Home > Normandy Discovery: From Bayeux to Rouen via Honfleur

Normandy Discovery: From Bayeux to Rouen via Honfleur

La Normandie est connue pour ses produits locales 6
Normandy is very famous for its cheese such as Camembert, Livarot, or Pont l'Eveque In Arromanches, you can visit the Musée du Débarquement (D-Day Museum) The charming  harbor of Honfleur is on your way from Bayeux to Rouen This cycling tour will take you through Norman farmland known for its cider and cheese A panorama view of the city of Rouen in Normandy Cycling through little villages with half-timbered houses

Cyclomundo offers guided and self-guided cycling trips in Normandy, click here to see the Normandy regional page.

  • Self-guided trip: Starts any day of the week from April through October 2024
  • Starting on another weekday possible for groups (must be 4 or more at time of booking and departure) or with a supplement of 45 euros per person for 2 or 3 people.
  • 7 nights/8 days
  • Daily mileage: From 30km (18 miles) to 67 km (42 miles, long option)
  • Starts from Bayeux and ends in Rouen
  • Bayeux and Rouen are well-served by trains from Paris
  • Accommodation in a guesthouse and 2- and 3-star properties (Option A) or in a guesthouse and 3- and 4-star properties (Option A+)
  • Level 2 (Easy)
La Normandie est connue pour ses produits locales

Normandy Discovery: From Bayeux to Rouen via Honfleur

  • Level
  • PriceFrom 1,050 euros
  • DAY7 nights / 8 days

More info: Receive detailed hotel list, bike specs, and route description

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Description

This popular bicycle tour allows you to explore Normandy in all its glory. Beginning in Bayeux and ending in Rouen, you’ll bicycle through the countryside that gave rise to Impressionist painting and inspired the brushstrokes of Monet and Boudin.

You’ll wheel along Normandy’s coast and visit some of D-Day’s most prominent battle sites, including Omaha Beach, Pegasus Bridge, and Longues-sur-Mer, site of one of Germany’s most formidable defense placements. You’ll also visit ancient cathedrals and stand before the place where Joan of Arc met her death. And at night, you’ll lodge in charming cities and villages, enjoying Normandy’s best culinary offerings.

Most days come with ride options, allowing you to choose between longer and shorter routes. This bicycle tour is great for riders and history buffs alike, suitable for all riding levels.

If you’re an elite rider, you may consider our more challenging version of this bicycle tour, which contains longer daily stages. The itinerary is the same, but the rides are longer.

 

For travel and cycling tips to Normandy, visit our "travel and cycling tips" section.

Itinerary

D1Arrive in Bayeux

 

This historic city is home to many attractions including the Bayeux Tapestry and the Bayeux Cathedral, a national monument that’s 100% Gothic wow.
Don’t feel rushed; Bayeux is a two-night stay.

D2Bayeux Loop Short Option: 37km/23 miles; 295 meters/970 ft of climbing; Long Option via Omaha: 52 km/32 miles, 430 meters/1,410 ft of climbing

 

Today you have a few options from which to choose your ride! Our short option wheels you to the coast, beginning with the seaside village of Arromanches-les-Bains. It was here that Allied troops pulled off one of The War’s greatest engineering feats, creating a temporary harbor in just a matter of days. Sections of the harbor can still be seen in the crashing surf. You’ll also have the chance to tour German battery placements at Longues-sur-Mer. Called casemates, these formidable concrete structures survived more than 1,500 tons of bombs on the day of the allied invasion.

If you choose our long route, you’ll follow the Aure Valley to Omaha Beach, perhaps the most famous of D-Day’s five landing sites, and then on to Colleville-sur-Mer, site of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.

Our long option will take you even further, all the way to Pointe du Hoc, which was part of the Atlantic Wall fortifications during the war.

D3Bayeux - Benouville 55 km/34 miles, 395 meters/1,295 ft of climbing

 

Ride through the Seulles Valley out to the English Channel, where you’ll reach Juno Beach. It was here the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division stormed the beach and helped establish strategic footholds on Normandy soil. The Juno Beach Centre documents the landing in meticulous detail with exhibits and films. Nearby Courseulles-sur-Mer abounds with seafood options, making for a perfect lunch stop.

Sword Beach, your next stop, is where members of Britain’s 3rd Division waded to shore. Cycle on to Caen or Benouville, your home for the night.

