Region areas
The department of Calvados has several areas that are visited by tourists: The Bessin, the Plaine of Caen, the Bocage Virois, the Cote Fleurie and the Pays d’Auge. Several beaches of Calvados are popular for water sports, including Cabourg and Merville Franceville.
Deauville
With its golf courses, casinos, deluxe hotels, La Touques and Clairefontaine racetracks, regattas, a yachting harbor, polo grounds, and tennis courts, Deauville is a formidable contender for the business of the upper class.
Caen
Caen is known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror, who was buried here, and for the Battle for Caen—heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the town.
Bayeux
Bayeux is a major tourist attraction, best known to British and French visitors for the Bayeux tapestry, made to commemorate the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The tapestry is believed to have been woven in England. It is displayed in a museum in the town center. The large Norman-Romanesque Cathedral Notre-Dame de Bayeux, consecrated in 1077, was the original home of the tapestry.
Honfleur
Honfleur is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind. St. Catherine church, which has a bell-tower separate from the principal building, is the largest church made out of wood in France.