Group activities in Normandie

Cité de la Mer

A former transatlantic terminal turned maritime museum, where visitors can tour the only ballistic missile nuclear submarine open to the public. Opened in 2002 in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the Cité de la Mer is devoted to underwater exploration. It occupies the Art…

Haras du Pin

The oldest of France’s national studs, nicknamed the “Versailles of the horse”. Located in Le Pin-au-Haras, in the Orne, it grew out of the royal stud administration created by Colbert under Louis XIV. Its stables and château were built between…

Château de Falaise

A medieval fortress, birthplace of William the Conqueror. Standing on a rocky spur overlooking the Ante valley in Falaise, in the Calvados, it is one of the first Norman castles built in stone. The earliest traces of stone fortifications date…

Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle du Havre

Natural history museum with long-established collections, housed in an 18th-century building in the centre of Le Havre. Its collections, built up by the naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur, who was its director, cover palaeontology, prehistory and zoology, along with 8,000 drawings…

Zoo de Cerza

Zoological park of nearly 80 hectares, with a safari by little train among animals in semi-freedom. Founded in 1986 in Hermival-les-Vaux, near Lisieux, in Calvados, Cerza (Centre d’étude et de reproduction zoologique augeron) is home to some 1,500 animals of…

MuMa – Musée d’art moderne

The MuMa holds one of the richest Impressionist collections in France: together with the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen, it is the most important outside Paris. Opened in 1961 by André Malraux, then Minister of Culture, this fine arts museum…

Aître Saint-Maclou

A former medieval cemetery and ossuary, one of the few of its kind still preserved in Europe. The Saint-Maclou cemetery dates back to the Black Death of 1348; its galleries, built to hold the bones, were erected from 1526 onwards,…

Parc naturel régional des Marais du Cotentin

A vast wetland, ideal for boat trips and for discovering the local wildlife. Created in 1991, the Parc naturel régional des Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin protects wet meadows that the winter floods cover, or “whiten”. Its visitor centre,…

Route du Cidre

A route through the Pays d’Auge, with visits to cider producers and tastings. About 40 km long, the Route du Cidre runs through the Calvados around Cambremer, at the heart of the area where Auge ciders are produced. It offers…

Château de Bizy

Château nicknamed the “Versailles of Normandy”, in Vernon. In the 18th century, the Duke of Belle-Isle, grandson of the superintendent Fouquet, undertook the major works that earned it this nickname: a terraced forecourt, a park, and stables inspired by those…

Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel

A medieval abbey built on a rocky islet, one of the most visited cultural sites in France. Founded in 966 with the arrival of Benedictine monks, the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, in Normandy, is today run by the Monastic Fraternities of…

Mémorial de Caen

A history museum devoted to the Second World War and to peace. Holding the “Musée de France” label, the Mémorial de Caen also traces the wider history of the 20th century and is a member of the International Network of…

D-Day Landing Beaches

Sites and museums tracing the Allied landings of 6 June 1944. Allied troops landed on the beaches of western Calvados and the north-east of the Cotentin peninsula, in the Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach…

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen

Gothic cathedral immortalised by Claude Monet, the tallest in France. The primatial church of Normandy, Rouen Cathedral has the rare distinction in France of having kept its archbishop’s palace and annexe buildings from the same period. Its cast-iron spire, built…

Claude Monet’s Gardens

The house and gardens at Giverny inspired Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. The Impressionist painter settled here in 1883 and lived here until his death in 1926. Owned by the Académie des beaux-arts, the site holds the « Jardin remarquable »…