France to Normandy

Normandy is a vast area. I'm assuming you may have something in specific you wish to see? Please describe and then it will be easier for folks to advise.

Very sorry. My husband's father was on Omaha Beach and we would like to visit that area specifically.

That's not an ideal day trip from Paris due to the travel times involved, but it certainly is feasible. That will only provide a limited time to see some of the many sights in that area. If possible, spending at least one night in Normandy would be better, and Bayeux is a good place to consider. Taking one of the excellent half or full day tours will provide a much more interesting view of the history, and the tour firms provide transportation also. In order to get to Omaha Beach, you'll need a car.

I too would recommend at least one night in Normandy, and as Ken says Bayeux would be your easiest base for Omaha beach and other sights. It's an easy train ride from Gare St-Lazare in Paris. There are tours as he describes (I haven't taken one but have read much praise for various guides on this board) from Bayeux. Also in Bayeux there's a good WWII museum and, of course, the world-famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the reverse-invasion of 1066, aka the Norman conquest of England.

I believe there are companies offering one-day trips from Paris to Normandy and back, but I've never seen a positive reaction to such a one-day tour on this board. Having spent several days in Normandy a couple of years ago, I'm glad we gave it that much time and wish we'd had a couple more.

Omaha Beach is a stirring sight. Hats off to your grandfather. It's hard to imagine the courage it must have taken to wade through the surf onto that beach that day. EDIT -- Just reread your second post and realized he was your father-in-law. My apologies. Admiration still applies.

You all provided such great information. Thank you so much. I know he was a medic and he came ashore on D-Day. We will definitely plan to spend at least a couple days there. Thank you again.

I believe that some of the private DDay tour guides will research your grandfather, the division he may have been with, the boat he may have been on, etc. so you have a guided tour tailored to the experience that your grandfather may have had, if that makes sense?

There are also group tours, and you can tour the DDay sights on your own.

We will be taking a guided tour in September; I plan to report back with our entire France experience. Not sure when you are going, but if our guide is good, I'll definitely be happy to recommend their services.

We took the train to Caen where there are 3 rental car agencies right across the street from the Caen railroad station. We used AutoEurope and had our own GPS with hotel and museums saved into favorites. We took a full day D Day Beaches tour but as with most tours we got to just spend only a few minutes at some sites. We returned the next day with our car and spent four hours at the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer. We located the graves of the Niland brothers, the basis for the movie, "Saving Private Ryan", Medal of Honor winner General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who led the 4th Division ashore at Utah Beach and died a month later of a heart attack, and others from our home state of KS. We spent the full day there, picnicked along the shore and were quite moved by the sacrifices of so many.

In February I went by train from Paris to Bayeux and we stayed 3 nights there. We did a full day tour to the d-day beaches and American Cemetery and some other small towns that were involved in the d-day landing. It was very very interesting.
We booked a tour through viators.com - they are a tour consolidator and they can book you with some different tours 1/2 day, full day, etc. We also booked a full day tour to Mont St. Michel.
Or you can book your tours directly with one of many of the tour companies that offer tours to these places from Bayeux or Caen or some other places.
I just did a google search for d-day beach tours and it brought up all the various companies that do tours and I was able to look at several companies to compare prices of what they are charging.
I would recommend a tour rather than renting a car and going on our own, because the tours know all the short cuts, best places to see and can offer a narrative to explain what you are seeing. ( we saw Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, Sword beaches)

Does booking with the consolidator Viator save you any money over booking directly with the local companies/tour guides? I am already beginning my research for next summer. I expect to spend 2-3 days there in early July. I will be traveling solo.

To maddietravel who asked about Viator:
I've used Viator on several day tours and had good experiences with them.
But I doubt you save money, they are a third party and would need some kind of markup, I would guess. I've found their prices reasonable. But if a Viator tour is less than what other tour companies charge (other companies that specialize in D-Day), you probably would want to compare what you're getting with each.

We were in Normandy this past spring and hired Sylvain Kast as our tour guide. He was phenomenal from the moment I engaged his services. Willing to personalize your experience and very responsive. No hesitation in recommending him. Best money we spent!
http://www.d-day-experience-tours.com/