Caen Flights

To go out from Caen, to other cities in Calvados or countryside, take these buses. Terminal is close to the castle, in front of the Tour Leroy and of the harbour. Another terminal at the Railway Station.
(see their website)

Recently installed tram lines make it so easy to see the town. With pre purchased cards you can hop on and off as you please

There is a tram that runs in and around Caen. Purchase your ticket at certain of the stops from a machine for just over a euro. It runs up to the castle, and down to the train station. while it does make the trip easier you don't get to walk by the stores and get a flavor of the town.

I understand that a lot of experienced travelers look down on people who take organized tour buses. I know that visitors don't always get a good feel for a location by doing these tours... but in the end we just felt that the Normandy tour that Cityrama offered was exactly what we wanted.

With their 1 day tour option, we were able to visit:
- Caen Memorial-Peace Museum (lunch at the museum with drinks included)
- Pointe du Hoc
- Omaha Beach
- American Cemetary
- Arromanches
- Juno Beach

I would recommend this tour to other people if you are short on time that you can spend in Normandy. However, there are 2, 3, and 4 day tours also offered through Cityrama and I'm sure these would be even better as they include Mont Saint Michel, Saint-Malo, etc.

*Cityrama is also associated with Grayline tours and as we have taken other Grayline tours (London and Washington DC) we felt that it would be worth our money.

The gare SNCF is 1km south of the town centre, with the gare routière so close that you can walk directly to it from platform 1. The Brittany Ferries service from Portsmouth, promoted as sailing to Caen, in fact docks at Ouistreham, 15km north. Buses from the gare routière connect with each sailing. CTAC, the extensive local bus service (tel 02.31.15.55.50), makes a one-way circuit between the "Tour le Roi" stop, north of the pleasure port, and the gare SNCF, heading north up avenue du 6-Juin and south down rue St-Jean.

Thanks to Beausoleil's reply in the travel forum, here's a link to a day trip by bus to 3 of the D-Day beaches. Read the discussion here

The full day tour costs € 14 per person and departs from the train station in Caen and also ends there. So you can take a train from anywhere easily. Tours daily except Sundays and public holidays. You can also hop on at any of the stops along the way.

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First of all it bears mentioning that Ferries dock at Ouistreham, 10km from the town and 30 minutes by bus No 1, which runs at approximately 30 minute intervals.

Ferries often dock along the quayside and a bus will take you to the terminal so be sharpish when you are leaving the boat. Its about a one minute ride so don't panic if you miss it it will be back in 5 minutes.

The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la Mer.

Once you have disembarked from the ferry and made your way through the terminal at Ouistreham, you will find the bus to Caen just outside the main doors. You will have to buy a ticket from the tourist information office inside though as you cannot buy tickets on the bus itself. When you enter the bus you will have to insert your ticket into a small machine where it will be stamped and validated (see photo).