Visit to Caen

We spent about half a day there several years ago and thought it was great. The WWII part is much better, we thought, than the Cold War part, but others may feel differently. Next to the museum is a restored German command bunker from the war, also very interesting with good exhibits.

The museum doesn't just focus on the events in Normandy, like the one in Bayeux (which I haven't visited but I've heard is also excellent). It helps you understand the causes of the war, the collapse of France, the various battles and events in Europe, the Holocaust, and how the war ended. (It doesn't deal with the Pacific theater as I recall.) One of my highlights was listening to the voices of Reynaud and other French leaders on the phone, discussing the coming "armistice" and what their own next moves would be.

The museum is expensive and time-consuming, with an adequate cafe and good parking. It's on the northern outskirts of Caen so you don't have to deal with much traffic if you're driving from elsewhere. Whether it's "worth a visit" of course depends on what else you might be doing with that extra day. There are many worthwhile places and things to see and do in Normandy.

Where are you coming from and where are you heading? Is Caen on the way? And are you traveling by public transport or with a rental car?

And will you also be sering the museum in Bayeux?

For one day in Normandy, I wouldn't waste time on that museum. IMHO, I think it is not the best museum in the area. But regardless, you have one day. See the sights. The beaches, the cemeteries, the towns. There is so much to see, and such a huge area. Get outside and see real sights. You can learn everything you can in a museum ahead of time.

It's an interesting museum if you have lots of free time to kill. With only 1 day do NOT trap yourself in yet another museum. You can go to museums at home. But you can't go the American Cemetery or walk on the D-Day beaches or walk into the fortifications. No, don't waste your precious few hours inside a building.

I see a number of respondents seem to have made the assumption that if you were to visit that museum you would be seeing nothing else in Normandy.

Is that an accurate assumption, or is it that you will have seen other sights in Normandy (or will be seeing them in the coming days), such as the beaches, the cemeteries and that tapestry everyone seems to like so much, and that you were just asking, with an extra day available, would a visit to the museum you mention be worth your time in addition to those other things?

I was very disappointed in the Caen WW2 museum. I learned little new there. I much preferred the military museum in Bayeaux.

Is that an accurate assumption, or is it that you will have seen other
sights in Normandy (or will be seeing them in the coming days), such
as the beaches, the cemeteries and that tapestry everyone seems to
like so much, and that you were just asking, with an extra day
available, would a visit to the museum you mention be worth your time
in addition to those other things?

IMHO, and in short, no. Assuming you are only interested in the sights relating to the battles around D-day beaches, those beaches are 45 miles apart as the crow flies. And you won't fly. You will have to go inland to reach connecting roads (where you will see many more relevant sights). And then consider that there were many conflicts well inland that lasted for many days/weeks afterwards well inland (most historians consider the battle of Normandy encompassing everything from the night before D-day, to the liberation of Paris six weeks later). And then realize that there is so much more to Normandy than just the WWII sights.

After seven visits to Normandy, I finally went to the Caen memorial last September. I won't say it was awful, but I felt my time would have been better spent elsewhere. And I can't understand RS strong recommendations for this as a must see. There are so many other/better museums in the Normandy areas, and even they only compliment seeing the actual sights in the area. Read all you can before you go. Read books, watch movies, do the research you would do for any trip abroad. Then see the actual sights of the area in your limited time rather than walls of text and pictures that you can find at home.

If you have a very unpleasant weather day, and you don't feel like being outside to see the sights in the rain, then a museum is a perfect respite. But I submit that there are many other, better museums that I would recommend before the Caen memorial.

My too sense...

Thank you for mind-reading the original poster and having the confidence in your mind-reading ability to answer a question directed at him for him. Or her -- I don't mean to assume sex.

Amazing.

Assuming the "H" in your IMHO is intended to mean humble, I'm not sure it applies in this instance.

And, by the way, the phrase is not "too sense," but "two cents," which, in this case, might be an overestimate.

Bob, Bob, Bob,... A little sensitive are we? And thanks for not catching on to my "too sense" pun.