Already have a day for D-Day beaches. Have an open day to see another city.
Will you have a car or are you relying on public transport?
Will be using the train or buses.
It can be time consuming to get to places of interest near Bayeux by public transport. I know The Hotel Churchill in Bayeux does transport in an 8 person van to Mont-Saint-Michel but you'd need to check with them to see if non-guests are allowed. Another option would be to check the Bayeux tourist office website to see what private tour operators might be available.
The easiest place for you to see on your own by public transport would be Caen, which is only 20+- minutes by train from Bayeux. I've never seen it but apparently the War Museum and Memorial are supposed to be fantastic. There are certainly any number of pretty villages and lots of scenic countryside close to Bayeux but bus connections between the villages are not at all convenient. For example, you may get a bus to a charming village but once you've seen everything (which in small villages might be as little as 20-30 minutes) you may have to wait several hours for the next bus.
I don't know how active or fit you are but if you're a bit sporty you could always rent a bike and and explore a bit of the countryside near there, much of which is fairly flat and easy terrain to ride.
Have a look at the Bayeux tourist office website and you can learn about what there is to see and do near Bayeux that might interest you.
http://www.bessin-normandie.com/
The regional tourist office websites might give you some ideas too.
http://www.calvados-tourisme.com/en
http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/normandy-tourism-109-2.html
The Caen tourist office website:
http://www.tourisme.caen.fr/anglais/index.asp
Since you'll be getting around by trains and buses you'll need the websites. For trains use www.voyages-sncf.com and for buses use www.busverts.fr.
Actually, I was just doing some thinking and doing a little research and I suppose you could take a train to Lisieux. There are fairly regular trains taking 1+- hour from Bayeux. Now from Lisieux it might be possible to take a local bus to Pont-L'Evêque, Deauville/Trouville or Honfleur. I've never been but Liseux it is supposed to be worthy of a visit. Here's the tourist office website:
http://en.lisieux-tourisme.com/
Pont-l'Evêque:
http://www.blangy-pontleveque.com/en/
Deauville:
Trouville:
http://www.trouvillesurmer.org/pages/TRADUCTIONS/anglais.html
Honfleur:
There are trains from Bayeux to Deauville/Trouville but they will require transfers and they take from 1-1/2 hours to 2-1/4 hours so you need to compare that with taking the train to Lisieux and then taking a bus from Lisieux. Honfleur has no train station so the only way to get there is by bus.
French_Mystic thank you so much. Great info much appreciated.
Contributor
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258 helpful votes The shuttle bus that the Churchill runs to Mont St Michel does allow for nonguests to use it. We did last summer, and loved it. The drive was so nice and took us to an entrance up to the mont that was not the main one, so not hoardes of people. We really enjoyed that day trip.
I also agree that the museum in Caen is a great place to visit.
Contributor
3,760 posts
26 reviews
16 helpful votes I'd recommend Caen, although I haven't actually done anything there besides drive to the train station. We did MSM as an overnight and loved it in the evening and early morning, but by 9:00 or 9:30 when the tour buses arrived, the crowds made it very unpleasant (as in hard to walk around). This was in June of 2009. Maybe it will change with the new access.
You can get to some places by bus, see the interactive Busverts bus map:
^^ Got that in post #1 EW, it's just not a live link. ;)