Private Tour of Caen and visit of the Museum of Normandy

Visit the Castle built around 1060 by William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy then King of England. The ducal castle in Caen is now home to the Musée de Normandie (Normandy Museum) and the Musée des Beaux Arts (Museum of Fine Arts). In the town centre, discover over 5 hectares of perfectly restored and maintained fortifications. The locals love to come here for a pleasant stroll. The ramparts offer a splendid viewpoint over the town.

Visit the Museum of History and Society, rich in important archaeological and ethnographic collections, the Museum of Normandy presents a panorama of the life of people in the territory of all Normandy, from prehistory to the great migrations of the Middle Ages, from the changes in rural areas to the first upheavals in industrial society. From the first fires to the first monuments, from the Gauls to the Romans, from the Frankish kingdoms to the Nordic pirates… the great history of the formation of a territory precedes the more peaceful evocation of landscapes and habitat, crafts and techniques, costumes and customs… Over time, the Museum provides insight into everyday objects and practices such as masterpieces of popular arts and traditions.

Visit the Lady's Abbey, founded around the year 1060 by Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror The Abbaye-aux-Dames was home to a community of Benedictine nuns until the French Revolution. After this painful period, the conventual buildings became, in succession, a military garrison, a poorhouse, a hospital in 1823 and a hospice in 1908. The buildings were restored in 1984 in order to house the Regional Council of Lower Normandy. The cloisters gallery presents a beautiful example of fan-shaped vaults. The abbey church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity on 18 June 1066, remains a masterpiece of Norman Romanesque architecture, despite some 19th-century renovations. Queen Matilda rests in the choir under a slab of black Tournai marble. The capitals of the apse offer a variety of more or less fantastical animals drawn from the bestiary.