Do Normandy tix need to be booked in advance?

We booked our tour with Overlord well in advance from the US. I would be surprised if you could pick up a tour at the last minute in high season. They use small buses or vans and they fill up. I am not sure why you haven't been able to book from the US but I would give it another try. Try the Overlord web site if your based is Bayeux.

We booked a private tour with Sylvain Kast of D-Day Experience Tours. He's an amazing guide, super easy to work with, very responsive to inquiries and passionate about Normandy. I reserved a date/time with him before we left the states. Worth every cent! Highly recommend.
http://www.d-day-experience-tours.com/

We have also tried to book Overlord tours for our trip in late August. Filled out their request form 3 times and sent a direct e-mail once with no response. Any suggestions?

David,

As they haven't replied, I'd suggest either phoning them or try a different tour firm.

Michelle,

When is your trip? Generally speaking, one week is NOT enough lead time for the tours, as they're often booked up months in advance. I'd suggest trying a number of tour firms and book as soon as you can.

Thanks for the info. David were you successful with a phone call? I emailed yesterday and haven't heard back yet but they said it could take 48 hours. We will be in Normandy on 8/11 so I have a month. Any other tour companies that people suggest? We are 4 people but the cost of a private tour is more than I can spend. Thanks as always!

michelle,

Which tour companies have you tried to contact?

I used this company for a private tour for 4 last September:

http://normandy44-tours.com/

I found her after many others said they were already booked. She will do private tours, but also may be able to put you together with someone else to save money. She is very nice. We did an Overlord tour in 2012 and were not happy. (Our guide was not feeling well and that might have been part of the problem. The other 2 couples were very disappointed too. It was more transportation to the sights and not much information). We were much happier with Normandy 44.

Don't see my earlier post so I will resend with updated info :). We tried both Normandy Sightseeing Tours and Overlord with no success.
Upon Connie's suggestion, I tried Normandy 44 Tours. Not only did they reply promptly, they answered several other follow up emails just as quickly, will be picking us up at our hotel but dropping us off at the train station and we have a private tour for less than a group rate!
Thanks Connie!

Michelle-

I am so glad it worked out for you. I am not sure she will remember me (Connie Adams, I was traveling with my husband, sister and brother-in-law last September...the restaurant she usually takes people too was closed.) but I would love for her to know that I am continuing to recommend her. It looks like her husband has joined her and is now leading tours as well. (he was still working for a competitor when we were there. She was trying to build up the business so that they could both work for Normand 44.) They both get excellent reviews on TripAdvisor, and I think you will be very happy with them. We also found their prices to be about the same as 4 people taking a "group tour". Enjoy!

Thanks for everyone's advice.
I did contact Normandy 44 Tours and they replied in less than 12 hours. However they were booked for the date we wanted. The good news is they passed our information to Overlord Tours which contacted us within 30 minutes and we reserved our tour 30 minutes after that. That left a very good impression on me for both Normandy 44 and Overlord Tours at least as far as customer service is concerned.