The Student Backpacker

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Northern France is one of the (if not THE) most easily accessible places abroad from the UK. There’s planes, trains and ferries teeing the southern UK coast to France. And what better part of France to visit? The north has it all; Brittanies crepes, the rocky coves and bays, the beautiful old towns and historic fishing villages, to Normandies famous wide, sandy beaches and their rich naval history and historical importance. The cities have a real ‘European’ vibe, not too dissimilar to what I experienced here in Vienna.

As fun and cheap as flying can be, there’s near no connections to Brittany and Normandy, only really middle and southern France. And as awesome as a direct high-speed train from London to Paris sounds, they are almost always £100 or over return, and that’s far out of a student’s budget! So what does that leave us with?

ferries

Coming from Portsmouth, I definitely know more than most about the UK’s international maritime connections. I think most people write them off as a realistic form of transport; they’re mostly used by families and older people to get their cars to Europe, which ends up costing them 100’s, if not 1000’s of pounds. It does not have to be like that! The shorter routes are cheaper (Newhaven – Dieppe, Portsmouth – Caen, Poole – Cherbourg), and if you pick a daytime crossing, with no cabins and as a simple foot passenger, fares fall to around the £40 mark return from Newhaven; with Portsmouth & poole being close second placers and Dover offering crossings for just over £50. If you’re going in peak seasons and desperately need a place to rest, you can get pre-booked recliner seats on any leg of the journey for around £5, depending on the routes and if they’re available.

Ferries are particularly unique to me. They offer a pretty cool view whilst leaving/entering harbours, amazing sunrise and sunset views plus they are about one of the most relaxed and calm ways of travelling abroad. Less strict and intense security, boarding procedures, rules around timing along with a large boat filled with restaurants, shops, comfy seats with nice views and other amenities make them more of an experience in themselves.

Now quick disclaimer, I worked for Brittany Ferries full time over the summer as a passenger service assistant. I am in no way an affiliate to them now, it just meant I got a free crossing! The ferry company you pick should depend on costs, availability and where in the Uk they operate from. If your in Southampton/Portsmouth unis and anywhere west, then they are your only option. But people in Brighton Uni and the east, Newhaven may be your best bet and that’s DFDS! Now with that said, on with my itinerary.

And heads up, this one got a bit messy but more on that later!

day 1 – getting into st malo

So I travelled with my girlfriend, using up my free trip from Brittany Ferries. Because of that, I got free cabins on both legs, and got to pick any route from the UK to France, so I picked to go to St Malo on the way there. It’s close to Caen and Cherbourg (more on that later), however it’s a bit further South in Brittany. Arriving in the port of St Malo, it’s only a 15 minute wall to the main attraction; the old town.

Steeped in history, the original settlement was a 6th century Monastic settlement; a Welsh monk village built on the island later expanded in the 12th and 14th century with the current cathedral and city ramparts respectively. The majority of the old town was destroyed and subsequently rebuilt after WW2. These grand ramparts with large stone terrace houses are the first thing we saw as we navigated towards the city.

We found a cheap bag drop off in the centre with each bag being around £5, got a drink and immediately started exploring. The bag drop off (along with other activities like city tours and day passes) can be booked on Trip.com. Bee-lining straight to the coast, winding through the city streets and figuring out how to get to the closest large carrefour as it was still early in the morning and most the city was closed.

exploring the city

Freshly fed from shopping centre sandwiches, we headed towards the city to do a bit of exploring, get our bags back and suss out our room. The old towns offered a blend of classy cafe’s, eateries and bars, along with quirky food & souvenir shops with independent clothes shops. Yes, it’s more expensive than charity shops and many other European countries, but if you’re used to the Northern Quarters of Manchester, the Brighton Lanes or Camden Market in London, then you can find some genuine affordable quality here.

