Normandy with kids: 10-day itinerary

Posted on Posted onBy Amanda

In August 2020, during a break in COVID-19 waves and lockdowns, we rented a car and drove to Normandy with the kids. To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for Normandy. My only knowledge was linked to D-Day during WWII. But it turns out, Normandy has so much to offer, from seaside cliffs to charming towns to incredibly well-done museums.

We staying at an Airbnb in the seaside town of Luc-sur-Mer. In addition to our rental car, we also rented electric bikes with child seats. We found a company that serviced Luc-sur-Mer, and agreed on day and time for them to drop-off and pick-up the bikes. Normandy is a beautiful and convenient area for biking (like most of Europe, it has plenty of bike paths and lanes); I highly recommend giving it a try!

Our Itinerary

There is a lot of ground to cover in Normandy. Here’s how we spent our 10 days in the region. Click on each day to read the post on that location’s activities.

There were a few things we took into consideration when we built this schedule:

  • We set up our itinerary to try to alternate days in the car, on our bikes and at the beach. This was to ensure that we didn’t make the kids spend the whole trip just sitting in the back of a car and that there were some “easy” days to relax.
  • We front-loaded the trip with must-sees on our list. In case something happened and they needed to be rescheduled, we’d have plenty of days remaining to fit them in. But we did stay local on our first full day in Luc-sur-Mer because we knew the kids would be excited to play at the beach.
  • We planned to stay close to home on the weekend to avoid crowds in towns/tourist areas (e.g., Mont-Saint-Michel or WWII museums).
  • We kept the last few days flexible. That way, in case weather or anything else changed our plans, we would be able to shift things around.

There are so many other things to do and see with kids in Normandy, from Zoo de Jurques or Zoo de Champrepus to Monet’s Garden in Giverny to Cite de la Mer in Cherbourg. While these didn’t make it on our schedule, you can easily fill as many days as you want!

Because we traveled during COVID-19, we can’t accurately assess how crowded specific towns or sights were, since tourist traffic was limited. We also avoided restaurants and either packed a picnic or cooked meals at our Airbnb. So aside from two cafes where we indulged in crêpes, we can’t provide any restaurant recommendations.

However, what we can say, is that Normandy is a wonderful travel destination. Whether you are a lover of history, castles, the sea, or charming towns, there really is plenty to keep the whole family busy.