La Vélo Francette - Voie verte de Caen à la mer

At the end of a lively canal, an entire town awaits you. In the heart of Caen, the marina is a stopover offering a medley of history and modernity. Berth at the foot of William the Conqueror’s castle, amidst an urban decor of pubs, restaurants and stores. An entire city breathes and lives around your boat. And the road that takes you there is equally eventful: the canal, from Ouistreham, offers a tour of port facilities and historic sites, such as Pegasus Bridge and the Château de Bénouville. At just 3 knots, you slowly enter the region’s very lung.

The Ornavik historic park near Caen is a vast project to reproduce a 10th-11th century Norman village. Find out all you ever wanted to know about the birth of Normandy, thanks to the site’s Carolingian village, Viking area and castle mound. Not only does Ornavik offer you an opportunity to learn history, but also to relive it! As soon as you enter the park, you will find yourself totally immersed amidst traditional craftsmen, warriors, merchants, aristocrats and other period characters. The project is made possible thanks to the steadfast commitment of around a hundred volunteers, support from local companies and funding from regional authorities.

The Pegasus Memorial Museum, located between Caen and the sea, tells the story of when the very first liberators from the British 6th Airborne Division landed on Norman soil on the night of the 5th to the 6th of June 1944. Period documents, films and objects. Guided tours of the museum, of Pegasus Bridge and of the reproduction of a WWII glider. Guided tour in French or English lasts: 1h30. Novelty: you can now access all museum information on your smartphone via QR Codes on the panels inside the museum grounds. Available in 10 languages: French, English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish and Czech.

Located right in the center of the seaside resort of Ouistreham Riva-Bella, in the Avenue de la mer, right next to the cycle paths and routes of the Vélo Francette and Vélomaritime® (EuroVelo 4), Riva Location Vélo is the ideal starting point for your cycling excursions.