"Normandie" a Cherbourg Travel Page by jayhawk2000

Once a major port for transatlantic travel, today the great harbour of Cherbourg receives mainly Irish and British ferries.

These days the ferry traffic is slowing down as other cities along the Brittany and Normandy coasts become more popular ports of call. No-frills airlines now fly to nearby cities like Caen and Brest, which has had a knock-on effect for ferry travel.

The city still has its rundown Carrefour hypermarket, a holdover from the 1980s duty free heydays. The city is famous for its seafood as you will find when you visit one of the many of the restaurants lining the quayside, but for the most part the city seems rather seedy and down at heel. However, this was before a regeneration scheme which has seen a huge new aquarium built in the town.

We landed at Cherbourg to begin our Normandy tour. This was our first proper trip to France. Look at my Caen and Bayeux pages as well to get the flavour of the region. Caen is Normandy's largest city, where we stayed most nights. Bayeux is the main tourist town for the region and is near the D-Day beaches.

In the future I'd like to see the other side of Normandy, especially Mont St Michel and Coutances.

www.ville-cherbourg.fr