For countless British visitors every year, Normandy is the gateway to France; it provides a glorious welcome indeed. White chalky cliffs rise and fall along its 630 miles of rugged coast to mirror those across the channel while providing shelter for chains of golden beaches and picture-book harbours. Stories of conflict and conquest hang in the air, woven around Roman museums, the fabled tapestry at Bayeux and poignant reminders of the Second World War, while half-timbered manoirs, like those in Rouen or the Pays d’Auge, and grand Norman cathedrals tell their own tales.
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The province’s lush patchwork of rolling farmland and apple orchards becomes more dramatic south of Caen, where the River Orne winds through the craggy gorges of ‘Little Switzerland’ and offers an idyllic spot for kayaking and canoeing. Besides its down-to-earth charm, Normandy possesses a whimsical artistic side too, seen in gorgeous resorts like Honfleur, Deauville and Trouville, which have long attracted painters and writers; the dreamy beauty of the citadel at Mont St Michel, a stunning World Heritage Site, may even have you reaching for your paintbrush.
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