Accomodation.Normandy

[newbootclimbco]

Hi All, thinking of a short tour for a few days from Cherbourg to Caen along the Normandy coast ,now too old to go camping so looking for cheap accommodation or hostels along my route. Any recommendations /suggestions ?. looking to cycle early September. Thanks T.

[simonhill]

I just cycled Bordeaux to Caen and booked most of my accommodation on Agoda. Unfortunately the cheap places are often on the outskirts of large towns in industrial or retail parks.

Another thing I did was to do a search for 'hotels' on Google maps. This will show many hotels which you can expand to see if they are what you want. You can then get the phone number and ring.

You can also just roll up in small/medium size towns where there will often be cheap hotels often over bars. This is pot luck and you can sometimes find nothing.

Unfortunately you must also be prepared to sometimes pay fairly high prices for country accommodation (often overpriced in my opinion).

France is rarely a bargain.

Enjoy.

[al_yrpal]

Hotel de France, Restaurant des Fuschias at St Vaast la Hogue. St Vaast is a gem, lovely harbour, an offshore island with an interesting museum and interesting trsnsport to and from, 1/4 of Frances Oysters, Mr Gosselins gourmet emporium. Fish restaurants. The French love the place. Dont miss it.

Al

[LinusR]

Hi All, thinking of a short tour for a few days from Cherbourg to Caen along the Normandy coast ,now too old to go camping so looking for cheap accommodation or hostels along my route. Any recommendations /suggestions ?. looking to cycle early September. Thanks T.

I stayed at http://www.hoteldelunivers-caen.com/_en/index.html many year's ago. I can't remember what I did with my bicycle overnight. They might have offered me a store room to keep it. I just stayed one night. Cheap, cheerful and central. Although I can't really remember what it was like. Helpful, aren't I?

[Galloper]

A couple of suggestions: F1 Hotels, decent rooms, relatively cheap and generally willing to find somewhere safe for your bike. Hostelling International, a word of caution, however, while most French hostels are fine, some are used as social accommodation. They may not have anywhere secure for your bike.

There are some excellent cycle routes in the area, http://www.manche-tourism.com/cycling-route-manche is one of several, pop into the first tourist information office you see, they'll have all the cycle route maps. The sections north and south of St Lo are particularly attractive.

[jacobean]

Another thing I did was to do a search for 'hotels' on Google maps. This will show many hotels which you can expand to see if they are what you want. You can then get the phone number and ring.

You can also just roll up in small/medium size towns where there will often be cheap hotels often over bars. This is pot luck and you can sometimes find nothing.

Really this is the best strategy.

Do bear in that some hotels of the "over bar" variety will not even appear on Google maps - you just have roll into town on your metal stead like a cowboy and walk into the saloon (...bar I mean) an ask "Avez-vous un chambre disponsible pour ce soir, svp?". If you're not the type to wear high-vis lyrca, a good strategy here is to bring your cycling helmet with you in hand as you make your enquiry - this lets them know immediately that you're a cyclist and not some sweaty psycho who has just finished a killing spree and needs a room to escape from les flics...

Most of these places are actually fine. French bars normally shuts between 8pm to 10pm anyway so there will be little in the way of noise.

[speedsixdave]

AirBnB?

[newbootclimbco]

Thanks the info guys ,all being well this little trip will go ahead, It will be about 5.5 months by September since I had a partial knee replacement and need to test myself nice and steadily. And Linusr thanks mate you sound like me, sit down and have a beer. cheers T.
.

[jacobean]

You probably know this already but just a word of warning about the N13 from Cherbourg to Caen.

The N13 is grossly unsuited for cycling. The hard shoulder surface is 60-70% pebbles (posing a moderate - strong skidding risk). Moreover, in wet conditions, under fly-overs, the hard-shoulder develops mossy green slime patches posing an extreme skidding risk. This road is also heavily trafficked with HGVs presumably heading to and from Cherbourg port.

French "N" roads are usually ok but this one is a nightmare in every sense of the word! Stick to the nice quite "D" roads on the Cherbourg peninsula and you should have a nice relaxing start to your holiday.

[Nadirsbigchance]

it might be worth trying Warm Showers, a cycle touring website that offers free accommodation, although there is always the expectation that you would reciprocate by offering similar accommodation to other touring cyclists.

http://www.warmshowers.org

[vsmith1]

I recently (Sep-2019) completed the Tour De Manche which had a section in Normandy which I covered Cherbourg to Carentan and thence near St Martin de Besaces before heading west to stop at Ducey. I searched for places to stay when planning that had secure bike storage. The French scheme of Accueil Vélo has a set of minimum standards - which includes secure bike storage. I found a small hotel in Cherbourg and another in Carentan with either this mark or a statement in booking.com entry that said they did have secure bike storage. In the first hotel the bike was stored securely in a locked garage. In the second it was brought inside the large reception area.

Later in my tour there is also a Rando Accueil site
https://www.rando-accueil.com

This also is aimed at walkers, cyclists and active tourists. I used two places at St Malo and St Brieuc in Brittany. Again secure bike storage.

[hamster]

Hotel de France, Restaurant des Fuschias at St Vaast la Hogue. St Vaast is a gem, lovely harbour, an offshore island with an interesting museum and interesting trsnsport to and from, 1/4 of Frances Oysters, Mr Gosselins gourmet emporium. Fish restaurants. The French love the place. Dont miss it.

Agreed - east out of Cherbourg-Barfleur-St.Vaast-Utah Beach-Ste Mere Eglise is a wonderful route.