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Home Normandy Guide to Towns, Golf, Beaches and Attractions in Normandy A Guide2 Rail Travel in Normandy

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A Guide2 Rail Travel in Normandy

Category: Guide2 Resources

The principal rail routes are the following:

Upper Normandy: Paris-Rouen-Le Havre or Dieppe(change in Rouen), Paris- Gisors (An alternative is Paris-Beauvais (Oise 60) which is accessible fairly quickly from eastern parts of Seine-Maritime and provides regular services), Paris-Evreux.

Lower Normandy: Paris-Deauville(possible change at Lisieux), Paris-Caen-Bayeux-Cherbourg(via Evreux and Lisieux), Paris-Surdon(or Argentan)-Alencon.

Other routes: Apart from the main lines there are a number of limited service branch lines including from Beauvais(60) to Blangy-sur Bresle and Eu-le-Tréport (76); Rouen to Fécamp(76), Houlgate/Cabourg; Caen to Pontorson( for access to Mont St Michel). There are bus services to Honfleur and Etretat from Caen(14) and from Gisors(27) to Gournay-en Bray and Forges les Eaux(76)

Description:

From Paris (Gare St-Lazare), there are separate train lines to Upper Normandy (Rouen and Le Havre or Dieppe) and Lower Normandy (Caen, Bayeux, and Cherbourg, via Évreux and Lisieux). There are frequent trains from Paris to Rouen (70 mins, EUR 19); some continue to Le Havre (2 hrs, EUR 27). Change in Rouen for Dieppe (2 hrs from Paris, EUR 25). The trip from Paris to Deauville (2 hrs, EUR 26) often requires a change at Lisieux. There are regular trains from Paris to Caen (1 hr, 50 mins, EUR 28), some continuing to Bayeux (2 hrs, EUR 31).

Taking the train from Paris to Mont-St-Michel is not easy - the quickest way (3 hrs, 45 mins, EUR 60) is to take the TGV from Gare Montparnasse to Rennes, then take the bus. There are three trains daily but the only one that will allow you a full day on the Mont leaves at 7 AM and arrives at 10:50 AM. The other options are 8 (arriving 1 PM) and 2 PM (arriving 7). From Caen you can take either an early morning or late afternoon train to Pontorson (2 hrs, EUR 22), the nearest station to the Mont; then it is another 15 minutes to the foot of the abbey by bus or taxi (buses are directly in front of the station).

Unless you are content to stick to the major towns (Rouen, Le Havre, Dieppe, Caen, Bayeux, Cherbourg), visiting Normandy by train may prove frustrating. You can sometimes reach several smaller towns (Fécamp, Houlgate/ Cabourg) on very slow branch lines, but the service is irregular and complicated . Other destinations, like Honfleur or Etretat, require train and bus journeys.

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