Normand Beaches from Cruise Port

Here is a link to tours listed on Viatour. You can sure that there are others as well. Cruise Critic often will have lists.
https://www.viator.com/Le-Havre/d4199-ttd

There are many tours from.cruises to Normandy but it is usually recommended to do one booked thru the cruise line. In case something goes wrong you are covered. Many people use another tour company but if they break down or are late getting back to the ship you are out of luck. My daughter has taken over 25 cruises and always.uses ones booked thru cruise line for.peace.of mind. Just something to.be mindful about.

Hi Melissa, if this is a river cruise, the port stops are fairly close together. In my opinion, this minimizes the risk of totally “missing the boat” because if anything goes wrong, you can grab a cab to catch them at the next stop.

I’ve taken eight cruises and in some cases booked private excursions. Benefits include traveling with a smaller group pf people, more flexibility, and lower cost. I review the description provided by the cruise line then do some research on Trip Advisor. It’s usually pretty obvious which tour company the cruise line will use. Then I book directly with the company (not through Trip Advisor). Some companies will pick you up at the cruise port and guarantee to get you back to the ship on time. Be careful but don’t be afraid to book your own excursions. Normandy is not to be missed!

Yes, I've been on ten cruises, and have been on three excursions that came back late. In some cases the ship had to move to a different place because the dock we'd exited onto was booked for another ship. Think about that ... ... .

We have taken many cruises but few excursions. The only time we arranged a tour not sponsored by the ship we used toursbylocals.com and it was flawless. This was in St Petersburg several years ago. We were in contact with the guide we had chosen to discuss and arrange our interests and the itinerary before we left home. For a long and probably expensive tour of the beaches I would personally want this set up prior to walking off the ship. And we have watched a few times as folks ran down a pier waving frantically at the ship already sailing away. It really happens. Safe travels.

Lest there be any doubt: For an excursion to Normandy invasion sites, you definitely want a tour company that specializes in such tours, not some random company. You need a guide who knows the history very well, not someone who has memorized a spiel. I'd check Cruise Critic to see what companies other cruisers have used since most tours originate from Bayeux, which is nowhere near Le Havre. It would be impractical to use public transportation to travel from Le Havre to Bayeux in order to take a Bayeux-based invasion tour.

Should you be nervous about the time you have available--Le Havre isn't very close to the stops on the invasion tours--you do have other options for destinations closer to your port. Rouen has a very beautiful (rebuilt post-war) historic center and some interesting museums; it could be reached by train in 50 to 60 minutes. The town of Honfleur is quite close to Le Havre, has bus service (about 30-35 minutes) and is very popular on this forum. Farther west are Deauville and Cabourg, attractive beach resorts I enjoyed exploring on foot; they have bus connections from Honfleur, I believe--and I think also from Le Havre (but haven't verified that).

Normandy is a big cider-production and dairy area. I'm sure there are related tours available, though I don't know where they actually go.

When the place you are visiting is far from the port, I think it is wise to do a cruise line excursion to insure that. When I visited Granada from Malaga, our excursion was late and Imwas glad the ship had to wait for us ( and several other late cruiseline excursions ! )

I'm also on a cruise that stops in Le Havre. The folks on my Roll Call on Cruise Critic have arranged tours with Overlord Tours. Definitely check your Roll Call on cruise critic to see if something is underway that you can join.

Only because Denny mentioned St. Petersburg, I will note that our Viking River Cruise had an overnight there. Because the Cruise Director was a native of Russia, he cheerfully booked a special evening outing for us to a White Nights opera performance at the Mariinsky Theater.

During our performance, the port authorities ordered our ship to move from one berth to another, across the river. But because our taxi driver (same one before and after the performance) had the Cruise Director's cell number, he found out where to take us. And I would not describe Viking as a "luxury" provider. But that expensive outing was exactly what we hoped for, and was seamless despite the movement of the ship.

Everything acraven said (as usual).