Rouen as a base

[ImSorryMsJackson]

Anyone stayed in Rouen as a base for an end of July/early August Normandy holiday with a visit to Paris and perhaps some Brittany?

What’s the vibe of Rouen? Is it attractive? And does it have enough for a 10-14 day trip. Is it easy to get around Rouen and out to other locations by car or public transport?

For info, we are a family of five with three DC aged between 11 and 17. DH and I love history and culture, good food, shopping, people watching etc The DC love the beach and being active but also like cities, especially with promise of ice cream and crepes. We’re on a tight budget and we found the accommodation on the coast surprisingly expensive (guess Parisiens head there in the summer too) so we thought Rouen would be more affordable and actually offer some great French culture.

I spent some time in Caen about 25 years ago and liked it but haven’t heard much about it lately. We would also consider a nice town closer to Paris but would still want to get to the coast a few times so that may be a non-starter.

Anywhere will be pricey at that time of year, so brace yourself! If you stay in Rouen you'll need a car I reckon, which adds to cost. I'm sure there's some way of getting to the coast by PT but it could be a bit awkward and involve changes from train to bus and vice versa, and could take a couple of hours each way.

I haven't been to Rouen so I can't say what it's like sorry. However maybe have a look at Belgium. You could get the Eurostar to Lille and work from there to Ghent and Bruges for the city bits, and Ypres area for WW1 memorials and cemeteries if interested. One thing that's good about that area of Belgium is there is a tram system all along the coast and it links up with the cities and towns inland. Maybe have a look. I took the train from Bruges to Knokke Heist on the coast which was lovely and took the tram from there all the way down the coast to De Panne and back. Fabulous day. You could choose different stops on the route if you are there for longer than I was.

oostende.org/en/coastal-tram.php

I'm probably steering you off course, as you may have your heart set on France, but someone else might help with that!

Rouen is a fabulous place. It’s easy to drive to from ferry/eurotunnel. It’s quaint, has lovely restaurants, lots to see and do although not enough for two weeks.

Normandy is an enormous department. Don’t underestimate how far it is to the coast. If you want a lot of beach time I’d probably look at Caen as a base. Or maybe a week in each.

Rouen was lovely we stopped there for a couple of days to break a journey up and said we'd go back one day... Was top of our best eclair in france index... Think you would definitely need a car..
We also liked Bordeaux.....

I lived in Rouen as a student - it was quite a long time ago but I don't think there have been massive changes since.

The old town is quaint and very beautiful (although a lot of it is actually reconstruction post WW2), and Rouen cathedral is amazing and there's lots of historical interest. Not a whole lot of green space in the city as I recall. It's not a massive city centre though - probably 2/3 days max to see everything. As a base for further exploring it could be ok but distances in France can be deceptive - you mention Brittany but Normandy is huge, Brittany isn't really a day trip away. When I lived there, places we went for day trips were Etretat (great cliffs!), Honfleur, Lyon la Foret (small medieval type village) Monet's gardens at Giverny and of course Paris which I think took about an hour on the train. Some of these places you may need a car.

Great advice so far - thanks all.

I like Belgium but the weather is even less reliable than Normandy which makes me nervous after a wet holiday in East Anglia last year. I would go to the Belgium coast if I knew I could get some sun another time in the year.

A week each in Caen and Rouen is a good shout.

I was in Caen two years ago. Lovely city, clean, nice atmosphere, everyone polite and friendly (and patient with our terrible French), lots of nooks to explore, they had a free shuttle minibus that you hailed wherever you wanted it to pick you up. It was really easy to get to the coast but also only 1.5 hours drive to the brilliant museum of the sea at Cherbourg, or Honfleur, or 2.5 hours by train to Paris for a day trip. I found it the perfect base for that area and funnily enough, the one place I ran out of time to visit was Rouen!

One thing I read was that Rouen is one of the cities with strict pollution rules so you have to apply for a sticker for your car (and I think you have to get it before you travel. Might be wrong but should be easy to look up!)

Just noticed your comment about culture/history/exploring.
Falaise is a half hour drive from Caen and has a great castle that's worth visiting. The displays are really creative, with wall 'murals' becoming videos of the subjects speaking about themselves and their history.
Festyland is a great day out, a theme park on the edge of Caen. Great selection of rides for all ages, really family-friendly atmosphere.
Colline aux Oiseaux Park in Caen is beautiful, massive gardens, a big maze and lots of paths and places to explore.

I would love to go back to Caen as much for the city itself as for the ease of exploring really diverse areas around it!

We went to Rouen in August 2024, it's a lovely city with a cathedral famous since it was painted by Monet. They have a fabulous light show on the facade in the evenings, that was running at like 11pm in July. I don't know about spending 2 weeks there though and isn't it notoriously tricky to drive in, so maybe not an ideal base? I didn't drive in this trip, but am sure people complain about it a lot. Also quite a distance from many other sites you probably want to see in Normandy, as others have said. We did a somewhat random loop around Northern France over 10 days by public transport, to combine Olympics, Disney and a bit of sightseeing in Normandy. Train links to Paris from Rouen are good, same route serves Giverny for Monet's garden. We stayed overnight in Giverny so we could enter at opening before it was too busy. Train links to Caen for onwards travel to D-day beaches and Bayeux tapestry are good. Think you need to pick up a car here to really make the most of it. Train links to Amiens and Lille for Eurostar back to UK were very infrequent. I had planned to spend more time in Normandy than just visiting Rouen and Giverny, but we ending dedicating more of the trip to the Olympics. Have visited Mont St Michel on a previous trip, which I loved.

Rouen is lovely but I'd suggest it's a weekend spot. You could travel around. Hornfleur is lovely in summer on the coast. We always go further South. Ile de Re is lovely. I'd probably do 7 days Ile de Re (Paris meets Cornwall) then 3-4 nights in Rouen on the way back

This is right - you apply c2 weeks before. Total ballache

look too at Lyons La Foret - close to Rouen and gorgeous. Huge forests to explore

I'd be happy to go there again.

What kind of accommodation were you thinking of?
We visited Rouen three years ago when we were staying around 30 minutes from the city.
The only thing I really remember was seeing the buildings that had been patched up with Lego. As that's all I can remember I'll go with it was pleasant but not exceptional. The weather was good when we were there.

Rouen is too fr imho to treat as a base. It’s sort of mid point (for us). Nice for a night or two, but no more. You’ll need the CritAir sticker.

I’d choose Caen as your Normandy base …. Use for the Normandy beaches, maybe as far as Mont Saint Michel just into Brittany. Etretat is gorgeous for a night or two, but further north.

If you wanted a closer base to Paris, Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a beautiful town with gardens, chateau and approx 30 mins into Paris.

Slightly different area, but I wholeheartedly recommend Nantes. It's a proper big city- if I was to compare it to a British city it would probably be Bristol. The old docks area on an island in the Loire has been redeveloped with loads of arty stuff, and it has Les Machines de l'sle- Google it, it's amazing.

It's close to Vannes and the Golfe du Morbihan in S. Brittany, there are various beach resorts around the mouth of the Loire, and inland there is the Loire Valley of course.