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Boutique hotels in Normandy

Holidays in Normandy, France

Normandy Overview

France

Countryside
Channel-facing fecund farmland
Country life
Beachcombing, rustic roaming

A vast rural region of castles, Camembert and clifftops, Normandy is as rich in history as it is in mouthwatering rustic produce.

This north-westerly region’s coastline is immense, shelving south from Dieppe, to the sheltered landing beaches around Bayeux, west of which juts the windswept Cherbourg peninsula. Sand beaches and chalky cliffs are intersected with ports great and small, as well as elegant seaside resorts such as Deauville and Trouville-sur-Mer. This is an area with a history-changing pedigree. William the Conqueror was born here, Joan of Arc burned, and thousands of World War II soldiers engaged in battle. Its produce delights as much as its past: Dalí-esque dripping cheeses, a United Nations array of seafood, forestfuls of fungi, and all things appley. There are no food miles here… With so many delicacies on their doorstep, Normans might as well measure their environmental impact in food yards.

Naturally Normandy

Apples. Fresh from the orchard or fortified into Calvados brandy, this humble fruit is the bedrock of Norman cuisine. Find them adorning tarts, fermented into cider, pickled into chutney and even flavouring local mussel recipes. Pommeau is particularly lovely. This typical, regional fortified wine is an aged blend of Calvados and apple juice. Lighter and fruitier, it has half the strength of apple brandy. Uncork it with a creamy blue cheese for company.

Local knowledge

Taxis
There are few Norman towns large enough to warrant the need of a cab. In Rouen, you’ll find taxi stands on both sides of the river. Caen’s cab pick-up points include the train station. In more remote areas, ask your hotel to book one for you.

Packing tips
A sturdy, airtight Tupperware box, into which to squeeze as much Camembert as possible to take home, without your luggage smelling like a farmer’s welly.

Recommended reads
Madame Bovary or any of local hero Gustave Flaubert’s novels; anything by Guy de Maupassant (Flaubert’s Norman protégé); Jane Webster’s Normandy-themed book of photographs, stories and recipes, At My French Table.

Regional specialities
Typically Norman fare is rustic and steeped in tradition: cider from Pays d’Auge, Calvados from its namesake département; a thousand creamy cheeses, including Camembert, Livarot and Pont-l’Evêque. Normandy has its own version of dulche de leche, called confiture de lait, and also bestowed upon the world the sweet-baked wonder that is brioche.

Currency
Euro (€).

Dialling codes
France: 33. Normandy: 02 (drop the zero when ringing from abroad).

Do go/don't go
As you’d expect from a north-westerly, coastal area, Normandy can be wet and windy. July and August are the sunniest months; June and September quieter – but whenever you go, be sure to pack rainwear.

Don't go home without

Seeing the Bayeux tapestry: 70 metres wide and 1,000 years old, it’s a crazily detailed chronicle in cloth. Starring Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror and the eventually vanquished Harold, this pictorial account of William’s rise to the throne of England is on display at the museum in central Bayeux on Rue de Nesmond (+33(0)2 31 51 25 50; www.tapisserie-bayeux.fr). You’d have to be as dead as King Harold not to feel a frisson of wonderment when face to face with this article of antiquity.