you will find the best prices.

With this already booked, you have to think about the rental car, the best option to tour Normandy, since it will give you total freedom of schedules and movements. To find the best deals, we recommend looking at this rental car search engine in Normandy, through which you can also take out Premium insurance, with which you will have full risk coverage, at a much tighter price than if you hired it directly with The rental company.

If you do not want to do this route by car, we recommend you book one of these excursions, with a guide in Spanish, with which you can get to know Normandy with the best hand:

Normandy and Loire Valley in 3 or 4 days
Normandy, Saint Malo and Mont Saint Michel in 2 days
Mont Saint Michel and Loire Castles in 2 or 3 days

Honfleur

5. Route through Normandy

Taking into account that you will land in Paris, the first stop that we propose you on this route through Normandy are the Cliffs of Étretat and Honfleur, two of the places that you cannot miss on a trip to Normandy and end the day in the beautiful Caen.
Depending on the arrival time of your flight, to these two places we recommend you dedicate a full day, for the next day make a route through the Normandy Landing Beaches, making stops at Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, La Cambe, Arromanches and Batteries de Longues.

On the third day of the tour you will dedicate it to know in the morning the impressive Mont Saint Michel, which is without a doubt the icing on this trip, in the afternoon continue the route visiting St. Malo, Dinan and Val de Reuil, already in Brittany area.
In case you have more days, another of the highly recommended options, is to continue the trip visiting Brittany, another of the regions of France, in a broader way.

If in addition to traveling to Normandy you are going to make a wider route through the country, we recommend you read the post 10 tips for traveling to France and 10 incredible places to see in France.

6. Mont Saint Michel

Visit Mount Saint Michel It is one of the experiences that you can not miss travel to Normandy. Considered by many travelers as one of the most magical places in the world, the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel stands on an islet, surrounded by walls, which when the tide rises is completely isolated, giving this situation a truly magical vision of the place.
In addition to the visit, another of the experiences that you will not forget is the journey to Mont Saint Michel, where you will pass through fields dotted with green and sheep, to see on the horizon how little by little the Abbey on the islet begins to be sighted, That will be the end of the tour and the icing on this trip to Normandy. Whenever you can, it is advisable to spend the night in the area, whether in a hotel in Mont Saint Michel, which usually have a fairly high price or in Beauvoir, just 5 kilometers away and with much tighter prices.

Remember that the visit to the abbey, especially in high season, concentrates many visitors, so it is highly recommended to book the entrance to the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel without queues to save time.

If you do not want to rent a car you can take this excursion to Mont Saint Michel with a guide in Spanish.

To add more sites to the route you can read this post about the places to see in Normandy.

Mont Saint Michel

7. Cliffs of Étretat

Another place you can not miss travel to Normandy they are the impressive Cliffs of Étretat, some cliffs with an incredible verticality that were painted by artists like Monet, who left in their paintings the beauty of this landscape of incredible white beaches bathed by waters of an intense blue hard to imagine.
In addition to the beach, in the Cliffs of Étretat you can visit two areas, quite different from each other, but both, highly recommended:

Falaise d'Aval or Eye of the Needle: natural arch, formed by the erosion of the sea, which measures more than 70 meters, which is reached after traveling a path that ascends through the cliffs and different viewpoints, giving you incredible views of the area.
Falaise d'Amont: cliff located on the right hand side of the beach, which also stands out for its landscape, for its church. In this area, the path is also uphill, somewhat harder than the previous one, but with incredible views of the Eye of the Needle to finally reach the famous church.

The visit to the Cliffs of Étretat can be done perfectly in the middle of the morning, perfect time to make the visit, since there are not many people in the early hours of the day.

Étretat Cliffs

8. Normandy Landing Beaches

The Normandy Landing Beaches is another visit that you can not miss travel to Normandy, especially for what they represent for the history of France and the world, since it was the place where one of the greatest military operations in our history took place.
It was here that on June 6, 1944 some ships arrived with several thousand soldiers from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and confronted the Allied troops, who attacked them on the 80 kilometers of beaches. This D-Day landing gave way to the Battle of Normandy, which lasted 76 days with more than 200,000 casualties and 200,000 German soldiers prisoners, and the liberation of Europe from the Nazi occupation.

Although today you can see very little of what happened, except for a ship that carried the tanks to land and some bunkers from the German position, as we said at the beginning, the history of the place, we believe it is worth a visit. We visit Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, La Cambe, Arromanches and Batteries de Longues, the most important and prominent places and dedicate a day more or less, and then end the day around Mont Saint Michel.

Omaha, one of the visits of the Landing Beaches

9. Norman gastronomy

Although we know that it is impossible to summarize in a few lines all the Norman gastronomy, we want to leave you a selection of some of their most famous dishes so you can try them and thus, make the experience of traveling to Normandy, a complete experience, which also includes the Taste of this amazing area of France.

Moules à la normande: mussels with apple and fresh cream.
Bourdelots: apple with cake.
Galettes and crepes: Normandy and Brittany specialty that can be sweet and savory. Exquisite!
Camembert, Pont l'Evêque, Livarot, Neufchâtel: cheeses that you cannot miss in Normandy.
Lamb "pré-salé": lamb that is cooked in the oven and has a very special flavor, with a very juicy meat.

Galette

10. More tips for traveling to Normandy

Other of the best tips for a trip to Normandy They are:

If you are going to visit the most tourist areas during a weekend or high season, it is best to park at the time that there is free parking. Do not try to find one closer as it sure will not be and when you return the other will be busy.
If you visit Mont Saint Michel after 7 in the afternoon, parking is free until 2 in the morning.
As we mentioned, staying inside Mont Saint Michel has a fairly high price, we did it in Beauvoir, in Chambres les Salles, which is only 5 kilometers away and the price is less than 50%, so it becomes a more than reasonable option to save.
If you are going to make a route through Normandy by car, it is highly recommended to take a GPS or some application on your mobile such as Maps.me, which can serve as an online or offline GPS.
Although the Euro is used in Normandy (Fracia), we recommend using the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot. You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.
The official language of France is French, but most speak English, especially in tourist areas.
In France the voltage is 230V, the frequency 50Hz and the plugs are of type E.

Do you want to organize this trip to Normandy for free?
Get it here:
The best offers of Flights to France here
The best hotels at the best prices in Normandy here
Get € 35 for your reservation with AirBnb here
Book a tour of Mont Saint-Michel in Spanish here
Rent your car in France at the best price here
10 essential tips for traveling to France
Book your travel insurance with a 5% discount here
5 essentials on a route through Normandy