Driving to D-Day beaches from Paris

If you can't take the train due it being Easter (as you've been told), then probably your next best choice is to take a bus tour that originates in Paris. A day trip to the D-Day sites is already pushing it, time-wise, and picking up & returning the car will just further erode into the time you want to have to see those D-Day sights that you're paying all that money to see.

It's a very busy day, however you do it! Is the guide taking you in his/her car or using yours? If yours, any chance you can get a train to Caen and rent it there? Just a short drive to Bayeux. Or maybe a train to Rouen? Somewhat longer drive to Bayeux.

See the nearby thread about where to pick up a car in Paris, vs. taking the train. The difference here is your severe time constraint in trying to see the beaches on a day trip from Paris.

If none of the above appeals, then I'm with Kent, look for a bus tour from Paris and expect a long day. But still worthwhile.

One good thing about Easter Monday is that the traffic won't be bad getting out of Paris. But, unfortunately, getting BACK to Paris will be awful, as everyone returns from the long Easter weekend. Also, you need to check carefully to see which offices will be open on Easter Monday. Given these constraints, it might be best to rent the car at CDG if most of the Paris locations are closed or have limited hours. And dropping off at CDG, you can avoid the Prepherique--which will probably be a parking lot. Via Michelin says it will take three hours one-way from Gare du Nord or CDG. You'll need a very early start and it will be a LONG day, but it's worth it if you are a D-Day enthusiast.

Edited and rewritten: I looked at the trains and see the problem: yikes--best routes must be sold out in both directions.

It's a three hour drive each way. IMHO, you'd be getting back to Paris late enough to avoid the worst traffic coming back to the city. A private guide will give you much more information than in a bus tour from Paris. Is it worth picking up a car at 5 or 6 a.m. and driving around all day and then back to Paris? Could you spend the night in Bayeux to decompress, return the car and go back to Paris by train on Tuesday?

These are pretty intensive tours even when staying in Bayeux for a few days, much less going back and forth from Paris on your own in one day.

Thanks for everyone's advice. I had another idea that may fit for us. I was thinking we could take the evening train from Paris on Easter Sunday to Bayeux, spend the night, then meet our guide in the morning. Then after the day tour, return on an evening train to Paris. Looks like hotels are fairly cheap in Bayeux.

I'm a little confused with all the different rail websites; Rail Europe doesn't seem to show me much. sncf shows a train leaving Paris at 1908 hours. The Capitaine Train site also shows the 1908 train with an arrival in Bayeux at 2116 hours, but when I click on the buy tickets, it just locks up.

Do I even need to buy the tickets in advance or can I just buy them on the day of travel? I just don't want to pay in advance for a guide and then not be able to get there to meet them. Thanks, Chris

You could try the SNCF French website. If you don't understand the French you could bring up a SNCF English site for a translation. I get my best results on sncf.fr.

The 19:08 is an hour longer than normal with two changes, but at least you get there. Arriving after 9 on Easter evening, you will need to order a taxi to the hotel in advance. To do that look up taxis in Bayeux and have a French speaker order the taxi for you if you don't speak French. This isn't a day and time that taxis will be waiting at the station. People say the train station is a few kilometers out of town. I was there with a car, so I don't remember the station.