Mont St Michael and D-Day Beaches in one day from Paris

WAY too much in one day - especially with short days in December.

If you are a history buff, try for the D-Day beaches for sure. There are tours that leave from Paris but not sure about that time of year. It is easy to do yourself by car. I took a train to Caen from Paris, and driving from there in Normandy was super easy - but I spent three nights up there, so I didn't have to rush.

That would be crazy trying to do much in one day.

Here is an alternative as many do this like I did without car.

Take the train to lovely town of Bayeux. Stay in Bayeux 2 days. Arrange a tour from Bayeux to the D-Day Beaches.
Note it will be dark around 17:00.
Then take a train from Bayeux to Pontoroson-Mt St Michel
Either get a hotel in or around Pontoroson or on the Island itself.
There is a bus from the train station Pontoroson-Mt St Michel that goes directly to Mont St Michel and back.

Agreed, way too much for one day. As previous comment noted, there are Paris day trips to the D-Day beaches or you can go on your own by train and connect to a local tour in a van or bus. For MSM, you really need to stay overnight in the area.

We stayed 3 nights in Bayeux and did a full day tour to Beaches of Normandy and small villages with significance to the D-Day events.
Then did another full day tour to Mont St. Michel.
Check out the full day tours with Viator.com - they are tour consolidator and book you with local tours. Both of ours were with Overland Tours (we could have booked directly with them if we knew what we were doing.....LOL)

Either one of those place is difficult to do in one day. Can you extend your trip a few days? We stayed in Honfleur one night and Bayeux four nights .

Thank you all for your quick responses! It sounds like we need to decide on one or the other and maybe spending the night nearby. I hadn't considered the fact that it will be dark by 5pm!

Way too much. Definitely do one or the other. And if your choice is the D-day beaches, one day is still not enough time. You'll spend most of the day just getting there and back, and have very little time to spend on the actual sights. Keep in mind that the "beaches" are 45 miles apart as the crow flies—and you won't be flying. All are quite a distance from the main roads connecting them. I would estimate 45 minutes driving time just between Omaha and Utah beaches (not including any time experiencing them or getting to and from them). And these are places that deserve much more than just a selfie to say you were there. Give them the time they deserve and don't rush it.
My too sense...

Beaches possible in one day on a tour from Paris, if there's one in December. I know they do these in the summer but I have yet to hear from a happy customer.

MSM in one day from Paris and back -- fuhgeddaboutit. Sorry.

It will be dark before 5 y then..

There are big bus tours that will do either the D Day beaches or MSM in one day from Paris.. VERY pricey for your family.. you will be looking at almost 500 dollars.. its cheaper and better to do an overnight I bet.

I did MSM as a daytrip from Paris once ( I have been before, but this time had my then 18 yr old dd with me and she really wanted to see it and we had no time to do an overnight) , it is a LONG day.. starting at 7 am and getting back into paris about 8:30 or so at night.. lots of bus time.. but we did get a decent amount of time on mont.. but that was in summer when it was nice out, in winter I dont know if walking around in rain would be quite so fun, it would however likely be a lot less crowded.
I think a visit to the D Day beaches would be a better investment of time and money.

IF you decide to do a bus tour ( they do make it a no stress day in that you dont have to worry about logistics , just get on bus and go ) then you can look at Pariscityvisions or Paristourisme.. the latter often being a tad cheaper .

As the others have said, that's going to be almost impossible to visit both Mont St. Michel and the beaches in one day. That's also not an ideal time of year to visit the D-Day historic sites. In addition to the short daylight hours, many of the local tours may be closed for the season. Without a car and a good map, it will be difficult to get to sites on your own and other than just looking at them, you won't really have much idea what you're seeing. The D-Day historic sites cover a front of about 50 miles and extend some distance inland.

If you were planning to stay at least one night in the area, Bayeux makes a good home base. You may be able to arrange a private tour with one of the excellent local guides, but that will likely be very expensive.

I always print out a calendar of sunrise/sunset times for my travel time frames at www.sunrisesunset.com They have several cities in France altho not Bayeux but Paris or Rouen are close enough to give you an idea.

The common problem is that people underestimate the distance from Paris and then the size of the D-day beaches -- east to west the beaches stretch over 50 miles and that doesn't begin to include the sites behind the beaches. And since there is no public transportation in the beach area you really need a tour guide. And unfortunately, the weather along the beaches, at that time of year, can be miserable. Maybe it should be saved for the next trip.

Too much. If you spent two nights in Bayeux, you would have a whole day - enough to cover a 1/2 day D-Day tour plus the 1 1/2 hour drive to MSM, a look around, and the 1 1/2 hour drive back to Bayeux. It would be quite compressed but you wouldn't have the added travel of getting to and from Paris.

Of the two, it really depends on what you are most interested in. If D-day is your interest, Bayeux or Caen are reachable by train from Paris and are possible in a day. If MSM interests you the most, you probably want to hire a bus tour that takes you straight there from Paris. I've never done that but I imagine it's available.