Cost of Living (Normandy, France)

Though cost of living will vary from person to person, knowing some of the expenses for a location can make budgeting easier.

FEATURED ON HOMEPAGEFRANCE

10/29/20266 min read

Normandy Region France

22-nights April-May 2026

Welcome to our cost break-down per city. The prices listed are the total cost for two adults, unless a per person or per day cost is also provided. All costs have been converted from local currency to USD at the time of purchase with exchange rates reflected.

HOUSING

HOUSING:

The Normandy region of France lies in the north-western corner of the country. It is most known for lush agriculture, cheese and cider production, and the D-Day landing during World War II. We stayed in an AirBNB apartment near the tram line in the city of Caen [kɒ̃, kɑːn]. We were on the second floor of this spacious one-bedroom apartment near Église Saint-Pierre de Caen.

An individual's perception of home may differ from hostels to luxury hotels, and the choice may change depending upon the country or the size of city. Right now, we use a combination of short-term rental platforms including AirBNB, Hotels.com, VRBO, Expedia, and Booking.com. Our accommodation choices are mostly 1 bedroom/1 bath apartments or hotel rooms within a modest budget category while living in small cities and big towns from 1 day to 1 month.

total cost $2015.00 ($92/night)

TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION

Content creators for travel information report the category of transportation very differently. Some include the cost of arriving into the new country or city and some do not. In full transparency, we will report both the local transportation cost and the long-distance arrival cost. The long-distance arrival cost will not be calculated into the per day cost since people will arrive to this destination from all over the world.

TRANSPORTATION:

Arrival: This leg of travel took us from New York (USA) thru Dublin (Ireland) to Paris (France). Total cost for this journey was 45,000 airline points and $112.99. After arriving in Paris, we acquired tickets on a Flixbus ($43 each) which transported us comfortably from Paris to Caen. The total cost for travel from NYC to Caen was $199.

Local: Caen is a medium sized city used less often by travelers. It has a great transportation system which allowed us to take a train to Bayeux, buses to the beach, and trams for basic cross-town travel. We used all of these public transportation options during our 3-week visit. Because we wanted to see more of the countryside, we also rented a car for 3-days through Sixt. With the car we were able to drive to the famous Mont Saint Michel monastery, the tasty Cider Route, and the delicious Cheese Route. The total cost of local transportation including the car rental was $367.

total local cost $367.00

($183.50/person)

FOOD-MARKETS & DINING OUT

Everyone needs to eat. Grocery store shopping and restaurant dining are viewed differently by content creators. Some will add restaurant costs into their entertainment budget. In this category we will include all grocery store shopping and dining out expenses.

FOOD

Every Sunday Caen hosts a large farmers market which attracts up to 400 vendors in high season. We ate breakfast at this market weekly and purchased fresh bread, meat, and produce to take home. Additionally, our apartment was located near 2 grocery stores, a butcher, a patisserie, and fromagerie where we shopped. Our total grocery costs were $450.00.

Restaurant meals were great treats about twice per week as we were out and about in our adventures. We had laughs with some English fútbal fans at an Irish Pub, hosted a French lady for lunch after she toured us through here city, and enjoyed a very special cheese and wine tasting. The meals out total cost was $738.00.

total cost $1188.00 ($54.00/day)

ENTERTAINMENT

Entertainment is the third most expensive part of travel behind accommodations and transportation. This category includes entrance fees, tours, excursions, and shows. Food tours and dinner theater will also be part of this category because an entertainment is added to the food experience. Generally, slow travel entertainment costs will to be less expensive than the holiday vacations.

ENTERTAINMENT:

total cost $545.00 ($272.50/person)

The D-Day beaches are a big draw for many history lovers. As a veteran, Greg wanted to experience it carefully. For $170 each, we took a full-day, small-group tour of the beaches and towns impacted by that time in history. To learn more about D-Day before the tour, we visited the Mémorial de Caen at $30 each. On the car rental weekend, we drove to the famous Mont Saint Michel monastery and paid for parking, admissions, and audio/visual guides ($75).

MEDICAL

shallow focus photography of prescription bottle with capsules

MEDICAL:

In this city, Greg needed to refill his daily medications. He took the paper prescription, signed by his doctor, into the pharmacy and they easily filled three medications for 90 days each.

total cost $68.00

Plan for the worst and hope for the best. No one likes to be ill hurt, but medical expenses should be part of the estimated budget for any traveler. We purchase an international medical insurance plan whenever we travel to cover catastrophic issues, but we also budget for our monthly medications. Anything purchased in a pharmacy will be included in this category on the month the purchase was experienced.

PERSONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS

This is a category that should be expected in any budget but can look wildly different for each person. This category includes everything from personal maintenance to things cannot be classified in the other categories such as haircuts, massage, manicure, clothing, souvenirs, or household items to feel more comfortable in the accommodation. Some travelers or content creators omit this cost from budget reporting because it is so personalized.

A barber in black gloves cutting a man's hair

PERSONAL/MISC.:

To make calls in a foreign country using our carrier Google Voice, I loaded $25 into my account. Google Voice allows me to use my USA phone number to call a restaurant or business in France at a current rate of $0.01 per minute. Therefore, the $25.00 will last a long time. Greg needed a haircut this month too (10.00€).

total cost $42.00

RECURRING COSTS

These costs are dependent upon the person or couple. People who maintain a home while traveling may incur more costs than people who sell everything for full-time travel. By analyze your own budget before travel begins, you will better understand which line items can be omitted from life and which ones are constant, permanent costs.