London and normandy

Rick has a "Best of London in 7 Days" tour that might work very well for the first part of what you want to do:

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/england/london

I think the easiest, most reliable way to travel between London and the Normandy invasion sites is to take the Eurostar from London to Paris (spend a night there or not) and then take a train to Bayeux via Caen. There will be a change in train stations in Paris.

There are quite a lot of companies offering small-group invasion-related tours originating in Bayeux. I don't recommend the half-day tours, but the full-day tours can cover quite a lot. Some companies offer more than one tour (US sites, British/Canadian sites, etc.), and some may offer multi-day tours. I believe all the Bayeux-based companies use vans, not big buses. You can also arrange a private tour (more money, obviously) that focuses on your interests.

Two companies often mentioned are Overlord and Dale Booth (which I think may be more expensive, but people seem to love it). There are quite a few other companies, and it's rare to have someone post here with a negative comment about the D-Day tour they took. Use the Search box above for Normandy tours and you'll uncover some more company names if folks don't respond here.

A lot of the key invasion-related sites are difficult or impossible to reach by public transportation, so some sort of tour is a good idea if you don't want to drive. And even if you are willing to drive, I think you miss out on a lot of background information that would be provided by the tour driver/guide unless a member of your travel party is extremely knowledgeable about the invasion.

There are a few WWII-related museums in the area that can be reached independently without a car, one or more of which could be a nice supplement to any tour(s) you take. One is the Memorial de Caen Museum (in Caen), which some of us like but others find too large, crowded, expensive and broad in its coverage. It begins with the period leading up to the war and extends to the Cold War; it's really a full-day activity. A second is the Civilians in Wartime Memorial, a museum in Falaise about the civilian experience during the war which also covers Resistance activities. A third is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial near Colleville-sur-Mer, which is visited very briefly on some of the one-day small-group tours.

Bayeux escaped WWII destruction and has an attractive historic center. The Bayeux tapestry is displayed there, the cathedral is worth visiting, and there's a good, modern invasion museum on the edge of town. The latter takes about 2-3 hours to see. When I visited Bayeux in 2017 the tourist office ran walking tours of the town, some of them in English.

First book flight into London and out of Paris.

Secondly, in your research review Verger Tours and London Walks options.

Lastly, take the Eurostar from London to Paris. Research your tour options from there to the WW2 Normandy sites. Eurostar is expensive so book early.

A number of posters here have mentioned the Overlord Tours.

Claudia's tip about the flights is spot-on. You want to book a "multi-city" flight, not two one-way flights (which would probably be a lot more expensive).

We just did something similar this September. We flew into Edinburgh spent week then train to London and spent a week. Eurostar to Paris and train to Bayeau. Was direct train from Paris to Bayeau. Did have to change stations in Paris but went direct to Bayeau which I think took about two hours. Taxi from train. Station to our B&B which was fantastic and was only one block from the tapestry. Next day all day private tour from 9 to 5 was a splurge but fantastic. Then another day in Bayeau and back to Paris. All without a car. Be sure you do not book separate tickets with airline and always book direct with airline. Will look up name of the bed and breakfast and tour if you want.

Yes, thanks, Gail, it would be good to know the name of your tour and place you stayed

Will look up.the tour information. Tomorrow. The Bed and Breakfast is Villa Aggarthi. She has chickens.in the far back yard and so we had fresh eggs and fresh omelets every morning. If you look up the double room, that is the one we had. Fantastic bed super clean and we loved sitting In the courtyard having glass of wine among flower garden. highly recommend it. We are returning in May! Best wishes.

If you go to Normandy, be sure to go to Bayeux and see the amazing 900 year old Bayeux Tapestry, still intact. It tell the story of the Norman conquest of England.

Connie: The tour of Normandy we took is called HQ Company Tours www.hqcompanytour.com. our guide was Yannick Sterke. He was great even used sound effects to mimic guns being fired. Be prepared for sticker shock but we felt it was worth every dollar we spent. It was just the two of us but he does tours up to eight people. Good luck.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but you might find this old discussion a helpful overview of the situation.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/london-to-bayeux-and-back-again-by-rail

Novice travelers have to start somewhere and if you feel strongly about these two destinations, that's great. Many Americans want to go to England first because they're afraid it'll be hard to see countries where English isn't the native language. But I can't ask you to take my word on how easy it can be, when this is your first trip to Europe!

You may not understand that wanting a tour to cover both of those locations may require some expensive custom-touring plans. It's easy to get tour guides and bus trips in each of those two locations, but something that covers both of them as one seamless product is in fact, a premium purchase. It's also important to know that Normandy is so popular with Americans that there are a vast array of tour products there, many of which are superb, but priced to match. One source of expense is private car transportation for the highest end Normandy tours.

You don't mention Paris, and that's all right, but you're probably going to have to go through Paris to get to Normandy. So you might reflect on whether you want to get a look at this wonderful major city of Europe as part of the trip. Normandy is not next-door to Paris And to get there from CDG airport requires a change of train stations in Paris, which lots of people do but it's confusing for, just to use your term , novice travelers :-).

You may wish to hit your local public library and look at our host's travel books on England and on France. His books are particularly directed at novice ravelers so they have a lot of general information as well as what you need to know about specific countries. You can get an idea of what I'm talking about by looking at his free "Travel Tips" in the menu top left.