Must-see attractions in Caen

For a very insightful and vivid account of the entire war, with special focus on the Battle of Normandy, Le Mémorial is unparalleled – it's one of Europe…

Looming above the centre of the city, Caen’s magnificent castle walls – massive battlements overlooking a now dry moat – were established by William the…

Caen’s most important medieval site is the Men’s Abbey – now city hall – and, right next door, the magnificent, multi-turreted Église St-Étienne (St…

Highlights at the Women’s Abbey complex in the east of the town centre, once run by the Benedictines, include Église de la Trinité – look for Matilda’s…

This excellent and well-curated museum takes you on a tour through the history of Western art from the 15th to 21st centuries, including works depicting…

A handy primer for fathoming the character of the region, this two-part museum situated within the former Logis des Gouverneurs in the Château de Caen…

Doubling as a very useful tourist information centre, this medieval church within the Château de Caen has gorgeous stained-glass works as well as several…

The castle's vast 12th-century donjon (keep) was pretty much destroyed after the French Revolution in the late 18th century, so little remains today…

An earlier 12th-century church stood at this site where this 15th-century church stands today, with its beautiful stained-glass windows. The church was…

The 15th-century Maison des Quatrans is one of only two prewar buildings left in the city centre near Château de Guillaume le Conquérant, though it lost a…

Inside the Château de Caen, the Échiquier (more fully the Salle de l’Échiquier) – or the Exchequer – is a venerable building dating from the 12th century.

Across from the Château de Caen, the soaring Église St-Pierre was built between the 13th and 16th centuries and was being renovated at the time of writing.

The Jardin des Simples is a garden of medicinal and aromatic herbs cultivated during the Middle Ages, some of them poisonous.