Paris/D Day beaches, then to Chamonix

Coconutbay, welcome to this board with your first post. Is your entire trip 7 nights on the ground in Europe?This is a lot of long jumps, using up at least half of every daylight travel day. Do you really want to spend so much time, say, sitting, rather than sightseeing?

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/summer-travel-to-normandy-from-london-uk

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/day-trip-from-paris-to-d-day-beaches-acf8ace3-7773-4e57-b464-b178dcd45e1f

Please comment on these old discussions so we know what would best help you.

I am not sure this would be enjoyable in my opinion. You really only have a day and a half in London allowing for jet lag. Then the trip to Bayeau is at least a half a day or more. I think you need to get to St. Pancreas two hours before the train to Paris. I think in Paris you have to change train stations and then it is at least two hours by train to Bayeau and another good half hour to taxi to hotel and check in. We did this trip a year and a half ago but had a week in London before going to Paris and straight to Bayeau where we spent four days before returning to Paris. All the transportation was very clean easy to navigate and enjoyable. Best of luck.

Gonna be a rushed, tiring trip.

Have you already bought return plane tix? If not...drop Chamonix for another trip? Or drop D Day beaches? But don't attempt both with both London and Paris in the mix.

Thanks everyone for your replies!

Our friends are kind of freaking out over the tentative costs. I think a more reasonable tour would be, as you say, a day and a half in London, then go to Paris for a a couple of days.

Meanwhile, we have 15 more states to visit before finishing our goal of stepping foot in each of the 50!

I agree with others that this isn't nearly enough time for what you want to see—unless your only goal is to spend your vacation in trains and train stations. I would not recommend visiting the Normandy WWII areas without at least one overnight, and preferably two or three. I personally spend at least a week there each time, and I have seen it several times.

Also, not to be the grammar police, but no one except American tourists refer to it as the "Chunnel." That was a cute blend word made up by the media when the tunnel was first inaugurated. It is properly named the Eurostar train.

P.S. Good luck on your 50 states quest. That is on my bucket list and I have four to go (HI, MT, ND, SD).

Have you chosen this itinerary because it's less expensive for you to fly into London than Paris? If so, given that London is very expensive and the train to France will eat up quite a bit of time, I'd re-do the math and put more weight on those factors. I suspect you'll find you're not really saving all that much. If it's just because you want to see Big Ben, I'd definitely save London for another time when you're able to stay for a week or so.

In any case, I echo others in suggesting you scale it back significantly. Paris plus one other place in France, and even that's a bit of a stretch with only a week.

Skip Paris-Bayeux…..you’ll spend most of a day on a bus and train. The “D-Day Beaches” are about 60 miles long and even a rapid drive through is a long day. The rest of the trip seems pretty routine albeit rushed.

See less and enjoy more.