D4Benouville - Beuvron-en-Auge Short Option: 30 km/18 miles, 235 meters/770 ft of climbing; Extension loop from Beuvron: 29 km/18 miles, 350 meters/1,150 ft of climbing

 

Benouville is where the first D-Day shot was fired. Just after midnight on the morning of June 6th, 1944, 181 British troops, with the aid of six gliders, landed undetected here behind German lines. Coined Operation Deadstick, British troops, after a brief skirmish, captured Pegasus Bridge.
Stop at the Pegasus Memorial, a sprawling memorial/museum that features the actual Pegasus Bridge, bullet holes and all. Today you’ll exit the historic Caen plain and enter the Dives Marsh – a scenic wetland famous for its diverse bird population – before reaching the rolling hills of the Pays d’Auge. You’ll lodge in Cabourg or Beuvron-en-Auge, one of “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” (one of the most beautiful villages of France).

D5Beuvron-en-Auge - Honfleur Short Option: 45 km/28 miles, 580 meters/1,900 ft of climbing; Long Option via Trouville: 67 km/42 miles, 805 meters/2,640 ft of climbing

 

The magnificence of Normandy is yours to ‘drink in’ — you’ll find many tasting opportunities for cider and Calvados, Normandy’s most championed beverages. First on your route is Beaumont-en-Auge, another one of Normandy’s impossibly beautiful medieval villages.

As you wheel through apple orchards toward the coastline, stop wherever you fancy for a drink. Before approaching the “Parisian Riviera” on our long option, consider learning the following words in French: beach, boardwalk, building, fishing boat, casino, and sunbathing. Trouville-sur-Mer and Deauville are neighboring seaside resorts where you’ll find all these things! Finally, you’ll arrive in Honfleur, a picturesque port city with colorful buildings and
cobblestone streets.

It’s considered the birthplace of Impressionist painting, having attracted masters like Monet, Boudin, and Courbet. Architectural gems abound, including Sainte-Catherine Church, France’s tallest wooden church.

D6Honfleur - Brionne 54 km/34 miles, 515 meters/1,690 ft of climbing

 

Bid adieu to the waterfront and head inland to the hills of the Pays d’Auge once more. From Honfleur, you’ll pedal into the heart of Normandy’s picturesque countryside that can make even the most ardent city dweller yearn for the rural life. Thatched-roof cottages, castles, and sleepy medieval villages are the norm rather than the exception.

Eventually, you’ll pedal into Pont-Audemer, Normandy’s answer to Venice, Italy, minus, of course, gondoliers in striped shirts. Half-timbered homes hug the village’s canals, making Pont-Audemer as unique as it is beautiful. Its Saint-Ouen Church, if you’re so inclined to visit, is famous for its stained glass windows. Watch for fly-fishermen reeling in the Risle River, a popular spot for this sport, before you reach the charming historical town of Brionne, where you’ll overnight.

D7Brionne - Rouen 61 km/38 miles, 510 meters/1,670 ft of climbing

 

Start the day admiring the town of Le Bec-Hellouin. One of the most beautiful villages of France, its Bec Abbey, founded in 1034, is definitely worth seeing! We purposely planned today’s ride short to give you more time to explore Rouen, the grand finale of your tour. You’ll begin with a gradual 4-kilometer ascent from a rural landscape toward the Seine River.

Follow La Seine to La Bouille, a tiny riverside village that’s inspired many painters. Here, you’ll cross the river via barge and pedal onward to Rouen, Normandy’s historic capital city. Visit Rouen’s Old Market Square, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

The 12th century Notre-Dame Cathedral also enjoys must-see status. Monet was moved to paint it 28 times —
perhaps it will inspire you to snap 28 pictures!

D8Departure

 After breakfast, depart Rouen at the time of your choice.

Booking & Prices

  • Option A
  • 3 nights in 3-star properties, 3 nights in 2-star properties and 1 night in a guesthouse "of character"

  • 1,050 euros per person in April and October. Single supplement is 350 euros
  • 1,095 euros per person in May, June and September. Single supplement is 360 euros
  • 1,125 euros per person in July and August. Single supplement is 370 euros
  • Option A+
  • 3 night in a 4-star property, 3 nights in 3-star properties and 1 night in a guesthouse of character

  • 1,335 euros per person in April and October. Single supplement is 480 euros
  • 1,365 euros per person in May, June and September. Single supplement is 490 euros
  • 1,395 euros per person in July and August. Single supplement is 500 euros

These prices include:

  • 7 nights' accommodation as described above
  • Daily breakfast
  • Meeting with our local representative
  • Luggage transfers
  • Roadbook provided as an app (when used as a GPS, no data plan is necessary)
  • Tourist information (provided as part of the app)
  • Assistance if necessary (you will be provided with our local rep’s cell number)
  • All tax and service charges

These prices do not include:

  • Expenses of a personal nature
  • Travel insurance
  • Bicycle rentals. Hybrid bikes are available at the rate of 150 euros per bike. E-bikes are available at the rate of 270 euros per bike (these prices include the drop-off fee for the bike’s return to Bayeux).

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