Granville
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Granville

From Coutances, the D971 runs down to the coast at GRANVILLE, the Norman equivalent of Brittany's St-Malo, with a history of piracy and the severe Citadel of the haute ville guarding the approaches to the bay of Mont St-Michel. Thanks in part to the long beach that stretches away north of town, and disappears almost completely at low tide, it's the most lively town and most popular resort in the area. However, it simply doesn't match the appeal of its Breton rival, due to its nightmarish traffic and hordes of tourists milling around in summer in the vain hope of finding some way of amusing themselves.

The great difference between Granville and St-Malo is that in Granville the fortified Citadel contains little of interest, just three or four long, narrow, parallel streets of forbidding grey-granite eighteenth-century houses, although the views up and down the coast, across to Mont St-Michel and out to the Îles Chausey, whose granite was quarried for the Mont St-Michel buildings, are dramatic. In pride of place at the inland end of the haute ville, the Musée d'Art Moderne Richard Anacréon (daily except Tues 11am–6pm; €2.50) houses art accumulated by a Parisian bookseller from 1940 onwards. Filled with sketches and autographs from the likes of Jean Cocteau and André Derain, it's not all that compelling, but the gallery itself is impressive, and hosts interesting temporary exhibitions.

The tourist office is below the Citadel at 4 cours Jonville (July & Aug Mon–Sat 9am–1pm & 2–7.30pm, Sun 10am–1pm; Sept–June Mon–Sat 9am–noon & 2–6.30pm; tel 02.33.91.30.03, www.ville-granville.fr). Trains between Paris and Cherbourg arrive well to the east at the gare SNCF on avenue Maréchal-Leclerc, which also serves as the gare routière. Ferries run from Granville to the Channel Islands and the Îles Chausey.

With so many visitors in summer, it's well worth booking accommodation in advance. There are no hotels in old Granville; most are concentrated in the new town, either beneath the walls on the seaward side, or near the station. The Michelet, 5 rue Jules-Michelet (tel 02.33.50.06.55; under €30), which has no restaurant, is well equipped but characterless; the Des Bains, closer to the tourist office at 19 rue G-Clemenceau, (tel 02.33.5017.31; €40–55; closed Jan & Feb, restaurant closed Mon & Tues out of season), has a reasonable restaurant. An option nearer the station is the Terminus at 5 place de la Gare (tel 02.33.50.02.05; under €30). The modern, oceanfront Centre Régional de Nautisme (tel 02.33.91.22.62; closed Sat & Sun Nov–Feb), a kilometre south of the station in the town centre, serves as Granville's hostel. Dorm beds cost €14.60, while a private double is €23; sailing lessons are easy to arrange.

Where Granville really does excel is in its waterfront restaurants, hard below the Citadel walls, though be warned that the views here are of a gritty commercial port rather than a delightful harbour. The best are the Restaurant du Port, 19 rue du Port (tel 02.33.50.00.55; closed Sun pm, plus Mon in low season), with its mouthwatering assortment of very fishy menus, and the Phare, nearby at no. 11 (tel 02.33.50.12.94; closed Tues evening & Wed Sept–June), which has the standard mussels and panaché de poissons on its €15 menu, and an extraordinarily copious assiette des fruits de mer on the €24.50 one. Up in the old town, L'Échauguette, 24 rue St-Jean (tel 02.33.50.51.87; closed Tues, plus Wed in low season), serves good crêpes and simple meals, cooked over an open fire.