Private Normandy your guide recommendation

lots of people want to do this as a day trip from Paris because of lack of time...and it’s just so worth more than a few hours. You’ll have to arrange a guide who can also provide transportation because the beaches are obviously not at the train station and the beaches are miles and miles of coastline.

Try www.toursbylocals.com which I had great success with for 3 days spent in Bayeux.

If there’s even the slightest chance you’ll be back sometime later to Europe then you would be well advised to put these plans on hold until you have more time to devote to it.

hello -

We have twice used Dale Booth for private tours of the Normandy Beaches and surrounding area. Check out his website as he does have information on day visits from Paris. He does book out pretty far in advance but I highly recommend him if you have the time and the schedule works out for you.

happy travels!

I do not know how often it is offered, but Overlord Tours has an almost-full-day tour designed for people traveling up from Paris on an early train. They do this by having the tour depart somewat later (30 minutes??) and from the Bayeux train station rather than the center of town. At the end of the day they deliver clients right back to the Bayeux station.

You could also check with Overlord about a private tour.

I agree that there is a great deal to see in Normandy that you will miss on a truncated tour of the D-Day beaches--starting right in Bayeux with the tapestry, the cathedral and the very good WWII museum.

Dominic,

Your plan to tour the Normandy beaches on a day trip from Paris almost certainly means that you'll have to book a private tour that provides transportation, and that's not going to be cheap. I haven't checked the rates, but suspect the tour will be in the range of €600. The landing sites covered an area of about 50 miles and extended some distance inland, so as others have mentioned an abbreviated tour will only be able to cover a limited number of sites. I'd suggest getting your group together and deciding which ones are most important for you, and the guide can tailor the tour accordingly.

Some of the guides you could consider.....

• https://dboothnormandytours.com/
• https://www.overlordtour.com/
• http://www.visitdday.com/ (I can't remember if he's able to provide transportation, but you can ask)

You could also have a look at this option which will probably provide about the same time in Normandy, but you wouldn't have to deal with the trains - https://www.pariscityvision.com/en/france/normandy .

Whatever you decide, it's going to be a long day.

Another vote for Dale Booth--he is fantastic. But he does book WAY out in advance. Good luck!

Bertrand Saundrais. He will almost certainly be willing to pick you up at the train station (and return you as well).

His website: http://www.executived-daytours.com/

TripAdvisor reviews: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187181-d1788361-r70450417-Executive_D_Day_Private_Tours-Bayeux_Calvados_Basse_Normandie_Normandy.html

Rick's Forum reviews/comments can be seen by putting his name in the Search field above. Our day with him was extraordinary.

We took the train and did the full day with Overlord. The tour was excellent. It wasn’t a private tour but they used a van that only held 6 people.