DK Travel : Normandy

Normandy brings a dozen different images to mind: William the Conqueror, the D-Day landings, Mont-St-Michel; the bleak landscape of the Cotentin coast, the sparkling summertime playground of the Côte Fleurie; sumptuous châteaux, historic abbeys, famous gardens; the orchards of the Auge, the picture-postcard scenery of the Suisse Normande; Monet’s home at Giverny, the Cabourg immortalized by Proust – or perhaps it’s cider, calvados and camembert. Whatever your list, it will barely scratch the surface of this rich and rewarding region.

Oysters

Norman oysters come from beds in one of three crus , or areas: Côte Ouest, St-Vaast-la-Hougue and Isigny.
Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp

Taste the liqueur, aged in casks in the palace basement, before visiting the shop, well stocked with Bénédictines and B&B (Bénédictine blended with brandy).
Parc de Loisirs L’Ange Michel

Quad bikes, trampolines, dry-slope sledges, bumper boats, “Aqua-splash” (small boats that whizz down long slides) and plenty more will keep the children happy for hours.
Parc du Bois des Moutiers

Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll created the park and gardens for Guillaume Mallet, for whom Lutyens also built the house in 1898. Between here and the sea, the valleuse (dry valley) is filled with acid-soil-loving plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas. Artists including Cocteau, Calder, Monet and Braque were frequent visitors in their day.
Parc Naturel Régional de Normandie-Maine

Normandy’s largest regional park spans 2,350 sq km (900 sq miles) of Basse-Normandie and Pays de la Loire, with scenery that ranges from deep forests to gently rolling hills, and from marshlands to meadows. The park aims to preserve rural traditions by promoting local arts and crafts, agriculture, forestry and outdoor activities.
Parc Naturel Régional de Normandie-Maine

With a landscape marked by escarpments and forests in the haut pays of the Alpes Mancelles, and by rolling hills, bocage and open country in the bas pays at Saosnois and around Alençon and Sées, this vast natural park dips south from Basse-Normandie into the départements of Mayenne and Sarthe in the Pays-de-Loire. Start your visit at the Maison du Parc in Carrouges, where you’ll find detailed maps and itineraries. There is also an information centre at the Comptoir du Parc in Alençon, and nature centres are scattered throughout the park.
Parc Naturel Régional des Boucles de la Seine Normande

Following the snaking loops (boucles ) of the Seine, this 580 sq km (224 sq mile) park wedged between Rouen and Le Havre was originally known as the Parc Naturel Régional de Brotonne. It embraces forests (notably the Forest of Brotonne), orchards, pastures and the Marais Vernier wetlands. It is also the starting point for the Fruit and Cottage Routes.
Parc Naturel Régional des Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin

The wetlands that characterize this park stretch 1,250 sq km (480 sq miles) from Les Veys to Lessay. The eastern marshes are home to many species of migrating birds and small mammals, which can be watched and studied from hides and nature reserves.
Parc Naturel Régional du Perche

Between the Beauce plains and the Pays de Bocage, this 1,820 sq km (700 sq mile) regional park was created in 1998. The high ground is forested; the lower slopes are planted with orchards and hedges. Châteaux and manor houses pepper the landscape.
Parc Régional des Marais du Cotentin

The band of low-lying marshes and water meadows stretching across the base of the Cotentin Peninsula has been formed into a fascinating regional park with a rich birdlife, as well as houses made of clay and straw. Carentan is the gateway town, with a reception centre at Les Ponts d’Ouve (on the D913 between Carentan and St-Côme-du-Mont), in the centre of a watery landscape. An exhibition and video introduce the park to visitors, who explore on foot or by boat.