Normandy D-Day Beaches

Well it’s dependent on when or if you have to be back to the ship.

I spent several days in Normandy which one could easily do. Theres a lot to see... in general.

Le Harve is a bit of haul and I imagine you would just do a day trip? In that case Omaha and the American cemetery could kill your day. Maybe du hoc as well? Just depends on your pace and interest at each sight.

There’s plenty of tour operators you could try as you mentioned. They may be expensive but they’ll get you around to the biggies. Or if possible rent a car and tour yourself. It’s nice driving there in Normandy. And as I mentioned there’s a lot to see off the beaten path.

It’s worth getting Steve’s France book. He does a good job of plotting out Normandy.

If you use the search box on this newsboard, you can read lots of first-hand reports. Not many of them are from a cruise ship, however. It is almost impossible to do this on your own without a car. With a car, it is very easy - research and summer crowding aside.

There are two reasons the tours are expensive. One is that they tend to provide transportation. The other is that there is tremendous demand from Americans for well-prepared, military-oriented, laminated-photo equipped, private tour guides. I personally don't hire guides, at Pompeii, Bayeux, or wherever. If you go to the library and find our host (Rick Steves) France guidebook, you can read all you need to know for a daylight, one-day tour. I had two additional paperbacks that kept us busy for three days in an outside Bayeux luxury hotel, with a standard-transmission rental car. I'm suggesting there is a trade-off, between hours of research and guide/van fees. It's up to you. Many people hire guides because they're afraid they'll miss the high points. Others don't want to do the research themselves. Others value talking with a relative of people who fought there.

A private tour is always likely to be better than a 49-passenger bus from the ship. Some tours are by the van-load, rather than per-person. Would you dare to bet on finding a couple to share a van with you from the ship? You need travel insurance for such advance payment of large sums, of course.

Are you American, or would you want a focus on Canadian or some other country's participation?

We used Overlord for a Bayeux-based tour, and they offer a tour from Le Havre.

https://www.overlordtour.com/product/tours-from-cruise-ports-9b/?pk_campaign=Adwords-Dynamiques&pk_kwd=&gclid=CjwKCAiAqqTuBRBAEiwA7B66hRgxRfo7KJFFo6KgLUqwpQ1h3ywyYDLcucPijinSPvds87si8cz-_BoCYLgQAvD_BwE

We did the day tour with Overlord Tours that picked us up at the cruise port. It was a shared tour in a smaller shuttle bus with maybe about 10 other people. The tour was really good and we would recommend it.

Thanks to all who replied. ;)