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Caen, France

The Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Caen: the abbey church of Saint-Étienne beside the former monastery buildings, now the city hall

The Abbaye-aux-Hommes, founded by William the Conqueror: the church of Saint-Étienne, with the former monastery buildings that now house Caen’s city hall.

The city of Caen, with a dramatic history spanning from the time of William the Conqueror to the D-Day Landing, is a highlight of any Normandy tour. A tour of Caen in this part of Normandy should also include Bayeux, Colleville-sur-Mer, as well as the landing beaches of Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach, Utah Beach and Sword Beach. On our Anglo French Tour: Normandy, Brittany and the Channel Islands, Day 3 is a city tour of Caen, with visits to the two abbeys that William and his wife Matilda founded.

Small Group Tour

Anglo French Tour: Normandy, Brittany and the Channel Islands

22-Day Tour · Paris to London · Small group, up to 16 travellers, solo travellers welcome

Day 3 is a city tour of Caen, visiting the Abbaye aux Hommes and the Abbaye aux Dames, both built in the 11th century at the instruction of William the Conqueror and his wife. On Day 4, a battlefield expert leads a full day on the D-Day beaches.

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Caen, William the Conqueror’s city

Caen rose to prominence under the rule of Norman dukes in the 10th and 11th centuries, and under William the Conqueror became his favoured residence and the duchy’s second city after Rouen, the ducal capital. William established Caen’s most important medieval site, the Abbaye-aux-Hommes (Men’s Abbey) to gain absolution for marrying his cousin, Matilda of Flanders. The abbey is a masterpiece of Norman Romanesque, its sober west front crowned by Gothic spires added in the 13th century. William’s final resting place – located within the abbey – was destroyed in the 16th century by Calvinist mobs, restored, and then destroyed again during the French Revolution.

Not to be outdone, Matilda established her own abbey, known as the Abbaye-aux-Dames (Women’s Abbey). Look for her simple tomb in the Église de la Trinité, where the black marble slab with its Latin epitaph is all that remains of her original monument. Though the abbey is now home to the Regional Council of Normandy, the church remains open to the public, and guided tours of the abbey are usually offered daily (check current times before you go).

The Conqueror’s legacy can also be seen at the Chateau de Caen, which looms above the centre of the city. While the 12th century donjon (keep), built by William’s son Henry I, remains only in ruins, visitors can tour one of the oldest civic buildings in Normandy, the Échiquier, and the Jardin des Simples, a garden of aromatic and medicinal herbs dating back to the Middle Ages. The chateau is now also home to the Musée de Normandie (Normandy Museum), which explores the region’s history from the Gauls and the Romans to the Saxons and Vikings, with exhibitions about the landscapes of Normandy and the daily lives of medieval peasants.

Another medieval highlight of your Caen city tour is the Église Saint-Pierre, a beautiful Gothic church built from the 13th century to the 16th. The soaring spire (more than 70 metres tall), hit by shells during World War Two, has since been restored. Make a point of looking for the carved capitals in the nave, which show characters from the Arthurian epic poems.

Gothic arches and side chapels inside one of Caen’s medieval churches.

Caen’s history would remain turbulent throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. The city was captured by the English twice during the Hundred Years War, and remained under English occupation until 1450. The University of Caen Normandy – one of the oldest in France – was founded in 1432 by an English duke, John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford. During the Reformation, Caen became a centre of Protestantism, especially Calvinism, while the city was linked to the Girondin faction of revolutionaries during the French Revolution.

Caen and the Battle of Normandy

Caen would be one of the most important sites of the Normandy landings of British and Canadian troops during World War Two. Though the initial intention of the Normandy D-Day landing in the Battle of Normandy had been to take Caen on the day of the landing on the Normandy coast, the Allied forces were held up on the landing beaches of Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach, Utah Beach and Sword Beach, so German forces retained hold of the city. Caen became a major battlefield: Canadian and British troops took the northern half of the city on 9 July, while German forces held the districts south of the Orne until 19 July, six weeks after the initial landing. Caen bore huge losses during the campaign, with much of the city destroyed by Allied bombing and shelling – including the spire of Saint-Pierre and the University of Caen – and around 2,000 civilians killed.

Today, the history of the War is explored at the Mémorial de Caen, one of Europe’s most moving World War Two museums. The memorial museum includes a superbly designed interactive exhibit telling the story of the Normandy landings. Officially designated a ‘museum for peace’, the message here is one of hope, with extensive exhibits telling the story of post-war peacemaking.

Located only two hours from Paris by train, Caen is a great base for exploring Normandy and Northern France. The British and Canadian D-Day Beaches and the Pegasus Bridge War Memorial are only short trips away, while medieval history buffs will enjoy journeys to Bayeux and the monastery of Mont St Michel.

Seeing Caen on our Anglo French Tour

On our Anglo French Tour: Normandy, Brittany and the Channel Islands, Caen comes early in the 22-day journey from Paris to London. On Day 2 the group visits Monet’s garden at Giverny and has time in Rouen on the way to Bayeux. Day 3 is a city tour of Caen, with visits to the Abbaye aux Hommes and the Abbaye aux Dames. On Day 4 a battlefield expert leads a full day on the D-Day beaches, with visits to Omaha Beach, the D-Day Landing Museum and a German artillery battery. It is a Level 2 (Moderate) tour for up to 16 travellers, led by an Odyssey Program Leader. Our day-by-day Normandy, Brittany and Channel Islands itinerary follows the whole route.