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Short trip to Beaches of Normandy - guide recommendations?

Posted by (Illinois) on

Hi,
I am considering a trip to Ireland next year. I am trying to see if we could fly from the US into France first, specifically to spend a short time (3 days?) at the beaches of Normandy (Omaha etc) first. Then take a flight to Shannon airport for the Ireland portion.
I am assuming we will need to fly in to Paris and take some transportation up to Bayeux or Caen. True?

Does anyone have recommendations on the best way to do this? Train from Paris? Guided tour that starts in Paris with transportation? Guided tour that starts in Bayeux or Caen?

And lastly, are there any local guides that you would recommend to do this tour, with transportation?

Thanks much!

Posted by
160 posts

There are tours that start from Paris or half day tours that require you to get on an early train to Bayeux and it makes for a long day.

I'm planning on Paris - taxi to train station from airport - Train to Bayeux - 3 nights in Bayeux - 2 days with Overlord, 1 day Mont St Michel. But obviously you could get away with 1-2 nights Bayeux if that's your heart's desire. I did look at 1 day from Paris options but it looked like such a long day (looking during a different trip) and I think the beaches really deserve a full day (and that many hours on a train or bus gets to be a less enjoyable day to me).

I just booked my Overlord 2 day tour last week for October of this year.

Posted by
8392 posts

Kathy, the Search box top left should produce a lot of useful data for you, more than you can get in one discussion. You particularly need to read about expense and advance payment experiences, and whether a full-day guide is a substitute for having a rental car that day. You may wish to avoid any of the "anniversary" dates that jam up the Normandy beach towns, and increase prices.

Remember that Paris has multiple train stations, serving different parts of the country. It may require returning to Paris for the Ireland flight. Make a realistic decision about whether Normandy is really, "on the way" to Ireland. We saved Normandy for a circular car rental from the Loire Valley, to the Mont St. Michel and St. Malo coast, to Bayeux for the tapestry and the WWII beaches, then a few days (again) in Paris before flying home. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/normandy-brittany-thoughts

We did the visit on our own, with a rental car and two guidebooks. No one on this board seems to agree with me, but I frequently had to cruise each of the many parking lots to wait for an opening, like Christmas at the Mall. This is a very popular destination, despite being inconvenient to get to. Are you going to go to Mont St. Michel on the same trip?

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