Camping Le Creulet

On an inlet surrounded by wetlands, Carentan (20 minutes) has walking trails to the sea and is the place to book a boat trip through the marshes. Walks through the teeming and diverse landscape of the Parc Naturel des Marais du Cotentin start from the park centre at Saint Côme du Mont. The landing beaches of Omaha and Juno are 20 and 40 minutes’ drive away, memorable and sometimes haunting spots with adjacent museums recording the stories of courage and sacrifice. From Port-en-Bessin-Huppain (15 minutes), see the D-Day beaches from the sea on a boat tour... and make sure you sample the fresh fish and scallops in the harbour town on your way through. For energetic stuff on Normandy’s breezy coastline, windsurf at Asnelles (30 minutes), zoom the beach by sand yacht at Ouistreham (40 minutes), or kayak down the Orne river at Thury-Harcourt (50 minutes). Fine old seaside towns like Arromanches-sur-Mer (half an hour) serve up the more traditional stuff like swimming, paddling and walks along the cliffs. If you want to get higher than that, the Forest Centre at St-Sauveur-le-Vicomte has treetop walks, climbs and rope swings. Or beetle over to Château Balleroy (15 minutes) to see a museum devoted to hot air ballooning.