Dale Booth - Tours in Normandy

I cannot agree more with choosing Dale as your guide for Normandy! We've used him two times and both times were great. And Debbie is the best - we actually stayed at their Bed and Breakfast before they moved to just tours. We were fortunate to be able to sit and talk life with them outside of the tour - great people!

Sounds like you had a great time touring with him. So glad to hear it worked well for a special trip with you father.

Dale was the Normandy guide for my RS tour a number of years ago. I see his name pop up on here from time to time and all mentions are very positive. Great to hear that he has kept providing consistently highly regarded tours.

So happy Dale was able to make a memorable trip for your Dad!

I also had Dale on a Rick Steves tour. To begin with, he asked if anyone had relatives who had landed on DDay or any other special interests. I wanted to see an Advanced Landing Ground (temporary air strip) that a squadron-mate of my Dad's flew in to a few days after DDay. Dale said we can't stop there but I will tell you when it's coming up and point it out. And...he did. Another tour member had a Dad who landed on Utah. With the company number Dale pointed to the part of the beach where he likely came ashore. So meaningful.

And yes, I'd go back and do 2 days with him next time! Worth every penny.

Back in the day, he used to guide tours for a company called Battlebus Tours. We did a 2 days “Band of Brothers” tours with our young adult daughter and her friend. He did such a wonderful job that we went back the next year and did another 2 days with him that included the British and Canadian Normandy experience. He has such a wealth of knowledge and probably more stories than he has time to tell.

I just checked availability on his site. Think the summer months through September are pretty full as well as October when we’ll be there. We won’t be using his services as the days we are in Bayeux he is already booked. Moral-if you’re interested, don’t wait. He does book up fast!

I am wondering if Dale would be a good fit for my family, or if anyone can recommend someone who might be. We are a family of four. My husband and 15-yr old son are WWII history buffs. Myself and my 13-yr old son have a moderate interest in history but are not interested in a detailed account of the battles or the war strategizing, and I'm wondering if we may be bored with a day-long tour.

Is the variety of locations and the personal stories enough to hold the interest of tour participants that aren't huge WWII history buffs, or are these tours more geared for those with a strong interest?

We are debating renting a car in Caen and DIY'ing the sites ourselves, to add the museums (which are omitted from most tours) and to allow us to go at our own pace... versus doing a tour to get the added explanations and personal stories. If anyone here has any insight to this, I'd love your feedback.

Thank you!

to Small Sea-
Before this trip, I had been to Normandy twice where I took the train from Paris and rented a car in Caen. Then we did the sites ourselves using Rick Steves guide book. I wouldn't consider myself an avid WW2 history buff, but I was interested. I loved seeing the countryside in between stops. It was really interesting.

This time, as I mentioned, I took my 90 year old father, who is a veteran (Not WW2) and this was of big interest to him. So I decided to get a guide and decided on Dale Booth. We did the Airborne Museum and Omaha Beach museums at our own pace the first day along with the Bayeux Tapestry. We went in early December and unexpectedly found the fall colors still decorating the landscape. The 2nd day was with Dale. He kept us on the move all day. I think you will enjoy the 1 day tour with Dale like we had. It exposes you to many sites (not museums) and he tells stories and has explanations that will capture your interest if you have even a small interest in this area. He took us to a few places that I had not been before, and I learned so much that pulled together previous visits. He will capture your attention. He is an excellent teacher. Book him as soon as possible because he does fill up his calendar. I truly believe this will be a highlight tour for you. It was for me even though I had been there 2 times before. Hope that helps.

I think a tour is a very, very good idea for folks who aren't particularly knowledgeable about the Normandy invasion. Without a tour, there's a big risk you won't know what you're looking at--and that's when you are at risk of being bored.

Smallsea - we went with Dale two years in a row. Both years we took my daughter and one of her friends and it was a different friend each year. The girls were all early 20s and none had any particular interest in WWll. They all loved Dale and he does a great job of tailoring his tour to maintain interest. He is a marvelous storyteller.

One of the reasons we felt a tour was best for us was because my husband and I had read extensively and we wanted to concentrate on what we were seeing and not being lost or trying to figure out a map. We were both very impressed by the site he showed us that aren’t marked or out of the way.

Having read the glowing reviews of Dale Booth above, and in the spirit of providing an alternative opinion, I did not enjoy our time with him when we toured a portion of the D-Day sights in Normandie, several years before we moved to the area. Granted, it was about a decade ago and perhaps he has improved since then.

I found his presentation to be pretty superficial, riddled with annoying clichés, and frankly disappointing -- I had expected much more insight than we were offered. Again, perhaps he's learned over the years how to improve the presentation of his information, or perhaps he was just having an off-day, but be aware his history includes some disappointed tour participants.

If I were to hire a tour guide, and I might do so when we have friends visiting from the U.S., I would look elsewhere for a guide.

Thank you all for your insight and information, I really appreciate it!

We did a Band of a Brothers tour with Dale in 2009 when he was still with Battlebus. He was very knowledgeable and has a good sense of humor. My husband and I have both read a lot of WWII history, but Dale filled in a lot of gaps in our knowledge. We had a wonderful day with him.

Dear Smallsea - My wife and I did a tour with Dale in December. Like your group, we had different interest levels. I am a World War II history buff and have done a lot of reading and my wife has more of a general interest in history. We both loved the tour. Dale can and did talk about military tactics, but that was only part of the overall experience. There is a lot more to the story and Dale knows every aspect of it. It is really a conversation, not a lecture. Highly recommended.