caen or cherbourg?

winniewy

hi, everybody. I am seeking some advise on where to go. Basically my OH parents will be coming over in late april and we are planning to have a day trip to either caen or cherbourg. Since we never been to those place, so we need some advise.

My OH mum likes shopping, and his dad likes slightseeing, so just wondering which town will suit them best?

thanks in advance.

winnie

martindow

Definitely Caen. Le Havre was heavily bombed in the war and rebuilt in dull 1950s brutalism. It reminds me of Plymouth city centre - nice people in Plymouth but dull buildings! Here's a page to give you an idea how much nicer is Caen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caen

Voyager2002

Cherbourg is beautiful, although I don't think it is big on shopping.

Louisa_Jane_2

Caen was heavily bombed during the war too.
Have you seen the sailing times for these routes - about 4-5 hours, it's a long way to go just for the day, plus Caen is a few miles inland from the ferry port.

Equinut

having been to both, i'd say go to caen, there is more of interest there overall, for my money.

equinut

laird

If you go for Caen the ship will dock at Ouistreham, its not a bad village to visit by all accounts. Personally I took the bus to Caen town centre, the bus station is immediately next to the railway station if you look at a map.

Bus tickets are bought prior to boarding from the tourist information office in the ferry terminal.

I can't comment on Cherbourg or Le Havre but I understand both ports benefit from being closer to their relevant town centres. In the case of Le Havre ship schedules also allow time to travel inland by rail if the mood takes you.

Caen certainly has some nice shops.

Might also be worth considering what sort of ship you want to travel on, the fast craft are not that much faster and are sadly rather boring if the weather does not permit you to look out of the windows (can be quite a foggy crossing). Often a cheap cabin gives you somewhere to store your purchases and the cruise ferries offer far wider choices of things to do.

pompeyrich

There is an offer in the Portsmouth News at the moment for Brittany Ferries to Cherbourg and possibly Caen, for travel between now and May23, must be booked by 13th April. £10 pp +£25 for a car. Either for the Fast or "normal" ferry with up to 24 hours in France.

DIRECT link to offer. You NEED 2 VOUCHERS FROM THE NEWS FROM LAST THURSDAY AND FRIDAY 29/03 AND 30/03 BUT SURE YOU COULD GET THEM FROM THE NEWS HERE

winniewy

thanks for all reply, re: pompeyrich, i did get the 2 vouchers, that's why i am planing to go there. I will have a look on the ferries time and decide which is the best for time. my colleague is going on the 'the news' 10 pound offer tomorrow, will see what he say when he come back.

thanks again

MrSmartprice

I have been via Caen, Cherbourg and Le Havre, and they are all rather a long way for a day, so it will depend on ferry times as you suggest.

Cherbourg is a base for the Cotentin peninsula, which has some lovely places and of course Utah beach. There are certainly plenty of booze outlets plus a large hypermarket, Auchan I think.

Le Havre is at the mouth of the Seine and is a good base for travel into france or along the coast eastwards. It is, as someone has suggested, a bit mundane as a town though.

Caen is a very pleasant town, not far from the port at Ouistreham. You can cross Pegasus bridge on the way in, and stop at the cafe that was the first place to be liberated on D-Day. Plenty of history there, and if you get time it's worth going to the Caen Memorial, a peace museum which gives the history of war, especially WWII.

martindow

Apologies for my post no 2. Don't think I had woken up as I started referring to le Havre - completely irrelevant to your question.

dzug

If you have a car the ideal is to arrive at one port, drive slowly to another and return from there. This was easy when P&O served both Le Havre and Cherbourg. Whether Britanny Ferries allow it with Caen and Cherbourg I don't know - worth asking them.