should i get a car for Normandy?

If you are not taking a tour, you would want a car for Normandy. If you are just staying in Strasbourg you won't need a car there. Are you looking for tips for Normandy? My don't miss WWII sights would be the Utah Beach museum, which could take much of the day. Omaha Beach, American Cemetery, Point du Hoc, Arromanches for the beach with the remnants of the artificial harbor and its associated museum. Normandy is quite beautiful and it is fun to drive around and see the little towns and farm fields. I think that dad would be much more comfortable in a car.

It depends on what you want to see? With a car Mt. St. Michel is an hour and a half drive from Bayeux. Without a car, I don't know of a convenient option. If all you want to do is see Bayeux and take a D-day tour. You can train to Bayeux from Paris, book a local (van) D-day tour and skip renting a car.

thank you for your replies.

I am only looking for info for Normandy.
It would probably be cheaper to rent a car for 3 people vs the van tour. i've never driven overseas but do love to drive and look around. my FIL would probably be more comfortable in a car. my cell doesn't work in europe there (at&t), so i wouldn't be able to use mapping, i may have to put him on map-reading duty.
i will notate your places to go....this is going to be exciting!

Try the app, Maps.me. You can download the maps before you leave home or when you have wifi. Then the app works as GPS, offline with step by step, narrated instructions. Try it at home before you leave to get used to it. We thought it was easy to drive in Normandy tho GPS is very helpful.

We found a car to be very valuable in Normandy. My research suggested and posters confirmed that public transportation wasn’t as comprehensive as may be encountered in other regions. We have driven in a few areas of France and Normandy was one of the easiest. We saw the WW II sites on our own and drove the countryside over a few days. There’s a good chance a rental car will already have GPS anyway or you may request it. We traveled with my elderly Dad for years and nothing was simpler for us and easier for him than buckling up and takIng off. Safe travels.

thanks to both regarding the car rental and the app for gps! i will definitely try that.

If there are going to be three of you, I would explore the option of a private guide since you don't seem to be interested in a small-group (van) tour. Not being an expert on WWII, I feel very strongly that just driving around is not a good approach for most visitors. Clearly there are exceptions, but I would have tired within about 15 minutes of looking at sandy beaches and chunks of concrete. The driver/guide of my Overlord Tour moved us around very efficiently and provided a great deal of background information. I'd have been kidding myself if I had rented a car and driven around for a day. The invasion area is large; if you try the do-it-youself approach you will not be navigating to a couple of well-marked buildings.

On maps.me, you can save (pin) locations from home. You can get an idea ahead of time of routes. A couple hints. Sometimes language can be a problem or the search function on maps.me doesn't find a place. You can look at google maps and see what is close to particular sites, and search on a neighboring site and then as you zero in, you will find the location you were looking for. We found it very easy to navigate around Normandy, especially the WWII sites and appreciated being able to tour on our own. That said, my husband is a huge WWII buff and I do copious research for our travels. Others might find a tour to be extremely valuable in acquiring knowledge and very effiencient in terms of logisitcs.

Definitely rent a car. We went to all the WWII beaches and found the British Museum very interesting. Signage was excellent.
By the way, Mont St-Michel is in Normandy but with the crowds would take up a lot of your time.

I would heartily recommend a car as well . The driving along the coast from Arromanches to Grandcamp - Maisy is easy , and there are numerous important sites along the way , usually only ten to fifteen minutes apart . I am disheartened by the comment above , characterizing " sandy beaches and chunks of concrete " as meaningless and abstract . The answer is doing your own homework , perish the thought , before you go . I will say that I am not a fan of tours for a number of reasons , you also are far enough from departure to invest your time wisely . The films , " The Longest Day " , and " Saving Private Ryan " , will take you far , and there are numerous books and articles available , and internet sources which will greatly enrich your experiences .

We always rent a car in France. Even without gps, signage and directions are easy. Before leaving, I would check out driving time and distances on viamichelin.com. to help plan your route. Just enter departure point and destination, and it will give you options for your route, driving times, etc. I planned a three week driving tour of northern France using the site, so we knew how much drive time was needed on driving days and we knew if we had planned too much driving that day, and could alter our destinations accordingly. It is user friendly.
And yes, having a car in Normandy is very useful and gives you much more flexibility in deciding what to see and where to go. There is so much more to see and do there than just beaches and rocks. The British and American museums there, the American cemetery (especially at flag-lowering time), the Bayeux tapestries, the great ciders to taste and meals to eat (shellfish, lamb dishes, buttery pastries...yum!) and the beautiful cities and towns with histories that go back MUCH farther than WW II.
Do remember that Strasbourg and Brussels are quite a way from Normandy. I hope you don't shortchange your time in Normandy. You will need two full days to see the highlight sights of WW II. Give yourself at least another full day to visit the Bayeux tapestries (which illustrate the Battle of Hastings in 1066) and to wander around town. Bayeux is a good town to use as a base if you don't have another place in mind.
Bon Voyage!

Thank you everyone. I am going to get a car. And I’m going to slightly modify our entire trip – we’re not going to Brussels this trip. We will be spending two full days in the Bayeux area and possibly one day/night in Caen. My father-in-law was in the service, but not during the war. My father though, fought alongside the French Resistance in Strasbourg area and my stepfather parachuted on D-Day and lost almost his entire platoon. I am kind of a World War II buff because of my fathers experiences there. Sadly, neither one of them are still with us.

mn,

While having a car will allow you to get around easily, it won't necessarily be the best way to learn about the history of the D-Day landings that your relatives took part in. That's where an expert guide is enormously valuable. There are two options you could consider.....

1. Park the car in Bayeux and take one of the excellent local tours. If you think your FIL might have trouble with a full day tour, you might consider a half-day tour. Have a look at Overlord Tour for some choices.
2. Use your car to visit the sights that interest you but take along an expert guide with you. He will be able to provide the quickest and most efficient route between sights and explain the significance of what you're looking at. You might have a look at THIS website for one excellent guide to consider. This option will be a bit pricey but you'll get far more out of the experience. I'd suggest contacting the guide well in advance to make arrangements.

One other minor point to mention...... For driving in France, it's highly advisable for each driver to have an International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. This website provides more information - https://franceintheus.org/spip.php?article376 .

I agree with Steven. IMHO, having a car is a requirement in Normandy, unless you just want to exclusively be led around by someone else with their schedule. I also agree that the time to start learning about the history of the area is now. Not once you arrive there. You will get more out of your trip that way with or without a guide. Personally, I've gone eight times and have never felt the need for a guide. I would question moving from Bayeux to Caen. The towns are only about 20 minutes apart, and Bayeux is charming! Caen, not at all.

I agree that there's probably no reason to move to Caen for a night if you have a car. It's a very good base if you are seeing Normandy by public transportation (which is not impossible, just a bit limiting and slow), but the hotel-changing hassle wouldn't be worth it if you have a car. The two are less than 20 miles apart.

Hello
5 of us traveled by car from CDG to the Normandy region.
1) it worked very well

2) since we stopped at Giverny, the car kept us flexible from the start.
But if I was going straight to Normandy, I'd look at taking a train 'up' and then renting the car once there.