Three Days in Normandy

This three-day itinerary links Giverny, Rouen, the D-Day beaches and Mont-Saint-Michel in one loop that starts and ends in Paris. It suits travelers who are happy to drive, keep a steady pace and want a bit of everything: Impressionist art, a Gothic cathedral, World War II history and a medieval abbey on a tidal island. You can do the first day by train, but the full route works best as a Normandy road trip with a rental car.

Before you go

Season. Monet’s house and gardens open only from April 1 to November 1. The official site gave dates for the 2026 season only, so confirm the dates for your year. Outside that window, replace day 1 with a full day in Rouen (see “Changing the plan” below).

The D-Day beaches can be visited all year. Normandy Tourism names early June as the busiest time because of the anniversary events, and spring, autumn and winter are quieter. If your dates fall around June 6, read D-Day Anniversary: June 6 in Normandy first. For the rest of the year, see Best Time to Visit Normandy and Normandy Weather by Month.

Booking ahead.

• Monet’s garden: the site strongly recommends booking online. Tickets are also sold at the gate, but once the online quota is full you can expect long waits. E-tickets are non-refundable, and tickets bought from May 1, 2026 cannot be changed.
• Normandy American Cemetery: entry is free. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) expects compulsory pre-registration for all visitors from summer 2027.
• If you return from the Mont by coach, Keolis Armor recommends booking ahead, and no tickets are sold on board in winter.

This page has no price box. For prices and opening hours, check each attraction page linked below.

Where to sleep. Spend night 1 in Rouen and night 2 in Bayeux. Bayeux’s historic center, with its cobbled streets and 17th- and 18th-century mansions, was not destroyed in 1944. The Bayeux Tapestry Museum is closed for renovation until autumn 2027, and the Tapestry is on loan to the British Museum in London from September 10, 2026 to July 11, 2027. On day 3 you either drive back toward Paris or take public transport from the Mont.

Car or no car. Hire a car in Paris or in Rouen. Driving times on this page are estimates from OpenStreetMap routing and don’t account for traffic. If you leave Paris by car, note that the northern tube of the A13 Saint-Cloud tunnel, which carries traffic out of Paris toward Normandy, is closed from November 16, 2026 to the end of August 2027. Signed diversions run via the RD910 and RN118, or via the RN13 and A14, and rejoin the A13 further west. Expect longer journeys at some hours.

Day 1: Giverny and Rouen

Start at Monet’s House and Gardens in Giverny. Monet lived here for 43 years, from 1883 until his death in 1926. You walk through two gardens. The Clos Normand is the flower garden in front of the house, with a central path under metal arches covered in roses and nasturtiums. Across the road is the water garden, with the green Japanese bridge and the water lilies he began painting in 1897. Inside the house, look for the yellow dining room hung with Japanese prints and the kitchen with its blue Rouen tiles.

Allow about 90 minutes. The site suggests 1h30 to 2 hours for an unguided visit, and once you leave you can’t go back in. The gardens are accessible to people with reduced mobility, but the house is not wheelchair accessible. For a quieter visit, Normandy Tourism suggests a weekday in spring or mid-autumn, or late afternoon. The Monet’s Garden guide has more detail.

Getting there. If you drive, Giverny has free car parks. By train, go from Paris Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny (fastest 46 minutes). From the station, take the shuttle bus (April to November), rent a bike at the station, or walk about an hour.

From Giverny, drive to Rouen, about 60 minutes and 74 km. The center is compact, so park at your hotel and walk to Rouen Cathedral. Entry is free, and it is still an active church. It was built over several centuries. The Tour Saint-Romain dates from the 12th century, and the cast-iron spire, 152 meters high, from the 19th. Monet painted a series of thirty canvases of its west front.

On your own you can see the naves, transepts, ambulatory and side chapels. Look for the “fish” window, which tells the legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller. The crypt, baptistery and Lady Chapel open only on guided tours. In summer, a free light show is projected on the west front. In 2026 it ran from May 29 to September 26.

If you have time before dinner, walk to Place du Vieux-Marché. Joan of Arc was tried and burned at the stake in Rouen in 1431.

