Overlord Tours

I am soooo glad you had had a good experience after the first company pooped out on you. I have always heard great things about Overlord, and inalways recommend that people invest in a guided tour to get the most out of the D-Day beaches.

Interestingly... my guide told me that the original company I was with was being sued by many of its guides for pay.

The company's storefront offices are a couple of hundred feet away from my hotel and I have yet to see them open.

Did you do a half-day or full day tour? What sites did you visit and how much time did you have at each site? I’m always reluctant to take tours because I feel like they are very rushed. My husband can easily spend 4 hours in a military museum, so sometimes I wish I WAS being rushed!

I took a one-day Overlord tour a few years ago. They have several to choose from. I would never recommend a half-day tour, because way too much of that short time would be spent just driving between Bayeux (the usual starting point) and the nearest (but not so near) invasion site.

My tour took its lunch break at St-Mere-Eglise, where the Airborne Museum is located. By grabbing a pre-made sandwich at a bakery rather than a sit-down lunch I had just about enough time to see the museum. The Airborne Museum doesn't take as long as some of the other museums in the area. Bayeux itself has a good one that really needs a few hours. The Caen Memorial museum is extremely large and covers a significant stretch of time from the lead-up to the war through the Cold War. That museum requires about a full day if you want to absorb everything; many people find it overwhelming and prefer one of the smaller, more-focused museums.

I took a full day tour. We left at 8:30 and returned at 5:30.

Like a craven, we were given 2 hours in St.Mere Eglise. It was a market day and many grabbed a hot sausage on a roll for lunch to give us time at the Airborne museum.

You can do it yourself but most of the non- museum sites don't have much information. I enjoyed the detailed commentary as well as having someone driving who knows the way.
Some of the back roads we took were confusing.

We loved our whole day Overlord tour with guide Thierry earlier this month. Packed with facts and info he was! We saw so much of countryside sites and tiny villages all full of WW2 history. I was worried I would be overwhelmed as this is more my husband’s interest…but I found it so inspirational, scenic and interesting! We also noticed the other tour company In Bayeux closed and not available like you Frank. I think it best to do the whole day tour if possible. We went w/o reserving. Risky but fortunate we got in!

We were very happy with Overlord Tours on our 2019 visit to Bayeux. We had wanted to take the Hedgerow Tour, but nobody else signed up. So, we took the same tour as Frank II, followed by the British and Canadian Sectors tour. We especially enjoyed the British and Canadian Sectors tour, since we had previously toured American D-Day sites with the now-defunct Battlebus Tours. But every Normandy guide has his/her unique insights to share.

The former proprietor of Battlebus, Paul Woodage, offers private tours, which I would also recommend.

https://www.ddayhistorian.com/