Paris to Normandy private tours

We did a private tour in Normandy with Dale Booth (www.dboothnormandytours.com) and cannot praise him enough. We stayed 2 nights in Bayeux and he picked us up at our hotel. Dale shared his wealth of information with us and had an answer to every question that was asked. He is very friendly and has a great sense of humor, too!

I don't think you are giving yourself enough time to see the sights. The train ride there is at least 2.5 hours. Our tour lasted from 8-5. You should really consider spending at least the night before there so you can devote the entire day to your tour then catch a late train out.

I suspect the best option in that timeframe is a private tour beginning with a train to Bayeux, but that private tour will be pricey for a party of just two (if that is your situation).

Overlord Tours offers a variety of D-Day itineraries, one of which is intended for folks staying in Paris. They take a regular train from Paris St-Lazare to Bayeux, currently arriving before 9:30 AM. The tour picks customers up at the Bayeux train station about 9:30 and returns there there at the end of the day in time to catch a train back to Paris. Overlord uses vans for its tours, so its tour groups are reasonably small. I have not taken this tour, but I was very pleased with the regular one-day Overlord tour I took while spending several nights in Bayeux.

https://www.overlordtour.com/product/tour-2fs-omaha-utah-full-day-tour-week-days-only/

I have no idea how likely Overlord is to be running that tour in September. You should certainly get in touch well in advance to express your interest. Your odds may be better if you're able to say there are several days on which you could take the tour.

If by one day, you mean one day starting in and ending in Paris, I'd say skip it. Don't get me wrong, I love visiting Normandy and have done so eight times. But it is not close to Paris, and once you are there, the area is huge and traveled by mostly small roads. You will spend more time in transit than seeing actual sights. That is like being in New York City, and wanting to go to Cape Cod for the day to see as much of it as you can—all in one day.

The big issue with visiting the D-day beaches is the distance from Paris - significant -- and the size of the beaches. East to west the beaches are over 50 miles in length and another 15 miles or so deep -- a lot of territory to cover. So a tour from Paris will only provide a quick hit on a couple of sites. If OK, if a quick taste is all that you want and you might return at a later time but you will not get an in depth look. You might be disappointed if you are a big WWII history buff. There is a lot more to the beach than Omaha Beach and the Am cemetery that is the two hits on Blue Fox. BUT --- if you only have one day you really don't have much choice. Just understand there will be major limitation on what you can see and do.

Am looking for private tour with guide from Paris to Normandy and and back for family of 21 ages ranging from 7 to 82 in late June
of 2022. would like to spend up to 3 days exploring Normandy area and the beaches. Can Rick Steves put together a tour like
that?

no, crilly410,

Rick Steves company only do the tours they advertise.

There is no contact to the company through posting a question here, if you want to ask them directly use the contact button below or elsewhere on your device screen.

Companies who do Normandy tours are mentioned earlier in this thread.

I am curious - where will you be coming from with 21 people next year? The US?

crilly411,

Welcome to the forum.

It's usually best to start a new thread for each question, for several reasons.

1) You can set the forum software to be notified when you get a reply - but only to a thread you've started. So, by starting your own thread, you get notified, but if you reply to this thread, lamb5246 gets notified.

2) Even "similar" questions are not the same, and it can get confusing reading responses to two questions on one thread. So, having your own thread for your question will get more useful responses, and avoid confusing the OP (original poster).

All that said, in this case Nigel has answered your question - Rick doesn't do custom tours, but you can contact the companies listed earlier in this thread to see what they can arrange for you.