We will be in Normandy on April 19-24. We have rented a car for this part of our trip only.
We thought a car would be better so we could see what places we wanted to and for as long as we wanted to stay.
My question is do we need to buy tickets for things like the museums in advance?
Thank you
To answer your question in the title, unless someone in you group is a WWII buff and knows the D Day landings very well, I would recommend a tour. You will get so much more out of it other than just seeing some beaches.
Do the D-Day tour as part of your stay in Bayeaux. We spent another day on our own visiting the British and Canadian beaches. The British Museum was quite interesting. We also drove up to Mt- St- Michel for the day.
I have visited Normandy's military areas several times, always with specialized tours. They were all worth the not-inconsiderable cost. Yes, you can drive around on your own but a tour is not about transport. A good guide adds priceless context and insights you are unlikely to see through your own resources.
Seeing museums on your own is fine; they'll all be chock-full of good explanations (in English as well as French). The invasion sites themselves are a different story. I wouldn't have had a clue about what I was seeing if I hadn't taken a one-day tour. I used Overlord, but there are other options. Most if not all the local companies use vans rather than large buses, so you won't be part of a mob.
I'm the minority opinion here. I have visited the Normandy Beaches nine times—seven of them during a D-day anniversary. I have never felt a need to purchase a tour. I will admit that many people who have had tours report favorably on them, but if you do just a little bit of research before your trip and have a car, I do not see the need. But those two things are key. Whether you hire a guide or not, you will get so much more from your visit if you understand the basic history and lay of the land before going. This is not a Disney ride. A little time spent reading a good book or two, or watching a movie about the entire battle, will pay off in spades in your understanding of the battle and the area.
What PharmerPhil said.
We would recommend an overlord tour….and we are not big tour people.
Another vote for overlord tour company. But whether or not you decide on a tour you might get a lot out of this Michelin version of reprinted Battle of Normandy map. Here is a link to Amazon, but it might not be the only place to purchase. https://a.co/d/9Ns3xUO
We had a car and took Overlord because we didn't have time to do our homework -- it was a last minute add on to a trip to Paris and we had 5 days in Normandy. But I noticed that there seemed to be pretty good parking at the beaches and the American cemetery and it seems to me that someone who is willing to study up and plan their visit well could easily do it by car which of course gives you the freedom to add a village or stay longer at a museum or whatever. We were very happy with Overlord but no reason you could not do your own trip.
25 years ago my daughter was a student in Brussels and she and her mates did a Normandy WWII tour by car; one of her fellow students was a WWII buff and acted as tour guide and she said it was one of the best experiences of her life.
When I did this about 10 years ago, it would not have been necessary to get museum tickets in advance -- we visited the airborne museum and the museum at the American cemetery.
We used HQ company tours for Normandy. The very best money we have spent in years.of traveling..I am a history major and had done my own research and don't feel I would have experienced so much on our own. Our guide really brought everything alive. Their company is run by four guides who worked for a large Normandy tour company.
Everyone seems to be assuming your Normandy interest is primarily the D-Day invasion. Are they right?
If you are interested in some of the other sites such as Honfleur, Rouen, Trouville, and dozens more then I suggest getting the Green Michelin Guide which has detailed maps and itineraries for the region. And to answer your specific question for all the museums we visited there was no need to purchase tickets in advance.
My first trip to Normandy was in 2014. We were 4 people with a car and decided to do it on our own. My husband and I returned in 2022. We had a car, but in addition to seeing things on our own we did a tour with Overlord. What a difference it makes to do the guided tour and I highly recommend Overlord. We learned so much more taking the tour.
