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About the City
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie (Lower-Normandy) region. It is located 15 km inland from the English Channel.
City Areas
Take a walk down rue de Bras, rue St-Pierre, and the north end of rue Vaugueux to size up the action, or stroll the boulevard du Maréchal-Leclerc, rue St-Pierre, and rue de Strasbourg, to see what’s worth buying.
Attractions
Caen’s most famous attraction is of course the Chateau Caen. This middle age castle was once the biggest in Normandy and was built by the Norman king William the Conqueror, who got his name from conquering England.
Transportation
Caen is a popular tourist destination in France and as such getting there should be easy. The more traveled routes to Caen are by car, train or ferry, the train being the most favored.
Events
Event wise, Caen is at its best at the end of the year. Although the chain of events starts around April, the more popular ones are mostly in autumn and winter, culminating with the Christmas market between November and January.
Restaurants & Nightlife
Caen offers two major areas for eating: the cosmopolitan restaurants in the pedestrianised quartier Vaugueux and more traditional French restaurants on the streets off rue de Geole, near the western ramparts.
History and Civilization
Caen lost many of its historic quarters and its historic university campus because of the war and, as such, doesn’t have, as some would call it, the ‘feel’ of a traditional Normandy town such as Honfleur, Rouen, Cabourg, Deauville and Bayeux.
Caen Castle – Monument Historique
Once the most famous castle in Normandy, Chateau Caen is considered today a historic monument. The castle now serves as home to the Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Normandy, Saint Georges church, Exchequer of Normandy and a garden of plants cultivated in the Middle Ages.
