NORMANDY
Vacations and Sightseeing
Vacations and Sightseeing
| Basic information | |
| Official language | French |
| Capital | Rouen |
| Area | 30.627 km² |
| Population | 3,307,286 (2021) |
| Currency | euro (EURO) |
| Web | .fr |
| Code. | FRA |
| Tel. | +33 |
Popular destinations FRANCE
| Alsace | Ardeche | Auvergne |
| Brittany | Burgundy | Cevennes |
| Corsica | Cote d'azur | Dordogne |
| Jura | Languedoc-roussillon | Loire valley |
| Lot | Normandy | Picardy |
| Provence |
Vacations and Sightseeing
Tourism in Normandy dates back about 200 years. The first bathers were wealthy citizens from London and Paris. During the summer holidays, they visited cities such as Dieppe, Cabourg, Trouville, Houlgate or Granville. They stayed in one of the many hotels or in their own country houses.
Only in the last fifty years, Normandy developed into a real tourist area with approximately 1,000 hotels, 400 campsites and more than 15,000 'second homes' of French families, the so-called 'gîtes'. Here are some of the great attractions of Normandy.
The towering abbey of Mont Saint-Michel is one of the most iconic images of France. The village and monastery are built on a rock in the middle of a tidal plain, connected to the mainland by a dam. Mont Saint-Michel is considered one of the wonders of the western world and is one of the most visited attractions in France.
A visit to the D-Day beaches is definitely worth your time when staying at the coast. The American Cemetery honours American soldiers who died in Europe during the Second World War. It is located in Colleville-sur-Mer on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the main landing beaches of the Normandy invasion). You can take a guided tour of the area to realise the full significance in the past and present of this sacred ground.
Bayeux receives millions of visitors each year who flock to this small Norman town to see the immense embroidered cloth known to the French as La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde. This 230-metre-long cloth is one of the largest and most detailed in the world. The meticulous embroidery tells the story of the events that led up to the Norman invasion in 1066.
Otherwise, Bayeux is actually a great city to explore after making the obligatory stop at this piece of history. Bayeux is the first city to be liberated after D-Day and one of the few cities in the region to remain relatively unscathed during World War II. Bayeux has narrow streets full of wood-panelled Norman houses and its own Gothic cathedral.
Rouen is a great place to base yourself for your further Norman wanderings. With its stately towers high above the city, Rouen's magnificent gothic cathedral (a favourite subject of Monet) is enough to justify a visit to this Norman city. The beautifully restored medieval Rouen district is a living museum of Norman architecture. Rouen is also the place where Joan of Arc was tried for heresy and burned at the stake and you can visit the place where the heroine met her demise.
Sources
Graaf, G. de / Normandië, Bretagne
ANWB
Normandië
Touring/Lannoo
Normandië, Kanaaleilanden
Michelin Reisuitgaven
Normandië, west : Caen, Mont-St-Michel, Guernsey, Jersey
Lannoo
Radius, J. / Normandië, Bretagne
Gottmer/Becht
Reiser, H. / Normandië
Van Reemst
Vermoolen, S. / Normandië
ANWB
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
Copyright: Team The World of Info