Normandy attractions

D-Day troops arriving in Normandy crossed the Caen Canal as they sought to liberate occupied France. The bridge they used was later renamed Pegasus Bridge to honor the British Parachute Regiment. Now, the bridge is part of the Pegasus Memorial Museum, alongside exhibits featuring Second World War artifacts and soldiers’ personal effects.

Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches-les-Bains is not a place as much as a feat of engineering. A “Mulberry harbour” was a temporary mobile harbor constructed and transported during World War II for unloading troops, vehicles, and supplies during the Normandy landings in June 1944. The remains of the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches can still be seen today.

Located on the coast of Normandy, Cherbourg is both a seaside retreat and a bustling port. Immortalized by Catherine Deneuve in the classic 1964 filmThe Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the city has deep connections with French naval history.

Set on France’s western coast at the mouth of the English Channel and the Seine River, the Le Havre Cruise Port (Terminal Croisières Le Havre) serves as a popular stop for European cruise liners and is considered the “gateway to Paris.” Once on shore, explore the World War II history of the UNESCO-listed Le Havre and take advantage of the town’s proximity to Normandy.

Between its colorful facades and picturesque harbor, it is no small wonder Honfleur was a favorite among artists from Claude Monet to Gustave Courbet. Galleries and restaurants crowd its strollable estuary waterfront, where pleasure boats bob in the Vieux Bassin. The town also boasts a few major historic sites, such as St. Catherine’s Church (Eglise Sainte-Catherine) and the vaulted Greniers à Sel salt warehouses.

American paratroopers descended, and their scattered arrival sent the Germans running to defend their hold, a move which ultimately was one of the many factors in the Allies' victory. Most of the action from this event, code-named Operation Neptune, centered on the small village of Sainte-Mère-Église, which hosts the Airborne Museum, one of the most fascinating WWII sites in Normandy.

A memorial at this historic church pays tribute to Canadian soldiers killed at the Ardenne Abbey massacre in 1944. Founded in the 12th century, the French Gothic abbey is now on the trail of Second World War sites in Normandy. In addition to the Canadian flag that adorns the small memorial, visitors leave flowers and notes in memoriam.

Honfleur’s St. Catherine’s Church (Église Sainte Catherine) is the largest surviving church of its kind in France. In the 15th century, following the destruction of the church’s original stone structure during the Hundred Years’ War, St. Catherine’s was rebuilt entirely from wood. The ceiling looks like two upturned boats, a homage to the seafaring people who lived in this town.

As the largest German WWII cemetery in France, La Cambe German War Cemetery serves as a poignant reminder of the lives lost on both sides of the war. It’s a moving site, with its gray schist crosses and dark, flat headstones affording a more somber atmosphere than that of the American and Commonwealth cemeteries nearby.

Two soaring towers mark the spot at 11th-century Bayeux Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux), the original home of the Bayeux Tapestry. While the tapestry is now at the Tapestry Museum (Musée de la Tapisserie), the cathedral’s mix of Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles makes this one of Bayeux’s most fascinating sites.

The easternmost beach of the five landing areas of the Normandy Invasion of World War II, Sword Beach in Ouistreham was assaulted on D-Day by units of the British 3rd Division, with French and British commandos attached. In and around town, visit myriad monuments, museums, and remnants from the war including the essential Musée No. 4 Command.

Trouville-sur-Mer, nicknamed “Queen of Beaches” in the 19th century, is slightly less flashy than its famous neighbor Deauville, but it is nonetheless polished. With half-timber buildings, a long, wooden boardwalk, and a plethora of upmarket hotels and restaurants, it’s popular with Parisians looking for sand between their perfectly pedicured toes.

The Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandy is the largest of 18 cemeteries dedicated to soldiers from the Commonwealth. It’s a peaceful place, and visitors come to remember those who died in the Second World War. For many, the cemetery is a stop on a tour of important WWII sites in northern France.

Just a short walk from the beach of the same name, Omaha Beach Memorial Museum tells the story of the largest seaborne invasion in history—the D-Day Landings. This Normandy museum is dedicated to the American troops that fought and died at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, and is packed with photos, artifacts, and multimedia displays.

Founded by William the Conqueror, this former Benedictine monastery is one of the most important Romanesque buildings in Normandy, inspiring many churches on the other side of the Channel to adopt its style. Also known as Abbey of Saint-Étienne, the Abbaye aux Hommes (Men’s Abbey) is now the city hall (Hôtel de Ville).