There was an abundance of gelato shops, with some of the nicest looking ice cream I’ve seen, so of course we had to get some and go for a seaside walk up along the ramparts! This is a must-do, especially in the summertime. The seas here are beautiful, with multiple naturally forming and artificial tidal pools, some being world famous for sports and swimming.

afternoon walking and cathedral

We booked an Airbnb, but honestly I’ve since found far better deals on places to stay on lastminuite.com. That being said, the little loft room was perfectly located and nice & rustic. We recharged in it for a couple hours, and we were ready for a round 2. The objectives were doing a full loop of the ramparts, looking around the cathedral, trying to catch the sunset and getting some food. So that’s exactly what we did!

Walking around the ramparts, you see not just one, but multiple tidal islands, isthmuses, strange rick formations and intricate causeways and paths cutting across the coastal formations into forgotten fortresses. This is definitely a job for a pair of tatty trainers, flip flops or waterproof shoes, but we didn’t have any of these and so regrettably we didn’t explore any of these odd islands. There’s so many rock pools, from tiny ones to massive half-sand half-rock pools. It really felt like a more intense version of Cornwall, just with a massive medieval settlement built around it! The ramparts had endless towers, hidden windows with stunning views, odd little nooks and tunnels; a truly fascinating and maze-like place not like anywhere I’ve seen before.

After re-emerging at the street levels, the Cathedral was next on the bucket list. As we walked up towards it, the bells started to sound in perfect harmony. Walking under stone bridges and towering houses, it really did feel surreal. I also realised that buildings like these tend to be free entry on a. donation basis, so we went in for a look around. I just missed it on video, but right as we walked in and down the wooden ramp, the bells stopped right on cue, feeling more like an assassins creed cutscene than real life.

The whole place was bathed in gold and blue, with the stained glass raining down colours on the inside. Churches like this have a very distinct ‘old smell’, which wasn’t skipped here. There were benches lined up for the public to join in the services, displays of artefacts and facts about the place, large blue Brittany banners flanking the stained glass, and what was seemingly an evening prayer or service as we (and others) continued to look around in relative silence. Experiences like this stick; seeing people perform faith while tourists are allowed to freely wonder. The Alter where the service was happening had been closed off to likely just church members. I believe the alter anyway, I really am not an expert!

After such a surreal experience, a not-so pure thing was needed: food and a pint. After wandering around the plaza outside, we decided to check out the North Western gate, as it opens out to a large tree surrounded plaza with wide corridors branching off it, all laced with restaurants and bars with outdoor seating. We were given some picky bits complimentary, had a few semi-expensive drinks and made our way back to the room, where we slept like logs.

day 2 – crêpes, chaos and caen

Yeahhh sorry for the rhyming 😭 but seriously, this was a strange day of travel. For some context, this was the Wednesday, 10th September this year, which was the day of the ‘Block Everything’ riots… So our original plan of catching a coach to Mont St Michel (A truly stunning Castle type fortress and cathedral on a tidal island, the same one that inspired the Disney Castle), then going to Caen, was straight out the window. The only car shares I could find couldn’t fit our luggage and us, so we had to panic plan while we got out the apartment for 10AM and tried to enjoy the morning. On a day with better connections, or if you want to completely skip the variability and guarantee a great day out, you can book a round trip or guided tour of Mont St Michel at GetYourGuide, something I’ll definitely be doing next time!

As we got up and left, there was only really one way to start the morning properly in Brittany, and that’s with crêpes of course! The Airbnb host recommended this place built up on top of the Ramparts with amazing sea views; the main dining area being in a fully glass and wood, cosy building. We ordered one sweet crêpe with Nutella, and one savoury one with ham, onions and egg. Both absolutely delicious and not even badly priced at £5-6 each.

changing plans & paris

So the original plan was to book a coach from St Malo to Mont St Michel, as said earlier, then onwards to Caen via coach /bus & train. This was rendered quickly impossible when the /Block Everything’ strikes cancelled all of the coaches that day, and closed off much of the regional train services. We knew this, and looked into car sharing services the night before (even looking at renting a car, but that was well over £500 so last minute for a 20 year old!) Sadly, these all fell through last minute and nothing else came up, so whilst trying to enjoy my crêpes, I was researching instead. Which is precisely when I realised the only option was a series of TGV and regional trains to Caen via Paris, and we had less than 40 minutes to make the train…

Scoffing food, downing coffee, booking (then cancelling) an uber and a LOT of speed walking brought us to a taxi, which ended up being far quicker and cheaper than the Uber anyway (pro tip), and we made it onto the TGV with a matter of minutes spare.

