Location
Villa Eden is ideally placed, between the sea and the countryside, between activity and repose, in the magnificent Pays d'Auge.
On foot, car or bike, you can quickly and easily access the charms of tranquil country roads and local farms, as well as the famous seaside towns of the Côte Fleurie, frequented by such luminaries as Claude Debussy, Yves Saint Laurent and, lately, David Hockney. Villers-sur-Mer is 3km away, Houlgate 5km, and Deauville and Cabourg at 15 minutes' drive.
Villers-sur-Mer
Less than 3 km away, Villers-sur-Mer will welcome you with its pedestrianised centre and its charming market with regional colours and accents, where farm produce, fruit, vegetables, and seafood products are the main attractions.
It has a fine sandy beach of 3 km, accessible to all. Both adults and children will find activities to suit them with lifeguards guarding the bathing areas in the summertime.
Villers-sur-Mer is one of those great seaside resorts that have retained much of their original charm and the splendours of the bel époque; it is dotted with palaces and large villas.
For those of you who enjoy even older attractions, on the beach under the cliffs of the Vaches Noires you will find fossils that date from the Callovian-Oxfordian and Cenomanian periods, with sharks teeth, gastropods, echinoderms, brachiopods, bivalves, ammonites, belemnites, sponges and more.
Houlgate
Less than 5 km away, the small town of Houlgate, pearl of the Côte Fleurie, will delight you with its charm, tranquility, and quality of life.
Houlgate is a family-friendly seaside resort with a human dimension and a wide range of festive and cultural programmes. For example, every year houlgate hosts the international kite festival, a coming together of wind and wave enthusiasts with a chance to try yourself.
Right next to Houlgate is Dives-sur-Mer, where you can shop in the fresh fish market on the harbour. Dives-sur-Mer is where one Guillaume le Conquérant (also known as William the Conqueror) set sail for Britain in 1066. There is a frieze with a list of 475 of his companions on the voyage in the church.
Countryside & Nature
indulge in all the nature and discovery activities around the villa.
In a preserved, natural environment, you can access on foot or by bike: hiking and mountain biking trails, horse riding centres, farms, trout fishing in the Drochon lakes, walks on the famous cliffs of the Vaches Noires, or a round of 9 or 18 holes at the Houlgate golf course.
Activities in the Area
Here is a brief overview of the many activities that await close to the Villa, accessible directly by foot or by car.
The beaches of Villers-sur-Mer, Houlgate, Blonville-sur-Mer, Deauville or Trouville-sur-Mer, offer you plenty of choice between many family beaches and multiple activities. For younger children there are Mickey-Plage clubs that can look after the kids for a day or a half-day during the school holidays.
There is a sailing club in Villers-sur-Mer and a Kitesurf school in Houlgate so the whole family can find an activity on the water matched to their level of experience.
Houlgate Kitesurf School
The Académie de Voltige Equestre Georges Cotrait in Auberville offers many equestrian workshops, as well as cooking and theatre workshops for children aged 6 to 16.
Less than a kilometre away on foot, the Drochon ponds offer you the opportunity to spend a day or half-day trout fishing in a calm and serene natural setting in the heart of the Pays d'Auge countryside. There is an onsite snack bar should some good fishing work up an appetite.
The Golf d'Houlgate, a magnificent 18-hole golf course, is less than 3 km away. However, this is just the closest golf course. Don't hesitate to practice your swing on the many other golf courses in the area such as Golf Barrière de Deauville, L'Amirauté Golf de Deauville, and the Golf Club de Cabourg. For the younger members of the family, you will find mini golf courses in Houlgate, Villers-sur-Mer and Deauville.
Between the Deauville and Cabourg racecourses, horse racing enthusiasts will be spoilt for choice.
There are casinos in many of the larger seaside towns. Between Villers-sur-Mer, Houlgate, Cabourg and Deauville, gaming enthusiasts will be spoilt for choice.
Located in the marshes, not far from the beach and the cliffs of Les Vaches Noires, is the French museum Paléospace l'Odyssée. It is the only scientific cultural site in Normandy dedicated to paleontology, as well as the Greenwich meridian and the coastal marshes.
The Caen Memorial is a museum dedicated to the history of the 20th century and whose theme is oriented toward peace.
Click on "Go to link" to access the interactive map of activities within a 5 km radius of the villa. https://maps.google.fr/maps/ms?msid=207760302300455482403.0004daf38720145ecadf4&msa=0&ll=49.310351,-0.026951&spn=0.087407,0.144196
Click on "Go to link" to access the interactive map of activities between 5 km and 30 km of the villa. https://maps.google.fr/maps/ms?msid=207760302300455482403.0004db0c27061296eb0e7&msa=0
Websites for the towns and villages closest to the Villa Eden and a calendar of events for the area:
Calendars of events for the Seine Estuary and the Côte Fleurie, for Calvados, and for Normandy :