Normandy, Mont Saint-Michel & Loire Journey

Paris – Chambord – Amboise – Chenonceau – Mont Saint-Michel. We collect you from your hotel in Paris at 07:30 and set off for the Loire Valley in a comfortable, air conditioned Mercedes minivan. The drive covers about 180 kilometres on the motorway in around 2.5 hours with one rest stop, while your guide shares an introduction to the region and its châteaux.

From 10:00 to 11:45 you visit the Château de Chambord with your guide. Built between 1519 and 1547 for Francis I, it is the largest castle in the valley and a landmark of French Renaissance architecture, famed for its double spiral staircase often linked to Leonardo da Vinci.

At 11:45 you continue to Amboise – about 60 kilometres, roughly one hour. From 12:45 to 13:45 you have free time for lunch in Amboise, where there are plenty of restaurants and cafés.

From 13:45 to 15:00 you explore the Royal Château d’Amboise with a Histopad. Once the 15th century residence of King Charles VIII, it reflects the shift from Gothic to Renaissance styles, and the chapel holds Leonardo da Vinci’s grave. At 15:00 you drive on to the Château de Chenonceau – about 20 minutes – and from 15:20 to 17:00 you tour the château and its gardens. Known as the ladies’ castle, Chenonceau is celebrated for its arches spanning the River Cher and Renaissance‑style gardens with more than 130,000 flowering plants each year.

At 17:00 you depart for Mont Saint‑Michel – around 300 kilometres, approximately 3.5 hours – arriving at about 20:30 to check in at a hotel in Normandy close to the mount. The evening is free for you to explore or rest.

Mont Saint-Michel – Pointe du Hoc – Omaha Beach – Colleville-sur-Mer – Arromanches-les-Bains – Bayeux. You check out at 08:00 and load your luggage into the minivan parked near the hotel. From 08:00–12:30 you visit Mont Saint‑Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Your guide leads the walk through the medieval lanes up to the Benedictine Abbey for panoramic views over the bay – Abbey admission includes audio guides. A place of pilgrimage since the Middle Ages, it’s an evocative stop to start the day. You then have free time for lunch on the island before you depart at 12:30 for the D–Day sector – about 1.5 hours and 140 kilometres.

You begin at Pointe du Hoc, the clifftop German gun battery between Utah and Omaha Beaches, to learn about the 2nd Ranger Battalion’s assault on 6 June 1944 and see surviving bunkers and the fire control casemate with its monument. After a 15 minute drive – around 10 kilometres – you reach the Omaha Beach Signal Monument for a short stop to reflect on the 34,000 men who landed here on D–Day. It’s then a five minute hop – roughly 4 kilometres – to the Overlord Museum, where tanks, vehicles, weapons, a V‑1 and personal artefacts give a clear picture of the landings.

Just a few hundred metres away, you visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Visitor Centre overlooking Omaha Beach. The cemetery holds 9,387 graves and a Wall of the Missing with 1,557 names, alongside a memorial colonnade featuring the sculpture Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves and large operational maps. There is time to walk the grounds.

You continue about 25 minutes – 15 kilometres – to the German coastal battery at Longues‑sur‑Mer to explore its preserved gun emplacements and casemates. Next, you visit Arromanches‑les‑Bains for the 360 Cinema and an overview of the Mulberry Harbour’s role in the landings – by 12 June 1944 it had enabled the arrival of 300,000 men, 54,000 vehicles and 104,000 tons of supplies. It’s then a 30 minute drive – about 12 kilometres – to Bayeux, where you check in to the hotel for the night.

Bayeux – Caen – Pont-l’Évêque – Honfleur – Rouen – Paris. You depart Bayeux at 08:30 for the Caen Memorial and Museum – about 30 km, roughly 30 minutes’ drive. From 09:00 to 10:30 you visit this major Second World War museum in the British Sword Beach sector, which offers a clear overview of the Battle of Normandy and a 19–minute film with original footage.

At 10:30 you continue to Pont–l’Évêque for a Calvados experience – around 45 minutes across countryside and villages, about 55 km. From 11:15 to 12:30 you visit Calvados Père Magloire L’Experience to learn how Normandy apple brandy is produced, followed by a guided tasting.

You then drive to Honfleur – about 25 minutes, 15 km – arriving around 13:00 for a one–hour walking tour around the historic harbour and old streets, once a key defensive port in the 15th century and later favoured by 19th–century artists. From 14:00 to 15:30 you have free time for lunch – there are plenty of options around the medieval harbour.

At 15:30 you set off for Rouen – about 1.5 hours, 90 km – for a one–hour walking tour taking in Notre–Dame Cathedral (13th–16th centuries), the Vieux Marché – site of Joan of Arc’s execution – the Church of Joan of Arc, the 16th–century Palais de Justice and the Gros–Horloge. You have a little free time before you depart at 19:00 for Paris – about 2 hours on the motorway, approximately 130 km – arriving around 21:00 for drop–off at your hotel.