At least these new plans had a few perks: my first true ‘high speed’ train ride (that I remember), and we had an hour in Paris (with a tight connection). And what do you do in Paris if you’re passing through? Plan your tight transfer to walk straight past the Eiffel tower, run out of time and have to flag down taxis until one just about gets into Saint-lazare in time to catch the train. Silly? Yeah but SO worth it.

*Just to say I do NOT recommend this; it was expensive and stressful. Just take the coaches or car share, especially if you’re solo travelling, it’s much easier!*

an afternoon in caen

After an exhaustive amount of travel, we stumbled in to Caen only a few hours behind what we expected. Our goals were simple: see the castle, get some dinner and explore the old village. We had a few hours of daylight left, but there was a pretty glaring distraction along the way in the form of the same protests that stopped our original plans. They had formed a massive parade, winding through the streets, waiving protest and Palestinian flags, displaying signs we couldn’t read or translate well and causing very mild chaos wherever they’ve been (think loose debris and a couple of fires at worst).

The most surreal part of this was how extreme yet peaceful it was. There were chants, signs, flags and fires yet no damage. There were maybe over 10,000 angry people all together in one mob, and yet parents with their children and prams were walking side by side with their great grandparents. Protests like this don’t really happen in the UK and when they do, they aren’t mobile and there’s police everywhere. The only ‘control’ seen was to clean up and extinguish any fires left behind by the crowd.

After a slightly chaotic moment, with our stomachs sufficiently empty from all the travelling, some comfort food was needed: queue French McDonalds. Not the most glamorous meals we had – in fact it was probably the least overall – but still amazing and 100% worth trying. They have reusable packaging, nicer fries, real chicken AND the coolest exclusive items like chicken wings???

After the weirdest Maccies I’ve had yet, the sun was setting, and so it was the perfect time to walk up by the castle… if it didn’t start pouring down from the heavens. Honestly, the castle grounds were great, with a lot of paths just open and very pretty views of the city, so we weren’t too mad. That and it was kind of iconic and a great memory. What’s even cooler is if we got there earlier, the main part would have been open and it’s completely free too! Definitely worth doing if you end up here during daytime.

With only a few more hours before the ferry back home, the best course for action was a well-earned drink in the old town. The heated and sheltered outdoor seating was even cosier in the rain, the reflections off the ground made it just that much more scenic, paired with a local beer, it was a very calm place to spend the evening. There’s so much history around the castle, cathedral and old town. I’d love to properly absorb it all over one full day when I’m there next, and there’s plenty of free or dirt cheap tours of Caen on GetYourGuide.

Sadly, the busses to the port of Ouistreham stop running at 8PM ish, so if you’re also getting the 11PM ferry, you either have to get a taxi or spend a few hours in the port town. We didn’t spend any time there, but from what others have told me, it seems like a great seaside town to waste a few hours watching the boats and eating seafood.

conclusion

Northern France doesn’t get the same buzz as Paris or the Riviera, but that’s what makes it so good. You can leave the south coast of England after breakfast, be eating crêpes or wandering medieval ramparts by lunch, and be back home the next evening, all without touching an airport. Whether you’re a student on a budget, a couple looking for a quick adventure, or just someone itching for a change of scenery, Brittany and Normandy are ridiculously within reach.

Even with a few hiccups and reroutes, this trip reminded me why travel doesn’t have to be far or expensive to feel like an adventure. Sometimes the best getaways are just across the Channel, especially when you can get there with a student budget, a ferry ticket, and a bit of chaos.