Day 2: The D-Day beaches

Drive west from Rouen to the coast. Begin at the Arromanches D-Day Museum, on the seafront in the Gold Beach sector. It tells the story of June 6, 1944 and of Mulberry B, the prefabricated harbor known as Port Winston. The harbor was planned to last about three months but stayed in use for about five, and its concrete remains are still visible offshore. The audioguide is included in the ticket, and there is a children’s version for ages 6-10. Pushchairs are not allowed on the exhibition route, but the museum has lockers for them and lends baby carriers. The museum gives an average visit of 1h30, while Normandy Tourism gives 1h15.

Next, drive to Omaha Beach, about 35 minutes and 32 km. This was the American sector, a 6-7 km stretch between cliffs in front of Vierville, Saint-Laurent and Colleville. US V Corps landed here, and by the evening of D-Day the beachhead was no more than 2 km deep. Normandy Tourism advises planning beach walks around the tides.

From the beach, it’s about 10 minutes and 5 km to the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, on the bluff above the sand. ABMC puts the number of US service members buried here at almost 9,400. Start at the visitor center in the woods, then walk to the memorial colonnade and the Walls of the Missing, which carry almost 1,600 names. A flag-lowering ceremony takes place one hour before closing. The path from the cemetery down to the beach has been closed since 2016, but there is public beach access nearby. Allow about 90 minutes, and remember the expected pre-registration from summer 2027.

From the cemetery, drive to Bayeux for the night, about 24 minutes and 23 km. The D-Day beaches map helps you picture the whole coast.

Day 3: Mont-Saint-Michel

The longest drive comes first: Bayeux to Mont-Saint-Michel is about 126 minutes and 129 km. Park in the mainland car parks, then take the free Le Passeur shuttle. It takes about 12 minutes and stops 350 m from the village entrance. From the car parks, allow 45 minutes to an hour to reach the abbey entrance, depending on crowds.

Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey sits at the top of the rock, and the Mont and its bay have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979. The climb totals about 350 steps, and the site is very difficult for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Inside, you see the abbey church, the cloister with its 137 staggered columns, the refectory, the crypts and the west terrace overlooking the bay. The abbey itself takes about 90 minutes. Normandy Tourism suggests at least half a day for the Mont as a whole.

Bags larger than cabin size are refused, and pets are not allowed (assistance dogs are). Check the tide calendar before you set out, and read the Mont-Saint-Michel guide for more.

Getting around

By car. This is the simplest way to do the whole loop. Every day on this route has a drive, and you can return the car in Paris or drive back on day 3.

By train for day 1. Take a train from Paris Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny, then the shuttle bus. Normandy Tourism gives about 40 minutes from Vernon-Giverny on to Rouen Rive Droite. Some local services don’t run in winter.

Reaching Bayeux. Direct trains link Rouen with Caen, and Caen to Bayeux takes about 15 minutes. On the coast, ABMC describes public transport as intermittent and points visitors to taxis and tour buses from Bayeux station. In July and August, the NOMAD Car D-Day Line gives unlimited travel between sites including Arromanches, Omaha Beach and the American cemetery.

Back to Paris from the Mont. You have two public transport options:

• Take the Keolis Armor coach to Rennes bus station, then a TGV to Paris-Montparnasse. Every coach trip connects with TGVs, and Keolis puts Paris to the Mont at about 3 hours this way. From November 2, 2026 to March 28, 2027, the coach runs twice a day.
• Take the bus to Pontorson station, 9 km away, then the train. SNCF Connect lists 2 trains a day to Paris, with a change.

For more options, see Getting to Normandy from Paris.

Changing the plan

In winter. When Monet’s garden is closed, spend day 1 in Rouen. Add the Musée des Beaux-Arts, whose permanent collections are free and include works by Monet, Sisley, Pissarro and Renoir. You can also visit the Historial Jeanne d’Arc next to the cathedral and climb the Gros Horloge clock tower for a view over the city.

More D-Day, less driving. Pointe du Hoc is about 15 minutes and 11 km from Omaha Beach. The Juno Beach Centre is about 17 minutes and 13 km from Arromanches. To focus on the beaches, follow Two Days in Bayeux and on the D-Day Beaches or One Day on the D-Day Beaches.

With more time or no car. Five Days in Normandy adds a slower pace and stops such as Honfleur. Normandy Without a Car builds the trip around trains and buses. With kids, plan for the steps at the Mont and use the children’s audioguide at Arromanches.