Hello,
In mid-May, my fiancee and I are going to spend two nights in Bayeux and debating how to best learn about D-Day. Any strong opinions on a self-guided tour, vs a group tour or a private tour? The private tours at $600 seem a bit expensive. Overlord tours, while it's a group, cost about $140 for the couple.
Thank you for your input,
Angelo
If you are willing to do the homework and have a car then you could certainly do a self guided tour. I took the Overlord Tour and was very happy on this one day to have someone else do the planning and driving. There was ample time at each stop such as Pointe du Hoc and the American Cemetery and the commentary was helpful. There are about half a dozen stops. It was worth it to us to do the all day group tour. I would not see an advantage in this case of paying so much for an individual tour. We usually don't do group tours but this one worked well for us.
I have done both and I got so much more information and saw so much more with a guide.
I was with a group of 8 and we booked a full day with "Normandy Sightseeing Tours" - our guide was Adrian and he was wonderful.
We saw most of the beaches and walked on them, visited some of historic towns involved in D-Day events and also went to both the American and German cemeteries. It was a full day and I appreciated all the info provided by our guide
We were on a group tour, and I think having an experienced guide show you things and tell you stories contributed immensely to the experience. You can read about things and follow a map, but it helps to have someone organize it efficiently.
another vote for Overlord tours. You can plan it yourself, but you'll never get the depth they have. On our tour a couple of people on the bus were afficionado's (if that's the right term) and it was amazing how much knowledge the guide had in answering any question they had. And another way to think about it is this: a guide might talk for a few hours during a tour. How many hours would it take you to look up the same amount of info? And assuming basic transport costs on your own (rental + gas) are $40, do you value your time to replicate it at $100?
There really is no right answer that applies to everyone. Maybe you'll be happy just standing in the places where events took place, reading thru a guidebook to get the gist of what happens, and all the extra info a guide provides is not really valuable to you. In that case driving on your own would be the right choice.
I've not done this on my own but on a Rick Steves Paris &Heart of France tour last Fall we did a DDay tour with Dale Booth of Normandy Tours. He was really excellent.
What I appreciated most was the way he set us up by starting the tour in the Drop Zones, added in stories about the Paratroopers and the local citizens, then described the geography of the landscape in 1944 and pre-1940 as we drove out to the beach area, then as we walked out on Utah beach he drew out the battle plan in the sand and ended at Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery.
I had asked him before we started if he could point out an Advanced Landing Ground which I knew to be near the American Cemetery. He not only did that when we came to it (with a warning to me to be ready) but also worked in more info on ALGs that is probably not in his regular presentation.
I would go for the small group tour.
We've done a number of small group tours from Bayeux. There are usually max 8 people in the group. Overlord gets excellent marks from all who have taken their tours. We used another company ( Dale Booth worked for them at the time) and just having someone work out the logistics made it worthwhile and that was before the guide's expertise was factored it. With only a limited time, you want to make the most of it. You don't want to be lost on some road trying to figure out where you are.
I would highly recommend taking one of the excellent guided tours in the area, as you'll learn far more about the history and it will be a much more interesting and rewarding experience. I've used both methods and the tours was much more interesting. The guides are exceptional, and always have some small details gleaned from veterans that you won't find in any history books.
The tours are somewhat pricey (some more so than others), but overall they're good value (IMO). Overlord Tour would be a good place to start as they offer both full day and half day tours. If you need other suggestions, post another note.
Overlord Tours is not mentioned on the 2015 book. Are they really the best value?
Angelo,
There could be a number of reasons why Overlord is no longer in the guidebook. That doesn't mean they're not reliable or a good value. You may find it interesting to have a look at this.....
There are several exceptional tours in that area, but they tend to be on the higher end of the price scale. If you want the names of a few more of the tour firms, post another note. Whichever tour you decide on, I would highly recommend booking early.
If you want a smaller tour on your own then consider a www.toursbylocals.com private local guide. We did this, and had a great time. He also took us down some tiny back roads to destinations that I don't believe we would have ever found in any guide book.
Angelo:
My wife & I visited the D-Day invasion region last September, staying in Asnelles (east of Arromanches) for four nights.
The Invasion covered about 50 miles of coastline, so it would take quite a bit of time to see everything. This would be very difficult on a limited schedule. The American invasion landing areas alone (Omaha and Utah beaches) are about a 45-minute drive from each other. For that reason, I’d recommend choosing one landing area (Omaha, which is closest to Bayeaux?), and then selecting a guide who offers a tour of it.
I’d also suggest doing some reading in advance to get an appreciation of what occurred on D-Day. This will make your visit more meaningful (IMO, that is.) Warning you that I am a military history buff, Messenger’s “D-Day Atlas” gives a good explanation of the Campaign … with lots of maps.
For our trip, we drove ourselves to many of the landing sectors. Having a GPS programmed with French maps helped guide us. But I knew beforehand where I wanted to visit.
JohnM
I cannot recommend a good guide enough. My husband is a history major and has a love of all things WWII. We hired a private guide and it was incredibly expensive, but worth every penny. The guide and DH spent a good bit of time over email tailoring the trip to what DH wanted to do and it was awesome. I (who can only handle too much history before I get overloaded) was completely engaged the whole time. But I have read a lot of reviews about Overlord and think they would be a good option as well. Even knowing as much as my DH does, I still feel the trip would not have been the same if it was just us driving around.
However, if you're talking about mid-May THIS year, you might be out of luck for a guide. We have booked our guide again for the end of this May (to see what we didn't cover last time) and he only had 2 weeks available (and we booked March of LAST year). So you should decide what you're going to do and if you are going to hire a tour, do it quickly. Oh, and have a great trip!
Thank you very much, all of you, for all this great advice.
We contacted Dale Booth and he was booked, so we booked Overlord Tours for the full day Omaha/Utah tour #2. Your input helped guide us into making an informed decision and we expect that it'll be a great
I appreciate your suggestions.
Best regards,
Angelo
Do come back and let us know how you got on.
We did an Overland tour some years ago, and it was excellent. However, the area is full of museums and historic sites, and an organised tour may not give you enough time in particular places. We are fortunate in having been able to go to the D-Day coast a number of times, and have always found something new and interesting to see each time. For example, on our next visit to the area, we hope to spend more time in the Canadian museum at Courseulles.
Angelo,
It's great to hear that you've got that sorted. As Bob mentioned, I'd also be interested to hear your impressions after the tour.
I think you'll be pleased with the Overlord Tour, which should give you a good view of the highlights (which is all that's possible in one day). I find that having a guide makes the visit much more interesting and rewarding, and I always learn far more than if touring by myself.
