The Vélomaritime route leaves Normandy's Marvel behind, taking you via a greenway through the salt meadows. Make the most of the last glimpses you're afforded across to the Mont Saint-Michel set in its great bay before reaching the Sélune Estuary, your gateway to the traditional bocage normand landscapes, consisting of hedge-divided fields. An other lovely greenway leads you gently to the centre of the well-flowered village of Ducey.

The Vélomaritime route leaves La Merveille via

This Vélomaritime stage shares the way with the Véloscénie cycle route, taking you along a former railway track converted into a greenway, leading to St-Hilaire du Harcouët. Founded and fortified by a comrade-in-arms to William the Conqueror, this fortress town strategically placed between the Cotentin Peninsula, Brittany and French Maine (now in the Pays de la Loire Region) offers a variety of activities in summer based around the Plans d'eau du Prieuré, a series of lakes.

Leading you along slopes, this Vélomaritime stage guides you gently towards Mortain, at the green heart of Normandy's extensive area of typical hedge-divided fields, known as the bocage, and located where our route meets the Véloscénie cycle route. The greenway on this stage takes you close to the enchanting Cance waterfall. Do go and see it in its wild, steep setting, clearly showing how this part of Normandy is part of the wider Armorican granite peninsula.

The sound of the largest waterfalls in northwest France still ringing in your ears, continue riding along a greenway through the hedge-divided fields of the Normandy bocage. Here, green dominates the scene and the typical Normandy countryside imparts a feeling of well-being. Once past Sourdeval, the Vélomaritime route leads on to Vire, a town rebuilt after the 1944 Allied bombings. The place has preserved its lively traditional market and is reputed for its culinary and craft heritage.

The Vire Valley acts as the thread along this Vélomaritime stage. After a stretch of greenway, you ride along minor roads through Normandy hedge-row-divided fields and valleys. With its ups and downs, this stage provides splendid views over the Vire's meanders and leads to La Ferrière-Harang, followed by the peaceful village of Pont-Farcy, nestled in a green corner beside the river. Highlight of the day is perhaps cycling under the grand Souleuvre Viaduct.

Your cycling trip continues gently along the picture-postcard Vire towpath, with peaceful meadows where sheep and horses graze, wild hedges full of flowers in season, and enchanting villages, including lively little Tessy-sur-Vire. Along the way, don't miss the detour to Les Roches de Ham, providing spectacular views over the Vire Valley and the Pays Saint-Lois area. The Vire's waters long attracted numerous craftspeople, including weavers, tanners and washerwomen, while many barges, houseboats and gabarres, traditional boats, are still to be seen along this picturesque valley.

The dynamic town of Saint-Lô, despite being heavily bombed in 1944 as World War II was reaching a climax in France, has preserved an exceptional heritage, notably the national stud farm, the Haras National, which you can visit, and the town's medieval ramparts. The Vélomaritime cycle route then continues beside the Vire Canal, meandering along up to St-Jean-de-Daye, through picture-postcard countryside.

You leave behind the typical Normandy hedge-divided fields to enter wetlands boasting an impressive network of channels and canals. The Vélomaritime here also leads you into the heart of one of France's main horse-breeding areas. Keep your eyes peeled for signs indicating the way to local racecourses. Reaching Carentan, nestled in the Baie des Veys, its yachting harbour immediately takes you back to a coastal atmosphere on your cycling adventure.

You ride through the heart of the Parc Naturel Régional des Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin via a lovely greenway. Keep binoculars to hand, as the wetlands here are home to an exceptional variety of species of birds. During migration seasons, the spectacle of vast colonies of birds filling the skies is quite magical. Also make the most of the magnificent sunrises and sunsets over the marshes! You end the stage at La Haye-du-Puits, which, although it suffered major destruction during World War II, was lovingly restored and is now a lively, attractive village.

The Vélomaritime route leaves La Haye-du-Puits and its 11th-century keep, still defying time. This stage offers easy cycling along a green ribbon lined by trees, affording you lovely glimpses of the little valleys to the sides. Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte and its medieval château, which was besieged twice in the Hundred Years War, welcome you at the end of this stage.

Going from Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte to Bricquebec and from one medieval château to another, you cycle peacefully along a safe, peaceful greenway, roughly at the pace of the former little train that used to run along the track here! You're crossing through a Pays d’Art et d’Histoire, Le Clos du Cotentin, a rich cultural area on the edge of the wetlands of the Marais du Cotentin and of the most important state forest in the county of Manche.

Leaving behind Bricquebec, you pedal along peaceful roads lined with farms and villages. You'll note the talus, high banks dividing up the meadows, fields and orchards, creating a typical Normandy landscape. Brix is your last stop before Cherbourg, with its ferry services to England and Ireland. At Cherbourg's port, a cycle path runs alongside one of the longest harbour walls in the world, dating as far back as 1783.

