doing your own tour on D-Day beaches

We nearly froze in July! But, we were told the week prior the beaches were full of sunbathers, so I guess you never know. I suppose I'm not the one to answer the question because we took a tour ( 8 person van pick up at the cruise terminal in Le Havre). We did Omaha, Utah, American Cemetary, and Point de Hoc easily in our day. We did get better parking due to being a tour, but I would think you would be fine on your own. We had the added drive to and from the cruise terminal, so we had less time and it still seemed fine to me.

It's a long day (but not The Longest Day). It depends on where you want to start and how much time you want to spent. In the book Ricks starts at Arromanches for a look at the artificial harbor. I found it fascinating, but if your skipped it and the battery at Longues-sur-Mer, you'd have plenty of time for the cemetery, Omaha Beach, and Pointe du Hoc. By the way, beach access from the cemetery is closed due to security concerns.

We also went to Sainte-Mere-Eglise for lunch and to see the church and town.

If I was going to do this on my own, I would check out some of the guided tour companies' itineraries to get an overview of the major sites and their locations, and then put together a doable itinerary given the amount of time you have allocated for the day. For example, see Battle of Normandy Tours, Beyond Band of Brothers Tours, and D-Day Battle Tours. I would also invest $20 in this book. Then, you should be good to go.

My wife and I did a self-tour with a rental car in early June, 2015. Based in the wonderful town of Bayeux, we drove first to Arromanches, which has the remains of "Port Winston," an absolutely unbelievable artificial harbor that was built in 48 hours to facilitate the invasion. There is a great D-Day Museum there. We worked our way west from there all the way to Utah Beach. There are several museums along the way, and the cemetery at Omaha Beach was one of the most moving experiences we have had; a huge place, whispering people, not a blade of grass out of place. I'm literally tearing up just thinking of it. Pointe du Hoc, where rangers had to scale a cliff, was bombed such that the ground looked like a giant version of an egg carton. It was stunning to try to imagine what it must have been like to be there. Some towns, notably Bayeux, have stores selling D-Day stuff--helmets, shell casings, etc.--that people are still finding. We saw people wading around with nets, looking for more.

To address your question, we were very happy to tour on our own. D-Day information is readily available in books, and there is plenty of interpretive signage at the beaches and in the museums. At least in early June, driving and parking were a breeze. This had to be one of the most memorable days in our (now senior) lives. I left there vividly aware that the invasion was a really improbable group effort of uncountable numbers of support people, engineers, etc., in addition to the spectacular heroism of the actual fighters.

Luckily I read Joel's post before I posted my reply...we did nearly the same thing as they did but we spent three nights in a darling hotel with lovely views in Arromanches. And our trip was a few years ago. He is right when he says there is a lot of information available on all the sites and having the rental car for those days enabled us to travel at our own pace, picnic on Omaha beach (all by ourselves-evocative and moving experience....) and truly spend our time however and wherever we wanted to spend our time. We went in mid-October and except for the Omaha Beach picnic ( misty and cool day), we had gorgeous weather. This trip was a huge eye opener for us; we learned a lot of history not taught in US schools.

To give you a differing opinion... we are not tour people either, but we were very happy that we did a day with a guide in this area. There is no way we could have gotten as much out of this on our own as we did with Chris. This is a private tour - he gets in your car and navigates, so it's just you and him. He will customize based on your interests. It's a really full day and worth every penny.
He and his wife also run a charming B&B in the area, Navy and Co. We had already booked our accommodations in Bayeux but would love to stay with them next time.
http://www.visitdday.com/home.html
http://www.navyandco.com/

We also did our own touring similar to the others posted here. We stayed in Honfleur so it was a bit of a drive but well worth it. Being Canadian,we allowed time to visit the Canadian area too.

Jerry&Stelly,

Although you're not "big" on guided tours, a tour would be a really good idea in this case as you'll learn far more about the history and many obscure details, and it will be a much more interesting and rewarding experience. In addition to that, the guides know the area extremely well, and you can get to the various sights much more quickly and efficiently than if travelling on your own.

Many of the tours there travel in small Vans of about eight passengers. Tours are available in both half-day as well as full-day (or multi-day) versions. If your budget will allow, you could also opt for a more personalized tour in your own car, and Chris (mentioned in a previous reply) will make sure that you have an outstanding and interesting tour.

Thank you all for your reply's. We will discuss the options with our friend who will be doing the driving. We are still leaning towards renting a car in Caen.

Utah beach is quite a bit farther but as it is the wildest area least changed from 1944 it's a nice trip.

The Canadian and British landing beaches are rather built up.