Updated on 19 October 2020
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Whether you’re looking for a gentle countryside stroll, a self-guided tour or a full-on hike, Normandy is home to an amazingly extensive network of walking and hiking trails through a range of beautiful landscapes. Browse our all of these trails below based on your location, preferred duration and difficulty level.
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Discovery tour of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer
Located in the heart of the Terres de Nacre beaches, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer will seduce you with its gentle lifestyle.
Starting from the cliff of the Cap Romain, you will take a walk along many narrow streets, typical of the city's architecture, which once housed fishermen's houses. Continuing on the dike, you can stop in front of the magnificent Villa "La Loggia", characteristic of the Belle Epoque period.
Would you like to discover the city with a guide? Geological and historical guided tours of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer are regularly offered by the tourist office.
IGN MAP
OPEN STREET MAP
Starting point
14750 Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer
Waypoints
Go to points of interest1 Departure of the walk
Departure from the Brèche des Acadiens to discover the cliff of Cap Romain.
2 Reach the car-park
Go up to the road and cross the car-park.
3 Walk to rue des Bains
From the gun, go down towards rue des Bains, at n°9 turn right towards the rue Canet. Continue up to rue Abbé Bossard.
4 Walk along avenue de la Marne
Walk along avenue de la Marne until Place de la Gare
5 Walk to rue Bon Pierre
Go down Avenue Georges Pépineaux, turn left and turn right onto Rue Bon Pierre after Rue Gambetta.
6 Reach the pier
Join the pier, named Boulevard Léon Favreau.
7 Reach Rue Pasteur
From the promenade dike, go up to rue Pasteur. Cross it and take rue Dupuy, the passage du centre and rue Aumont.
8 Go to the place of General de Gaulle
Back by the sea, take the promenade dike to the Place du Général de Gaulle.
9 Go to the bridge "Pasteur"
Continue to the bridge Pasteur
10 Cross Parc Pillier
Cross Parc Pillier and stop near Calvaire Square Abbé Halley.
Points of interest
Go to waypointsCap Romain Nature Reserve
This seafront cliff is located alongside the villages of St Aubin sur Mer and Bernières sur Mer and offers a vast array of fossils of great geological interest. This deposit is an extremely rare section that serves as a reference for the Jurassic period; fossil collection is strictly forbidden. Display case at the St Aubin sur Mer tourist office; guided tours are organised by the association Patrimoine Géologique de Normandie.
Free access to the site, information panels throughout.
Anti-tank gun of 50mm under casemate
German fortifications, remains of the Atlantic Wall, forts equipped with one or more cannons and small concrete structures, built during the Second World War. Facing south towards the road and not towards the beach, it covered both ends of the strike.
The church
19th century church in neo-Gothic style. By royal ordinance of 1831, the hamlet of Saint-Aubin was equipped with a vicarial chapel. He was not totally detached from the parish of Langrune until 1843, when his first priest was appointed. But it was Abbot Bossard who built the present church in the 1850s.
The old railway station
It is located on the single track from Caen to the sea, in the direction of Courseulles-sur-Mer. The first train from Paris arrived in Caen on November 18, 1855. The only means of transport to reach the sea at that time was a kind of convertible "Mr. Cabieux's patch". The railway equipment quickly followed, it was in 1885 that passengers coming from Paris were able to take their ticket to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer and especially not to change trains between Saint-Lazare and the station. The line was completely removed in 1951.
Passages and alleys
Narrow streets typical of the architecture of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, are pierced between the village's parcels, made up of enclosed gardens. These are part of the traditional fishermen's houses, the walls around them allowing fishing nets to be spread from one garden to another. Original features of the municipality, they all lead directly to the sea.
Rue Bon Pierre
The rue Bon-Pierre or the "rue du Bon-Pierre" is talking about Baptiste Lepoètre, known as Bon Pierre. In 1855, he was a sailmaker.
The poles on the beach
In the middle of the 19th century, most bathers could not swim. When the waves were strong, swimmers clung to a rope that stretched between two poles, as can still be seen on the beach.
Narrow streets
The "Rue Dupuy", one of the narrowest streets. The passage from the centre and rue Aumont are named after a former family.
The Hall
Inaugurated in 1926, this former covered market was built by architect A. Aumasson. It has been in operation for more than thirty years. Recently found, it now hosts temporary exhibitions.
Sculpture of Peace
European Way of Peace Sculptures, created through Europe through an association "Way of Peace". It is a sign of peace and fraternity between countries. The original idea came from Otto Freundlich, a German sculptor and painter (1878-1943), then taken up by the sculptor Leo Kornbust.
The Pasteur Bridge
Its construction was voted in 1893 in order to connect the two sections of promenade cut by a breach. If you go down the stairs, you will be in the Cat Pit, or in patois "la Fosse é cats". It was the meeting place for all the cats in the country.
The oratory chapel
Inside you will find an altar on which the Virgin with Child and an ex-voto stand.