Need help planning a WW2 4 or 5 day trip while already in Netherlands.

that sounds like a great reward.

Not easy but a great reward.

The train connection is not simple, the two places are not close.

It would be Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris Gare du Nord station, get across Paris to another train station, then train from Gare St Lazare to Bayeux, and the next day take a tour with one of the established companies, then the next day back to Amsterdam the reverse of the way you went.

Each direction on the trains takes just over 7 hours. If you leave Amsterdam at 6:15 in the morning you can be in Bayeux by 20 after 1 in the afternoon (takes 3:20 from Amsterdam Centraal to Paris Gare du Nord, 50 minutes to get across Paris to the next station, and just under 2 and a half hours from Paris Gare St Lazare to Bayeux) which is too late to start a DDay beaches tour so it has to be the next day.

Similar same length alternatives at 8:15 and 11:15.. Slower alternatives take 1 to 2 hours longer.

Does that fit with your expectations?

EDIT: corrected typo, arrival in Bayeux is actually 20 after 1 for the first train, left off the zero initially when I said 2 after 1.

Absolutely! This is such great info! So glad I asked. It will be a journey but we will see a lot on the way. Thank you again for replying :)

One of the most memorable WWII sights I’ve ever seen is the war museum in Diekirch, Luxembourg. If you can work out the logistics, I think your husband would really enjoy it. I think you can take a train from Paris to Luxembourg City, then it’s a short train or bus to Diekirch.

The background is that after the Battle of the Bulge, all sorts of war equipment & supplies were abandoned in fields in Luxembourg … tanks, trucks, uniforms, weapons, parachutes, medical supplies. Farmers initially moved these items into their barns, but then decided to aggregate them in one place, which turned out to be in Diekirch. I am not normally a museum person but I spent hours here. There are life-size dioramas, letters from soldiers who fought here, room after room of various supplies. Just amazing. An audio guide is available.

If you can’t fit this in, when you get back home I would recommend visiting the wonderful WWII museum in New Orleans. Very well done and worth the trip.

If you get to Normandy, I think Bayeux is the most convenient base for folks who don't have a rental car. There are several tour companies running full-day small-group (mini-bus) tours of invasion sites, most of them departing from Bayeux. Bayeux has the virtue of having several good tourist attractions of its own, so its worth staying there for 2 or 3 nights: the Bayeux tapestry; the cathedral; a very good, modern invasion museum; the British war cemetery; and an attractive historic center that came through the war unscathed (as I understand it).

I took a tour with Overlord and thought it was good, but there other options out there. I believe the cost this year is 120 euros per person. The driver/guide provided good background information as well as on-site info. That was very helpful, since at some stops there was little if any posted information. And the driver naturally knew the easiest way to move us from stop to stop.

A tip if you take the Overlord Omaha Beach/Utah Beach tour: The lunch break is likely to be in Sainte-Mère-Église. That's where the Airborne Museum is located. The break was just about long enough for a full visit to the museum if you didn't take time for a sit-down lunch somewhere. I bought a sandwich at a bakery pointed out by our driver and scarfed it down while sitting on a bench. I could have saved a few extra minutes--which would have been worthwhile--if I had taken some sort of lunch with me. (However, you cannot eat in the vehicle.)

It is possible to reach some of the invasion-related sites by public transportation, but it's not necessarily easy. My top recommendation for a do-it-on-your-own add-on to a tour would be the invasion museum in Bayeux.

I really appreciate all this insight. Seriously had no clue where to start and you all have made it so much easier. Thank you again, very excited to plan this.

Since this is planned for 2023, I’m assuming you haven’t booked your flights yet. If that is indeed the case, I would urge you to look into flying into Amsterdam, but out of Paris. Many airlines offer this option and it doesn’t have to cost that much more. It will save you a lot of going back and forth and a lot of hassle.

To do what Dutch-traveler is suggesting, you would choose "multi-city" rather than "one-way" or "round-trip" on the website you use to book your flights.

Yes assumed right, I can do that. Thanks both of you!

If you are interested in ww2 history. Amsterdam has several sites you could consider - The Dutch Resistance Museum is excellent and provides a fascinating view of the occupation and Dutch resistance; the Anne Frank house (try too get advance evening g tickets to avoid the lines); and the Jewish Historical Museum, which covers hundreds of years of Jewish life with special exhibits on the war and the holocaust.

Trains from Amsterdam to Paris are an option but, instead, I would consider flying - flights generally cost $125-150 r/t and would save a lot of time in transit., From Paris, it would be very easy to get a train to Normandy or to take a tour from Paris.

I wouldn't take a one-day bus tour from Paris to D-Day sites in Normandy. Too much time sitting on a bus and not enough time actually in Normandy.

Just visited a Maginot Line fort today, north of Strasbourg.

Was blown away by its size underground, we must have walked 6 kilometers.

Ligne Maginot Schœnenberg

I would do a full day guided tour. Overlord Tours us recommended, but we didn’t take it personally. This means you would take the train to Bayeaux and stay the night. It’s a really cute town, so take some time to explore it. The next day, do the full day guided tour. You’ll see several sights and get the narrative. Then spend the night in Bayeux. Then make your way back to Amsterdam the following day. Or better yet, fly home from Paris instead of having to go all the way back to Amsterdam.

Thank you everyone for input, I am so grateful for all your advice and especially flying out of Paris recommendation.

I am doing this flight and part of this trip. 4 days in Amsterdam, train to Paris, 4 days there, probably 3 days in Bayeux and then down to Dordogne for a few days and across to Chamonix and then back up to Paris. Any suggestions on this?

That sounds almost exactly what I was putting together after all the suggestions.

I'd recommend taking a look at transportation between the Dordogne and Chamonix. At a glance, it doesn't seem to be a pretty picture. This is for the trains:

https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/

We did a tour while we were in Amsterdam about Operation Market Garden in 2018. The guide picked us up at our hotel and drove us around for the day to relevant sites. I’m currently on a tour, but I’ll poke around to find the details if you’re interested. I posted a review on TripAdvisor back in 2018.