Local attractions (less than half an hour’s drive)
Musée de la Céramique, Ger – From the Middle ages to the eighteenth century, the area around Ger was known for its community of potters. The museum not only shows the history of the trade but offer pottery workshops, an exhibition and shop, and on the last weekend of August a pottery festival with a market, food, music and the spectacular firing of hand constructed outdoor kilns.
https://www.musees-normandie.fr/musees-normandie/musee-de-la-ceramique-centre-de-creation/
La Fosse Arthour – Legend tells that King Arthur swam across the river here to see Guinevere and was then swept away by a flood. You can walk around the beautiful lake and climb up to the pilgrims’ lookout over the valley, from where you can see Mont St Michel on a clear day. There is also an excellent Auberge. https://aubergedelafossearthour.com
Musée du Poiré – A charming place to wander around in good weather, with a large orchard of pear and apple trees, various ancient buildings with traditional cider and poiré making equipment, and a range of beehives. There is a covered picnic area, and you can buy traditional cider, poiré, calvados and other local products in the shop.
https://www.musees-normandie.fr/musees-normandie/musee-du-poire/
ÉcoMusée du Moulin de la Sée – A museum set in an old paper mill in the picturesque Sée valley. The nearby village of Brouains is also worth a visit.
Domfront – A walled mediaeval town set on a hilltop, Domfront boasts picturesque streets, imposing castle ruins and fabulous views of the surrounding countryside. The centrepiece is a surprising neo-Byzantine church with beautiful mosaics, the first reinforced concrete church built in France.
Mortain – Our nearest large supermarkets, but also stunning waterfalls, La Petite Chapelle with a panoramic view, and the Pilgrims’ Way.
Lonlay L’Abbaye – An attractive village with a beautiful abbey – a peaceful place to sit for a while.
Going on from Domfront you may like to visit –
Bagnoles de L’Orne – A Spa town with casino, lake,and some rather fanciful architecture
La Ferté Macé – An attractive town which boasts a swimming lake with an English tearoom
The Andaines forest and Bonvouloir Tower with its crêperie
Chateaux and historic towns
Fougères – A huge fairytale castle and picturesque old town, just over the border into Brittany
Lassay-les-Châteaux
Falaise – William the Conqueror’s castle
Bayeux – A beautiful, sophisticated historic town, home to the famous tapestry.
Villedieu-les-Poêles – An attractive town with a large population of artists and crafts people. There is a bell foundry , old streets and lavoirs on the river.
Days out
Le Mont Saint Michel – Normandy’s most famous tourist destination and a UNESCO world heritage site. Well worth a visit if you can go there out of season – otherwise impossibly crowded! Expensive car parking. Still worth going to look at from a distance, perhaps from across the bay at Avranches. The pilgrims’ way there from Paris passes through Fosse Arthour and Mortain a few kilometres from us, so you can cycle there if you are feeling energetic!
http://www.abbaye-mont-saint-michel.fr/en/
Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches – the whole area from the north of us to the coast is full of reminders of “Le Contre Attaque” in 1944, with many towns and villages partially or wholly destroyed and rebuilt (including Ger). If you are interested in WW2 history this is an essential area to visit, but the beaches are beautiful too.
Granville – A seaside resort with Christian Dior Museum and rose garden, plus boat trips to the Chausey archipelago.
Beaches
From Avranches up to Granville and beyond – Genêts is our closest good sandy beach, just under an hour’s drive. There are nice cliff walks overlooking the bay before Carolles, passing the Cabane Vauban, or along the Lude Valley to the beach.
Saint-Malo – A bit further (an hour and three quarters) but well worth it for a day out, especially on a sunny day. A fascinating Breton port city with an old walled town giving straight onto beautiful sandy and rocky beaches with two large tidal swimming pools. You can drive there via Mont Saint Michel.
Activities
Kayaking
There is a kayak centre at Torchamp half an hour away where you can arrange to paddle down the bucolic River Varenne to Ambrieres where you will be collected by the centre’s bus and taken back to base.
Cycling
There is excellent cycling in the area, including hundreds of kilometres of green ways along old railway lines. You can ride along these from Flers to Vire via Domfront, Mortain and Sourdeval if you’d like to ride a continuous route of ‘voies vertes’ in a large U around the farm.
On the route from Flers to Domfront down the beautiful Varenne valley you can stop tho visit the ancient iron forges and museum beside the river.
https://www.manche-tourism.com/
https://www.calvados-tourisme.com/
https://www.ornetourisme.com/
