Manche: what to see and do
41 sites listed in the département. Between Mont-Saint-Michel, a UNESCO-listed wonder, and the D-Day beaches full of history, the Manche offers an exceptional Norman heritage. The wild Cotentin and typical ports such as Barfleur complete this strong maritime identity.
Le Mont Saint Michel
The prodigious architecture of Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay make it the most visited tourist site in Normandy and the third in France (after the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles), with some 3,200,000 visitors every year.
L'Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel
On a rocky islet in the middle of immense sands subject to the coming and going of powerful tides, on the border between Normandy and Brittany, rise the "Wonder of the West", a Gothic Benedictine abbey dedicated to the archangel Saint Michael, and the village born in the shelter of its walls.
Granville
A fortified corsair town perched on a rocky cape overlooking the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, birthplace of the couturier Christian Dior.
Le Nez de Jobourg
The region's main site is the grandiose Nez de Jobourg, an ornithological reserve. These cliffs are among the highest in Europe (128 m).
Les cascades de Mortain
The waterfalls capture the very essence of deep Normandy. The Cance and Cançon have flowed here since time immemorial.
Les moines et l'Elèphant
52 islets, 365 rocks at low tide (one for every day!), Chausey is an archipelago unique in France, once well known for its granite that built Saint-Malo, Fécamp, Paris and London!
Alligator Bay
Plunge into the heart of their natural environment and live as a family an unprecedented adventure route, under the hot and humid climates of the jungles of Africa and the forests of Louisiana.
Ange Michel
Barfleur
A former Roman-Viking port, Barfleur had nine thousand inhabitants in the time of Norman power and remained the leading port of the Cotentin in the Middle Ages.
Batterie d'Azeville
Near Sainte-Mère-Église, a guided visit of a German coastal defence battery.
Cathédrale de Coutances
Notre-Dame de Coutances cathedral is a thirteenth-century Gothic cathedral in Coutances, in the Manche département, in Normandy.
Château d'Omonville
This residence, whose oldest part is sixteenth century, is built in the centre of a court of honour surrounded by water-filled moats and has at the back a French-style garden.
Château de Pirou
Built in the twelfth century on an artificial islet surrounded by three moats and five fortified gates, Pirou, with its high ramparts, is the oldest of the Norman castles.
Château des Ravalet
The château des Ravalet, or château de Tourlaville, is a Renaissance-style castle in blue schist, built between 1562 and 1575, property of the town of Cherbourg since 1935, in the territory of Tourlaville.
Domaine du Coquerel
From your arrival you will be charmed by the Manoir du Coquerel, nestled in this corner of greenery.
Ferme de l'Hermitière
A cider farm handed from father to son for 5 generations. A living museum of cider and the farm.
Fonderie de Cloches
Fort du Cap Levi
Between a small typical port of the Val de Saire and the great lighthouse of Gatteville, the Fort du Cap Lévi is at the heart of a vast natural area protected by the Conservatoire du Littoral.
Fromagerie Réaux
You can visit the workshops making the "REO camembert", with its traditional raw-milk making, moulded by hand with a ladle, benefiting from the "appellation d'origine contrôlée".
Jardin des plantes
Created under the Second Empire between 1852 and 1855, thanks to the bequest of Monsieur Quesnel-Morinière, the Jardin des Plantes is one of the oldest in Normandy.
La Cité de la Mer
The Cité de la Mer in Normandy is THE place devoted to the underwater world that you must not miss!
Le Banc des Hermelles
The Banc lies opposite the Sainte-Anne chapel (commune of Saint-Broladre), 6 km from the shore. It is a remarkable sand reef built by small marine building worms: the hermelles (Sabellaria alveolata).
Le Roc des Curiosités
The Roc des Harmonies invites visitors on a colourful journey to wonderland. In this unique place, the animal and mineral worlds rub shoulders and appear in a slightly magical light.
Le Tourp, Maison de la Hague (ex-Manoir du Tourp)
In a sixteenth-century manor, discover a cultural space entirely devoted to the territory: the permanent exhibition "La Hague from every point of view", the Côtis-Capel media library, the chapel, the bakery, the dovecote and, all year round: temporary exhibitions, activities…
Les Marais Salants
The Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel is a site of international importance regularly sheltering more than 20,000 waterbirds.
Maison de la Baie
Set in an old longère on the shore, the Maison de la Baie, at Vains-Saint-Léonard, is an interpretation centre on the fauna, flora and human activities in the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel.
Musée Airborne
A first parachute-shaped building houses a WACO glider in its original condition, as well as many display cases filled with period documents.
Musée Maritime de Regnéville
Set on the exceptional site of the "Rey" lime kilns, the museum presents the history of lime through the ages.
Musée du Débarquement Utah Beach
The Utah Beach museum is set on the very site of the American naval landing of 6 June 1944. With archive documents, models and a film, the story of D-Day is retraced in a unique way.
Mémorial de la Liberté Retrouvée
Inaugurated last April at Quinéville, in the Manche, the Mémorial de la Liberté retrouvée presents chronologically the main events of the Second World War in Normandy, over a museum space of 1,000 m².
Parc Animalier Saint Martin Montaigu La Brisette
In the heart of the Norman bocage, in a 15-hectare park, monkeys, wolves, lemurs, dromedaries… await you for a family walk in an exceptional wooded site.
Parc Zoologique de Champrépus
The Champrépus zoological park is a playful place for acquiring knowledge and raising awareness of the idea of species preservation.
Parc de Martinvast
5 km from Cherbourg, discover the Château and Flower Park of Martinvast, both listed on the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments.
Phare de Gatteville
Built between 1829 and 1834, the Gatteville lighthouse is the second tallest lighthouse in France at 75 m high.
Phare de la Pointe D'Agon
Built of rubble and local dressed stone, covered with zinc to resist the wind, it has provided navigation marking for sailors since 1856.
Planétarium ludiver
"Ludiver" is an astronomy discovery site open to all audiences; it includes a planetarium where live sky shows take place.
Rocher de Castel-Vandon
The Castel Vendon is a rocky promontory overlooking the sea near the hamlet of Gruchy, in the commune of Gréville-Hague, in the Manche.
Roches de Ham
The natural site of the Roches de Ham is in the Vire valley. These steep cliffs overlook the valley from about a hundred metres' height.
Baie d'Écalgrain
Between the Nez de Jobourg and the port of Goury, this crescent bay offers one of the finest panoramas of La Hague. Its dunes and heath, followed by the customs officers' path, remain preserved from all urbanisation.
Cap de la Hague
The extreme tip of the Cotentin, the Cap de la Hague faces one of the most powerful tidal currents in Europe, the Raz Blanchard. Wild heath, granite villages and the Goury lighthouse make up this harsh, wind-battered landscape.
Cherbourg
A great military and transatlantic port at the tip of the Cotentin, with the largest artificial harbour in Europe and a rich maritime history.