D-Day Sites and Mont St. Michel tours

You will probably wish you had more time to see both the D-Day sites and MSM. But you have to work within your time restraints. Overlord Tours can handle both tours for you. We used them in 2019 for a couple of tours and were very happy with their services. On one of our tours, the Overlord guide dropped off some people at the Bayeux train station, with their luggage. But I would definitely make arrangements in advance if you want a guide to drop you off at the train station.

https://www.overlordtour.com/

I think a full day at MSM is too much. In 3 hours you can visit everything. And going during the day, as you are planning, puts you there smack in the middle of all the other tourists visiting MSM.

If you're willing to consider renting a car (and driving in France isn't difficult) then I'd suggest an alternative. Pick up the car Monday and visit a sight or two in the MSM area. You could pick from destinations such as Dinan, St. Malo, Cancale, Pointe du Grouin, Dinard, or others in the vicinity (the Michelin green book describes everything). It's around a 2 hour drive from Bayeux. Then arrive at MSM around 3:30pm and stay for the night, as Rick Steves recommends for a better visit. You'll arrive just as the daytrippers are leaving so it will be much less crowded. You'll have plenty of time before sunset to visit, even in March. Have dinner, then go back and see it at night (it's spectacular lit up). Return your car the next morning in the vicinity of MSM and take the train to Paris.

We stayed just across the bridge to MSM (they have continuous shuttle buses) and the advantage is you park right at your hotel. Some like to stay on MSM but that means you'll need to park in a more distant lot and take the shuttle with your luggage to MSM.

Another option for getting to Mont-St-Michel is to take the shuttle operated by the Hotel Churchill in Bayeux. Details are here. Several people on the forum have mentioned this option, and I don't remember any complaints. I haven't taken the shuttle (or stayed at that hotel), but I understand you do not have to be a Churchill customer to take the shuttle. The website indicates the current price is 65 euros per person for the round trip and also include entry to the abbey.

Note that many people have commented that MSM gets blasted with day-trippers. You will be one of them if you visit while staying in Bayeux. Just so you know. It is reportedly a lot more pleasant to arrive later in the day as the other folks are leaving, but without a car that would mean staying overnight somewhere in the MSM area--two one-night stops in a row--and a mid- or late-afternoon arrival at MSM would conflict with the (logical) plan to take a D-Day tour on that day. I definitely do not recommend half-day D-Day tours, because too much of your tour time would be spent just driving from Bayeux to the first stop and from the last stop back to Bayeux. You really need at least a full-day tour.

Based on the reports of severe mid-day crowding at MSM and the limited time you'll have available, I'd give some thought to whether that stop is really important to you. I haven't felt the need to see MSM, despite having been to that part of France twice. (Yes, I am odd.)

If you're arriving via plane you may want to consider renting a car in Paris, then drive out to MSM, spend the night, and then work your way back. Several years ago we drove from central Paris to several of the D-Day sites and on to MSM in time for dinner. It was a long day but fun and seeing MSM at night is impressive from the mainland. If you leave in the morning you should arrive mid-afternoon - plenty of time to visit the island. Then the next two days your drives are shorter. On our trip we used the Rick Steves guidebook as our guide. BTW - the major highways in Paris are similar to the U.S. and driving into the city is manageable if you're patient. A GPS is a big plus but may not be 100% accurate - that's where the patience comes in.

Driving immediately off a long flight isn’t recommended. There is plenty to see in this area, so you will have to be selective as to what you want to cover, particularly if you are wiped out from jet lag, which I would be! You aren’t going to have any time to see Bayeux itself.

Personally, MSM was the biggest disappointment of my 6 week trip to France, as the magic has been ruined by the building of the road right the way up to the door. It was so much nicer when it was a tidal causeway. Building the road has also led to tourist numbers booming. It’s about a 2 hour trip from Bayeux to MSM. I saw it late afternoon/ early evening when there weren’t too many tourists. It was the worst food offer by far on the trip.

I can’t see that there’s any easy route by train from MSM to Paris - check out the route on rome2rio.com. Pontorson is the closest rail station to MSM. You would have to change trains and some of the routes only seem to run twice a day if next week’s timetable is typical. It seems a bit rushed.

I agree with Jennifer, both about driving after an international flight and MSM. I won’t drive more than an hour if I have to drive on arrival day. When we went to Normandy we spent 3 nights in Bayeux and one night on the mainland close to MSM. I may be in the minority, but I wasn’t impressed with MSM, though the view from the mainland is impressive. Not impressive enough to devote a day to it though if your time is tight. We were there in late September on a weekday and it was crowded. It seemed that the island was primarily overpriced restaurants and souvenir shops. I had wanted to stay on the island, but the hotels were expensive and had bad reviews. If I had known what it would be like I would have added that night to Bayeux.

In addition to Overlord Tours and the Hotel Churchill Shuttle (both have good reviews), a minivan service, Bayeux Shuttle, offers a shuttle between Bayeux and Mont St-Michel. This service gets you there and back, but you’re on your own to tour MSM. It doesn’t run every day, though. It also offers Normandy D-Day tours.

https://www.bayeuxshuttle.com/

As to the time frame, it depends on your total schedule and how important visiting MSM is to you. I spent several days touring the D-Day sites and Bayeux (which has a nice market and several worthwhile museums). There is so much to take in at the D-Day sites that one day wasn’t enough for my interests, but it may be enough for you and your mom. I stayed in a wonderful BnB in the town center that overlooked the market and enjoyed the ambiance the city center.

I drove to MSM in the afternoon, arriving after most of the day tour crowd was leaving, so I enjoyed touring it in the evening when it was less crowded. By using a shuttle or tour, you will be there when it is crowded. Depending on how busy the rest of your trip is and how important MSM is for you to visit, it would make for a less rushed trip if you didn’t try to do it in a day and then return to Paris.

It’s likely you’ll still be dealing with jet lag the first few days after arriving, so you should factor the extra driving time to MSM and back, plus the train back to Paris, as you plan.

Here are links to past discussions of tour operators and private guides who offer D-Day tours:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/d-day-beaches-private-tour-guide

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/recommendation-for-a-private-tour-guide-for-the-d-day-beaches

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/using-overlord-tours-in-normandy

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/which-d-day-tour-company

All the best,

Raymond

I haven't read the other replies, so I may be repeating other's advice. I think many people do these sites in that time frame but you will wish you spent more time. It is just a gorgeous area. Our trip in June 2019 was mainly to visit the D-Day sites so we budgeted our time around that. We flew into Paris, took the high speed train to Rennes, then rented a car to drive to the MSM area - it was SO EASY to drive outside of the Paris area. We visited MSM but did not hire a tour guide there. We loved visiting MSM, loved the views of it and loved the views from it. I researched D-Day tours and researched doing it ourselves. In the end I decided to spend the money on a 2 day tour with the Overlord tour company. They offer 1 day tours too. The money was worth it. The guides know EVERYTHING and they are able to take you on private land not accessible on your own.
We turned in our car in Bayeux and on the last day we simply walked from our AirBnB to the train station - a little bit of a hike from our place but we packed knowing this. BTW - I found AirBnB's to be much more reasonable then hotels when we were visiting. but you have to be aware of your own personal physical limitations when booking one (stairs!) then a hotel. Good luck!

I originally had the same thought as you when I booked and made the decision to stick with the just WWII sites and not short change it with the suggestions from the RS group. And save MSM for another time. We are planning on going in October this year and doing the 2 day Bradley tour (Dday and Band of Brothers tour) with overlord. Just depends what you and your mom really want to focus on.