We are visiting Normandy and staying at the Hotel Tardiff in Bayeuax for four nights. We plan to do a one-day tour of the American sites and a day visit to Mont St. Michel. On the third day, we plan to rent a car and tour around ourselves. Which D Day tour is recommended that leaves from Bayeaux? After that, we plan to take the train across France to Italy. Any recommendations on how to do the train routes?
Thanks,
Kerry
Posted by
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
1446 posts
It's been several years since we did a one-day tour, and we did it with Battlebus, Dale Booth. Battlebus is no longer in business. Dale Booth has his own touring company now. You will find information about his tours at "dday-experiencebedandbreakfast.com." the tour we took left from Bayeux. Dale, I believe, now tailors tours to particular needs/wants.
I know there are others who also do tours, but Dale is the only person we have experience with. He is absolutely excellent!!!
Posted by
Jericho, NY
2 posts
We were in Bayeaux in September and used a private guide for a full day tour of the Normandy Beaches.
His name is Mathias Leclere, he is listed in the RS Guide book and his web sight is www.ddayguidedtours.com. He picked us up at 9 AM at our hotel and he dropped us off after 6 PM. He was very knowledgeable and easily understood. We were two couples so the price was comparable to a group tour but if you are just two people it can be expensive. I think he also does half day tours. Enjoy! It is an extremely moving day.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
If you are renting a car to drive around on the third day, you may as well rent it for the trip to Mont St. Michel, as well. In fact, there is usually a price break renting for three days, so you could drive back to CDG after Normandy to fly to Italy or take the train. You can play with car rental prices here: http://www.autoeurope.com/go/car-rental/
Overlord Tours is another recommended tour company out of Bayeaux. http://www.overlordtour.com/
To plot your train ride, go to Deutsche Bahn (German train company) for times but not prices:
http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml
It's probably easier and faster to fly: http://www.skyscanner.com/
Posted by
Chicago
8551 posts
We did an Overlord Tour a couple of years ago and were very pleased with it; it was a long day and covered Omaha, Pointe du Hoc, Utah, the Airborne Museum, Angouleme, American Cemetery. The guide was knowledgeable and we had about the right amount of time at each spot. We stayed at the Churchill and the tour begins very near there (and about a block from the Tapestry) The Churchill does a day trip to Mont St. Michel but we did that ourselves by car before driving to Bayeux.
We then drove to Honfleur for two nights. We enjoyed the town and drove to Etretat on the full day. I highly recommend that if you can fit it in. We had done Rouen and Giverny on other side trips from Paris. You can see some of our snapshots at www.janettravels.wordpress.com in the 'Normandy' category.
We loved Normandy and would like to spent more time there. We had 5 nights. We spent two in Paris to catch an opera and then 5 in Normandy and then a month in Paris.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
Brad brings up an interesting point: Whose car and who's driving. On the Overlord tour there were only six of us, but luckily we didn't have to pay for a car rental that day, pay for gas or drive. That's something to consider. Unless Brad has been on a small group tour, I'm not sure how he knows what hedgerows, fences, and other details one sees. It is nice that he's so enthusiastic about his guide, but I don't see a reason to pass judgement on the van tours unless he's had personal experience.