Along this Vélomaritime stage, you exchange the coast for the bucolic Saire Valley for a short time. Stop at Le Vast to explore this picturesque village and the surrounding countryside, with its wooded slopes, river and waterfalls. For a culinary treat, indulge in a piece of lovely Le Vast brioche, made here since 1900. You then rejoin the coast to descend to Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, guarded by its 17th-century Vauban Tower, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site dedicated to works inspired by Louis XIV's great military engineer. If you have the time, take a mini-trip to nearby Tatihou Island, to discover its fortifications, gardens and museum.

The Vélomaritime takes you from Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue into the wetlands of the Parc Naturel Régional des Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin. Make the most of a stop at Quinéville to buy some of the delicious artisanal biscuits made here. Further on, you'll spot the Azeville and Crisbecq Batteries, part of the Germans' World War II Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications, built in the early 1940s. Cycle on to reach Utah Beach, with its 5km-long strand. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, over 20,000 US soldiers and 1,700 vehicles landed here.

Leaving Utah Beach behind, the Vélomaritime allows you to cycle smoothly through the wetlands of the Parc Naturel Régional du Cotentin et du Bessin. Leading you into the heart of the Baie des Veys, the route runs alongside Beauguillot Nature Reserve, where land and sea merge. You then reach Carentan, a pretty town with a medieval past and a charming modern yachting marina.

You start off along the Vélomaritime from Carentan taking a rather unusual bridge-canal, on which boats and cyclists cross at a higher level than the cars! The route then takes you around the Baie des Veys, an estuary where four rivers converge, offering a peaceful haven for birds and common seals who appreciate the plentiful food supply. You then reach Isigny-sur-Mer, synonymous for human gastronomes with fine butter, cream and cheese! After enjoying a wander through the marshes and alongside the Aure River, you arrive back at the coast at Grandcamp-Maisy.

Cycling along this section is a humbling reminder of the landings of 6 June 1944. Shortly after Grandcamp-Maisy, the cycle route joins the Liberté Greenway, which runs along the clifftops of the Bessin coastline. It takes you to Pointe du Hoc, a landmark site of the Normandy landings, and on to equally symbolic Omaha Beach, where the US troops disembarked under enemy fire. You then cycle on to Port-en-Bessin, where a delicious seafood platter awaits you on the waterfront.

At the start of this stage stands Port-en-Bessin, its port always lively when the fishing boats return, particularly during the scallop season. Head on to discover pretty villages, their lanes lined with long stone walls, and manor-style farms dotted along narrow country lanes. You then reach Arromanches and its famed artificial Mulberry Harbour, towed over from England following the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 as part of the greater Operation Overlord to win back Normandy.

Cycling beside the beaches along this stage, you can't help but think of the soldiers who landed in these parts during D-Day and beyond in summer 1944. British and French soldiers came ashore at Sword Beach, Canadians at Juno Beach. The Vélomaritime leaves Arromanches via minor roads that offer 360° views of the sea and the oyster parks below. Take a break at the fishing port of Courseulles-sur-Mer, where a daily fish market takes place on the quays. This stage also allows you to admire Normandy's Côte de Nacre seaside villas, recalling the earliest days of tourist sea-bathing, along with the iconic beach huts.

After enjoying a well-deserved swim from one of Ouistreham's beaches, time to continue your Vélomaritime trip. The cycle route takes you down beside the Orne River, which you cross via the famed Pegasus Bridge, at the most iconic spot secured by the Allies at the start of D-Day 1944, then you carry on back north beside the Bay of the Orne. A paradise for birds and people who love unspoilt nature, this enchanting area is well explained at the Maison de la Nature in Sallenelles. Once back at the coast, an iconic resort along Normandy's Côte Fleurie comes into view, Cabourg, where great Belle Epoque writer Marcel Proust left an indelible mark.

The stretch of Normandy coast known as the Côte Fleurie bears its name well, as you'll see, following this Vélomaritime stage. Note too the great many beach huts that line the way, fiercely competing in designs and colours! Do pause to explore the resort of Houlgate with its Belle Époque villas and admire the first limestone cliffs of eastern Normandy, Les Vaches Noires, at Villers-sur-Mer. There follows a more demanding stretch, your reward coming in the shape of Mont Canisy, a hill providing 360° views over the sea and the Normandy countryside.

You may feel a twinge of regret having to leave the chic resort of Deauville, with its wide beach backed by its famed Planches boardwalk. The Vélomaritime route then takes you via a way lined with apple trees on to Pont-l'Évêque, a great stop for those who love their food, as well as Calvados apple brandy! Enjoy the beautiful ride through the green meadows of the Pays d’Auge area, where the finest thoroughbreds are trained for horseracing and where the cows produce milk to make the finest Normandy cheeses. At the end of this stage, you arrive at the historic port of Honfleur, one of the first spots to inspire the Impressionists.