Hotel Class: 
2 Stars - 13 Opinions
106 Rue de Falaise, Caen, Basse-Normandie, FR-14000, France
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13 Opinions
Departure display
The Vanished Moat
View into Ambulatory
A group touring along the rampards of the castle
I'm planning a trip to Caen in early July and will be visiting places in the area such as Bayeux, Argentan, Alencon and Giberville. And since I will be using trains and public transport to get around what would be the best area in Caen for me to stay, near the train station or the center of town?
Also, how do-able is it to visit both Argentan and Alencon the same day using the train.
We visited Caen a couple of years ago and only explored for several hours, but there is a tram that goes from the train station to the city center and right by William the Bastard's (aka conqueror) castle. There is also an area of restaurants and shops just to the right of the castle. We rented a car as it was so much easier than trying to rely on locale transportation.
The area in the center of town is nicer than around the train station. If you want to be near the station, try for a place between the station and the center.
Quite frankly, Caen is a nice enough town I don't think you really have to worry about the neighborhood, just the convenience.
Argentan is quite close to Alencon on the N158. You could check into bus service. I know Caen has a good bus service in town. I'm not sure out in the country. We stayed for a month in the area so leased a car and drove every place. That certainly would make things easier.
Here's a web site for buses in the Caen area. http://www.busverts.fr/
The train web search site is http://www.voyages-sncf.com
Type Caen into the Virtual Tourist Search Window above and when you get to the Caen Guide pages, on the left side of your screen there are Tips. Scroll down to Transportation and read those tips. You may get some excellent suggestions.
Also, click on the names of all the people who answer your question here. This takes you to their Home Page. Then click on their Travel Page for Caen for more ideas.
Roadquill mentioned the restaurants near the chateau of William the Conqueror and they are an option. There is also an excellent little restaurant in the Art Museum on the chateau grounds. We drove over on Sunday twice to visit the chateau and museum and had lunch there. In Caen, don't miss the Peace Memorial.
You will also really enjoy Bayeux. If you get a chance, go to the weekly market in Bayeux on Saturday morning. Great fun.
There is also a market in Caen at Bassin St. Pierre on Sundays. It's not as nice as the one in Bayeux, but if you're in Caen, it might be fun to visit.
Have a good trip.
I've read about the trams in Caen and that there is quite a bit of public transportation available. This will be my first trip to the region so I'm trying to get some first hand information on it. Thanks for your response.
Thank you for your replies and information, it's most helpful. I've been to the many of the VT listings for Caen and have also found site www.ville-caen.fr to be helpful as well. There is also an English version, but nothing takes the place of first hand experience, which you can't get from a book or a web site.
Thanks
Caen is not a big town, so hotel location is not much of an issue, IMO. Alencon and Argentan are not so far away, so depending on the train timetable, a day trip should be possible. Look at www.sncf.com for details.
The West Facade of St.-Pierre is readily seen from the ramparts of the castle and its belfry is a landmark of Caen, so it is not really off the beaten path, but it is easily neglected. We did not go in due to lack of time. It has a flamboyant Gothic facade with a prominent Rose window and a porch clearly studied from the castle. However one must go around the church to see the east end (early 16C) which is in richly decorated Renaissance style.
June Beach is a six-mile wide expanse of ocean front property, second from the west of the five invasion beaches. June sits directly between the British beaches called Gold and Sword. This beach was attacked by the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division, under command of British 2nd Army.
The assault forces here landed later then planned and had to deal with a difficult high tide that hid German mines. After landing on the beach, the Canadians again took heavy casualties, but were able to push inland and secure their objectives. At the end of the day, 21,000 soldiers landed on this beach but they suffered 1,200 dead, wounded, or missing.
Caen (120k) is the most populous city in all of Normandy. It is also a port city and one of heavy manufacture. It was almost 75% demolished in WWII and evidences of that experience are only seen where it is wished to memorialize the events. Remarkably, most of its churches did not suffer. It was the ruling center for William the Conquerer (died 1077) and the churches that he and his wife built (each part of an Abbey) are fine examples of Romanesque architecture, even though they have undergone some later changes. The west fronts and naves in particular are models of the style. There is a castle, also started by William, walling in a large area, with views of the usual commercial city studded with more nearby churches.
We decided to spend a complete day studying the sights of Caen, We chise not to stay along the nearby beaches but opted to go 17.5 km south to a small place, Thury-Harcourt, where we found a small Inn with excellent food. This provided a base for us to drive to Caen and Bayeux for day-long visits, plus an opportunity to spend another day in the Suisse Normand.
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