Traveling to Normandy D Day sites from Paris.

Just two words.

Bayeux.

Overlord.

We used Overlord out of Bayeux almost 20 years ago but I was delighted to see on this forum that they are still recently highly praised. A quick search here will share the details.

Welcome to the Forums.

The D-Day beaches were spread out over a 50 mile long front, the beaches were called Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

The British, American and Canadian and Empire forces each landed at different beaches, the British and Canadian and Empire landings were more easterly on Gold, Juno and Sword, the two American beaches,Utah and Omaha, were more westerly on the coast.

You may be more interested in the area related to one or another of the beaches and areas depending on your heritage.

You haven't put your location or country in your profile or in your question.

What part of the Normandy beaches are you most interested in?

Overlord has tours that cover American, British, and Canadian sites.

https://www.overlordtour.com/

In 2019, we enjoyed our stay at Hotel d'Argouges in Bayeux. Over 10 years earlier, we stayed at the Hotel Churchill - the ownership has changed, and it still gets excellent reviews. Both of these hotels are an easy walk from the train station.

http://www.hotel-dargouges.com/

https://www.hotel-churchill.fr/eng/

When are you planning to go to Normandy?? The 80th anniversary is in June so I would not go then mostly because I believe by now everything is booked up and prices I understand are extremely high. If at another time you should be fine. We stayed at Villa Aggargthi and plan to stay there again. It was fabulous. Great hostess and super breakfast and only one block from.the Bayeau tapestry and great restaurants. We had a private tour from 9AM to 5PM with HQCompany tours. Best money we ever spent. It is owned by four guides who worked for another tour company and it was fantastic. We took train from Paris and when we got to train station. There were several cabs waiting. Very easy to get there and back to Paris. Suggest watching The Longest Day excellent film.about that day and a lot was filmed.in that area and fairly accurate according to our research.

We are going to France in Feb 2024. We want to focus on Utah and Omaha beaches. Thank you everyone for your helpful responses

If you are going to visit the beaches in February, then come prepared with proper clothing. It will be cold, and the wind will contribute to a wind chill effect. And it WILL be windy.

We spent two nights in the Churchill hotel in Bayeux which is quite near the Tapestry, also a must. The Overlord pick up point for their day long WWII tours of the American beaches I would head for Bayeux early on one day to have the afternoon to visit the Tapestry and the town and perhaps the Cathedral. Then do an all day Overlord tour of the American beaches which includes Omaha and Pont du Hoc (the most impressive stop IMHO) as well as the Airborne Museum and the American Cemetery which has its own museum. Then return to Paris the third day. I didn't do a post on the beaches but here was our visit to the Tapestry -- one of those rare things that lives up to its hype. https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2013/12/21/bayeux-bringing-1066-to-life/

Yes, what CJean said. We visited the area in late May and it was very windy; and it will be more so in Feb.

If you have two full days, I would recommend a day tour on your first full day. That may give you ideas about how and where you'll spend your second full day. You will be more limited in what you can do without a car, but this is another reason to stay in Bayeux, which makes a great home base. We loved Bayeux!

You could spend the second full day in Bayeux seeing the Bayeux Tapestry (where you'll need at least an hour), and the Battle of Normandy Memorial Museum. www.bayeuxmuseum.com
We are history buffs, and spent all afternoon there. Lots of worthwhile copy to read; but if your family has a lower threshold for that, you may need less time than we did. If seeing both of these Bayeux sites are of interest, the combo ticket is a good deal, and you can easily do both in one day. The Bayeux Cathedral is also worth a visit, and there are even some references to both WWI and WWII, including a moving stained glass reference to WWII.

The tour you chose will almost certainly cover the American Cemetery, but will only spend limited time there (unless you hire a private tour guide). We spent several hours there, including time in the Visitor's Center, which I highly recommend. Some tours may include the American Cemetery late in the day for the 5 pm flag lowering ceremony. We did that and found it to be profoundly moving. You could spend the entire day there, honestly; but you would likely only be able to do that if you added another day to your trip. We had 4 full days in Bayeux and are glad we did. We had a car, which expanded our options. Even with 4 days, we were not able to see everything. I am amazed by how many different Normandy Invasion-related museums there are.

It will likely be easier to find accommodations in February, but booking your hotel now is a good idea. We tried to book a Bayeux hotel more than 3 months before our May trip (which is high season), and found most hotels were full. We had hoped to stay at Villa Lara or Hotel d'Argouges (what many on this forum recommend), but no luck.

We snagged the last remaining room at Grand Hotel du Luxembourg.
https://www.grand-hotel-luxembourg.com/en/ It was mostly good, but the room was small and breakfast was meh. It is more centrally located than Hotel d'Argouges, but not as nice. Without a car, you will definitely want to stay in the central area of Bayeux. Great restaurants, too.

Bon Chance

Hi,
Adding my two cents and re-affirming what everyone else has written.
My friend and I did this in mid-November, 2023 through Overlord Tours. I wrote a review here on this website. Overlord was amazing and worth every cent. Ask for Antoine as your guide.
For dinner, try Le P'tit Resto; for lunch or dinner Le Drakkar

I am so appreciative of all your responses! This is the first time I've used the forum- travelled with Rick Steves and use his books all the time but this is just wonderful resource. Has anyone stayed at the Hotel Lion D'or? We need two family rooms since there are 4 adults and two children 15 and 9.

Also any recommendations for dinner?

I have two so far from the responses.

Again thank you so much for all your comments and responses.

Yes, this forum is a treasure trove! Here are some posts from 2022 re: Hotel le Lion d'Or that may help you decide:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france-reviews/hotel-lion-d-or-in-bayeux

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/hotel-in-bayeux

A reminder that many hotels are in old buildings from the medieval era (which is part of the charm of Bayeux); not all of them have elevators if that matters.

Bayeux Restaurants we liked (some are listed in the RS guidebook; all centrally located; unsure of availability in Feb):

Le Pommier was excellent, but you will want to make reservations, more than a day in advance if possible (might be easier in Feb). Try the Crème de Calvados, a highlight of all the Calvados we tasted in this region! We each ordered one for dessert. Delicious, unique, and this is the only place we saw it on the menu.

Le Garde Manger: simple brasserie, very family friendly. Your kids will love it. Beneath the Hotel Reine Mathilde

Le Drakkar, as noted above (they saved us on our very late arrival after the drive from hell from CDG; they were the only restaurant open at 9 pm on a Fri. Great burgers avec Frites)

l'Assiette Normande: right near Cathedral. Good food, charming intimate setting, but surly service. I had the Plat du Jour, which included oysters and a lovely grilled fish that evening.

l'Insolite: A Creperie with great food in an informal setting. (This is one of many excellent Creperies. When in Normandy...)

La Fringale