Nestled in the village of Ranville near Caen, Ranville War Cemetery contains the graves of 2,235 World War II Commonwealth soldiers killed on D-Day on June 6 1944, when the Allies landed on Normandy’s beaches. The cemetery is open to those wishing to pay their respects and is a stop on several WWII battlefield tours.

Merville Battery (Batterie de Merville) was a coastal fortification built by the Nazis in Merville-Franceville as part of the Atlantic Wall during World War II. Because this particular battery was better fortified than similar installations, it was one of the first to be attacked by Allied forces on D-Day. The on-site museum contains a reconstituted gun chamber and an educational trail explaining the battery's operation.

Abbaye aux Dames in Caen (also known as the Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, or the Holy Trinity Abbey) is a Benedictine convent nearly one thousand years old. A bit worse for the wear, the abbey survived the Hundred Years War, during which it lost its original spires, and is now home to the Regional offices for Lower Normandy.

One of the largest medieval enclosures in Europe, the massive walls of William the Conqueror's 11th-century Caen Castle thwarted invaders until the French swept in and recaptured not only the castle but the whole of Normandy in the mid-13th century. On a hill in what is now the city center, castle houses the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Normandy.

Known as Hill 61 by the Germans and codenamed ‘Hillman’ by the British, this strategic bunker complex made history during the D-Day Landings of June 6, 1944. Liberated by the Allies during the Normandy Invasion, the fortress was an influential German World War II command post and featured 18 underground bunkers linked by trenches and reinforced with barbed wire fences and minefields.

At the D-Day Experience, uncover the events that took place in Normandy on June 6, 1944. Explore the site’s two museums, including Dead Man’s Corner Museum. Then, find artillery equipment as you wander the grounds and follow in the steps of the 101st Airborne Division along a historical trail.

Housed in a grand 19th-century building, the Rouen Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des Beaux-Arts) is one of France’s finest art museums. The collection of drawings, paintings, and sculptures spans the 15th century to the present day. It includes works by Rubens, Caravaggio, Veronese, Velásquez, Tiepolo, Fragonard, Poussin, Degas, Monet, Pissarro, Modigliani, and Duchamp.

The Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy in Bayeux provides a thorough overview of the World War II battles in the northern French region of Normandy in the summer of 1944. Visitors can learn more about this important period through audio-visual archival materials, dioramas, everyday objects, army tanks, and informative boards.

With its half-timbered houses and slate roofs, Beuvron-en-Auge exudes old-fashioned Norman charm—it’s even been officially designated one of the most beautiful villages in France. Antique shops, craft studios, and cafés dot the picturesque downtown, while the surrounding countryside is striped with lines of apple trees.

Opened in 2015, the Joan of Arc Historial (Historial Jeanne d’Arc) is an interactive history exhibition that commemorates one of Rouen’s most famous trials (and heroines). Housed in the city’s centuries-old Archbishop’s Palace, where Joan of Arc’s trial was held in 1431, the museum invites guests to interact directly with her legacy.

Housed in a modernist, glass-fronted building overlooking the water in Le Havre, the André Malraux Museum of Modern Art (MuMa) is a major architectural landmark in its own right. But don’t miss the chance to venture inside, where you’ll find one of the country’s top Impressionist art collections and a rotating cast of temporary exhibitions.

Stretching for 80 miles (130 kilometers) along the northern coast of Normandy, the Côte d'Albâtre (Alabaster Coast) is best known for its soaring white chalk cliffs overlooking the English Channel—it’s France’s answer to the Cliffs of Dover. Once an inspiration for Impressionist artists such as Monet and Renoir, the cliffs are now a protected natural attraction and a popular location for hiking, cycling, and sailing.

Right in the historic center of Lisieux, this Gothic cathedral has roots dating back to 1150—it replaced a Romanesque cathedral on the same spot that’d been built a century before. One of the earliest examples of Gothic architecture in France, Lisieux Cathedral is now preserved as a National Monument and is associated with Thérèse of Lisieux, a 19th-century nun.

Through immersive storytelling, interactive exhibitions, and more than 15,000 WWII artifacts, the Normandy Victory Museum—also known as the Battle of the Hedge Museum—takes visitors on a journey through the 100 days following the D-Day landings. Built on a former American airfield, it’s one of the region’s most engaging museums, playing a key role in preserving Normandy’s WWII history.

Every year, half a million visitors head to Monet’s Garden in Giverny to immerse themselves in a real-life work of art—the gardens that inspired French impressionist master Claude Monet. Giverny’s Museum of Impressionism (Musée des Impressionnismes) is a separate but related attraction in the small Normandy town that provides more artistic and historical context.