Normandy The Region

Normandy is a region of contrasts, so while many perceive Normandy as a region of flat countryside, this is certainly not the case in areas like Calvados, where you can enjoy a gite holiday in the gently-rolling countryside, which is not dissimilar from the countryside of Kent. Getting to Normandy gites is also very easy, as Normandy is directly accessible from the Western Ferry Ports of Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre and St Malo, but is also easily accessed from the Northern French Ferry Ports of Calais and Boulogne.

You might choose a holiday cottage on the Normandy coast, which has an amazing variety of landscapes - from modern Le Tréport to the Mont-Saint-Michel, where the sea sculpts the cliffs with the pounding of its waves. This same sea is responsible for tempering the harsh rigours of winter, and for moderating the hot excesses of summer. Finding gites on the Normandy coast should present no problems, as the Normandy Coastline amounts in total to 600 kilometres.

While many people will choose a gite holiday in Normandy on the lively Normandy coast, the Norman countryside, with its golden prairies, its cool, wooded valleys and its beech and pine forests, remains a haven of peace and tranquillity. lts little villages, leafy fanes and clear streams are the ideal setting in which to relax and rediscover the joys of nature.

Normandy consists of 2 administrative regions - Lower and Upper Normandy. Upper Normandy comprise 2 departements - Seine-Maritime & Eure, while Lower Normandy consists of 3 departements - Calvados, Manche & Orne.

In Upper Normandy, The Alabaster Coast extends from Le Tréport to Le Havre, it's striking chalk cliffs, higher than 100 metres in places are lapped gently by the sea.

Lower Normandy includes The Floral Coast, extending from the Seine to the Orne, the pastures and orchards of Auge slope gently down to the rivers' edge, bordered by terraces of flowers, shaded alleyways and elegant gites and villas. The beaches here are legendary, with stylish hotels, night clubs, casinos, fashion shows, air shows, and international regattas.

Moving south, to the Mother of Pearl and Bessin Coasts, stretch steep cliffs shadowing beaches of fine golden sand, with the D-Day Landing Beaches. The British beaches (Sword, Juno, Gold Beaches), and the American beaches (Omaha Beach, Utah Beach) were names given in the war and have remained, the original ones never to be reverted to. Arromanches with it's artificial port, military cemeteries, la Pointe du Hoc, monuments, milestones and military relics continue to serve as reminders of the battles.

The west coast is sheltered from the east and north winds benefiting from the warm currents of the Gulf Stream. Here 100 kilometres of sand unfold like a long ribbon, occasionally intercepted by rocks and harbours and ending majestically at Mont Saint Michel. The sunniest beaches are here and the sea is a beautiful shade of deep blue.

Internet-Cottages has a wide range of holiday cottage accommodation across most areas of France, of which our Normandy gites section is just one area, as well as holiday cottage rentals in the UK and villas in Spain. Our holiday cottages / gites are bookable direct with the gite owner, so we take no commission on holiday cottage bookings. The descriptions of all UK, French and Spanish holiday cottages is provided to us by the cottage owner, and is taken on good faith to be a fair respresentation of theholiday accommodation offered for rental.