We will be in Bayeux for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
I am a planner and like to have a solid idea of things to do. We will be there for three full days - 4th, 5th, and 6th of June.
Anyways, given our three days, do you think we could do a trip to MSM on either the 4th or 5th? We all agree that we'd love to see the Normandy Countryside, but we also don't want to miss a festivity. We will have a car.
Just looking for input from someone who has been to a previous Dday anniversary.
If you use the Search box top left, you may find some first-hand reports of extreme crowds around anniversaries.
I have been to seven D-day anniversaries, including the 70th and 75th. I will also be returning for the 80th, and have been there other trips and times. I personally think the dire warnings of crowds are overblown, but it does take some planning. It will be crowded, but it is a very large area with much to see and do. There will always be some event to attend—even on the anniversaries. I presume you already have accommodations. If not, it is already too late (sorry). I also presume you will have a car, otherwise you will be restricted to a very small area around Bayeux. Great city, but so much will happen in many other areas and there isn't workable public transportation in that region. Also, I can't tell if you are interested in U.S. events, British or Canadian. But Bayeux was not an area of U.S. operations in the Battle of Normandy. If both lodging and transportation are already secured,...
Many of the festivities will happen the week of June 1st–9th and many of the events, celebrations and memorials are not even listed yet. And they won't be until this Spring. Of course there are many events on the 6th itself, but the events happen over a much longer time period. Plus, the transportation restrictions will be on the 6th itself.
Yes, you could go to Mont-Saint-Michel as a day trip, but with only three days in Normandy I wouldn't bother. MSM is best as an overnight anyway (crushing crowds mid-day) and there will be much to do in upper Normandy that week. If you had your heart set on the Mont, you may consider going on the 6th itself. I may even do that this year but haven't decided. If you could extend your trip a little, there will be a mass parachute drop on the farmlands inland from, and in sight of MSM on June 7th organized by the Round Canopy Parachute Team (RCPT, a French WWII reenactment group). If you will be in Bayeux on the 6th, consider applying for a free ticket to the ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery. This is the only way to visit there on that date, and the two times I have filled out a form (https://www.abmc.gov/), I received notice while in Normandy that my application was approved. It is a very moving ceremony, and will likely be attended by Macron and Biden (or whoever the U.S. President is at the time). But it will take the better part of the day between the ceremonies, getting there and back, plus security (you have to take a government provided bus from a nearby village, you can't make your own way to the cemetery on the 6th itself).
One site that will list a lot of ceremonies on the Cotentin Penninsula is:
https://www.ot-baieducotentin.fr/en/
But don't expect to see much listed before April or May. The Cotentin is the epicenter of American operations during the anniversary, as that is where the U.S. military is based during their stay there, and was the location in 1944 of the U.S. Airborne drops. Sainte-Mère-Église is a party town all week long, culminating in a mass parachute drop by many different military and reenactment jumpers at the La Fière Causeway on June 9th. There will be fireworks all along the coast on the 6th itself, including on Utah Beach.
Another site that may have events listed is:
https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/
If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message.
EDIT TO ADD: A more direct link to the ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery is here:
Note that they will not be open to the public at all on June 5th next year.
I don't think the warnings of crowds are overblown. I live on the Cotentin Peninsula and plans for events at various communities are in the local papers every week. Coming in the wake of Covid, the 80th anniversary is going to be huge. People want to gather. Crowds are going to be huge. The number of events at communities scattered around the area is imposing and will draw countless visitors.
My suggestion would be to find one, two or maybe three events you really want to experience, and then go to those. You won't be able to see very many of them and traffic will be a nightmare, especially as you approach the coast where the landing beaches are located.
I'll just reiterate that I have never seen the roads "clogged," and have only seen them closed on June 6th itself. And then only when a head of state is there (usually a 5 or 10). Sure, you may have to park a couple of blocks from a given event, or from downtown SME, but not so far that you can't attend (with the exception of the American Cemetery on June 6th). And most of the beaches, large memorials, batteries, etc. have plenty of parking. The only other event I have seen with difficult traffic is the large parachute drop at La Fière Causeway the Sunday closest to D-day. But even they have a lot of parking in the fields, or you can just walk from SME.
It could be that some locals ideas of traffic are not the same as mine given it is a rural area and typically very quiet other than in June. But the traffic even in June is nothing near like any small or decent sized city at rush hour.
Thank you for the responses.
I'd like to add that a member of our group went to the 75th. While it was crowded, he never felt as if he couldn't get around at all. We have lots of experience traveling to major cities for big events and we are not intimidated. Of course, we don't have a lot of expectations about seeing the cemetery and beaches on the 6th.
I'm mostly concerned that if we do our scheduled tour on the 4th that we will still have enough time on the 5th and 6th to see museums + tapestry. Obviously, without MSM that is 100% doable. Doing MSM on the 5th makes that harder, not to mention we run the risk of missing on a scheduled event.
Matt from Springfield…..experiences vary. I live about 20 miles in from Omaha Beach
28 miles from Omaha and 24 miles from Utah for me. It's a hilltop town and several C-47s flew low over our house, one after the other, last June on the 7th. It was impressive
