Does anyone have a suggestion for private tour guide to hire for private tour guide ? Very interested to explore this area and thinking to make it 2 days. Is that enough ? Any thoughts on a “jeep tour”?
I tried Overland and they were sold out.
Thank you.
Though I did not go on a tour of the Normandy sites -- I wish I had -- when I visited in 2012, I can offer one suggestion anyway. I rented a car and saw key sites, covering a lot of ground. I put 80 miles on the car. I rented from an agency in Bayeux across the street from my hotel. (Make sure to see the glorious Bayeux Tapestry, a war relic from nearly 1,000 years ago!)
The highlights include a museum in Arromanches about the invasion and logistics of it, the German gun emplacements about 15 miles away, Omaha, Utah and Gold and other beaches, Pointe-du-Hoc, the American cemetery, the German cemetery and other sites.
The highlight was Pointe-du-Hoc, where Americans shot grappling hooks into cliffs and ascended them under German fire. You can walk into bomb craters still very much visible. There's an underground German command post you can enter.
Two days should be enough. In addition to the D-Day sites and Bayeux sites, the World War II museum in Caen is worth visiting. There's a interesting medieval castle in Caen.
My dad was a US World War II vet, but he was on a destroyer in the Pacific. At Normandy, I met an 88-year-old US Navy war vet who was also in the Pacific from Texas. I wonder if he was a herald from dad, who died in 2006.
If you go to the search box and enter "normandy tours" or "dday tours" or some similar phrase you'll find several dozens of threads on this topic:
https://search.ricksteves.com/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=normandy+tour&button=
https://search.ricksteves.com/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=dday+tour&button=
I've never taken a dday tour but from my years of being on various travel forums the ones I see mentioned most often are Overlord, BattleBus, Band of Brothers, Bayeux Shuttle and various individuals who seem to have previously worked for one of these companies.
Less known is that there is the website for The Federation of Normandy Tour Guides, where you'll find a huge list of licensed/certified tour guides that you can choose from based on your interests and their areas of expertise:
On another travel forum there used to be a poster who was a DDay tour guide (haven't seem them on the forums for a few years) and though I never met this person nor used their services they gave excellent advice and I feel comfortable referring you to their website. They can pick you up in their own car and drive you around, or if you have your own car you can pick them up (less expensive) or if you have your own car and want an inexpensive option they have an app/audioguide that you can download and drive yourself around to various sites.
Great help folks. Thank you !!
