D-Day tours?

We spent 3 days in Normandy this past September and based our stay at the Chateau Buceel outside of Mont St. Michel. We rented a car and did the "tours" on our own with just Rick Steves books and local information. We were free to roam at our own pace and visit all the nearby towns that each had its own historic memory of the war. It was wonderful! An unforgetable experience. We didn't miss a tour one bit. Incidentally, the Chateau Buceel is fabulous and the owner recommended two of the best small, restaraunts we have ever eaten in. One overlooked Mont St. Michel at sunset! Best of Luck!
Maggie

Absolutely the BEST tour we've ever taken was the Battlebus tour mentioned in Rick's book. Stewart was our guide for the American tour. AMAZING! He's personally interviewed and met several veterans and has a grandfather that served in the D-Day invastion (British)He's also ex military and has his degree in Military history (or something similar). We stayed at the hotel Churchill in Bayeux which is just across the street from the pick-up place for the tour! Can't recommend it highly enough!

Kyle,

As by the postings you haved a couple of options. Tour or car. What will you be concentrating on for the tour -- the beach area is 50 miles in length and an enourmous amount of history packed into this small area. Mont St. Michele is 2 days to see properly. We stayed at the Chateau De Buceel as Maggy -- Regis and Nicole are very lovely people and helpful for touring and eating as maggy stated. Good luck with your trip. email me for more info if interested.

Regards,

Craig

I agree 100% with Magdelena's post. We did the Battlebus Tour and didn't like it at all. We felt rushed at every sight, the guide was not pleasant at all, we were crammed into a van in between sights with limited visibility, etc. We really enjoyed all the other people on the tour though, they were wonderful. Many of us went for dinner together after the tour and we all agreed we did not enjoy the guide. We've been to Normandy and the beaches many times and know it well. We just thought it'd be fun to do a tour for a change. We know a lot of the history as my father (a West Point graduate) was one of the planners of D-Day, he worked under Omar Bradley, he landed with the invasion and he is still alive and well to tell us many stories. I think a tour on your own is the best, just as Magdalena posted above. You can go at your own pace, go where you want, and have RS as your guide. All the sights are places that deserve time & contemplation...you can't do that on a tour.

Kyle:

I'm sorry to hear Battlebus is booked as it was our best tour to date in the whole world.

Try the following:

www.overlordtours.com, Alain Chesnel, French Historian

www.victorytours.com, Roel Klinkhamer, English veteran

www.vrbo.com/vrbo/352/htm, Colonel Chilcott, Retired British officer

Other Options:
At the train station and at the TI booths in towns near the beaches like Bayeux there are many local guides who live there. Decide what you want to see, & agree on a price.

Self guided tour. Buy 'Battlefield guide to Normandy Landing Beaches' by Major and Mrs Hot.
Buy Michelin Normandy guide.
Plan out your route, rent a car, and go.

We spent two days there last year and drove around in a rental car from Bayeux and loved it all.

We like the freedom of doing it ourselves with the guidebooks (the info is all laid out so you don't need a guide at all).

Enjoy it as it's wonderful and moving!

We've had a car all 3 times we've been in Normandy and really like the flexibility it gives us. In addition to the huge Am cemetary at Colleville-sur-Mer, check out the German cemetary and the Canadian cemetary---smaller and very moving in a different way from the Am one. The back, two-lane roads are well-marked; recommend getting the Michelin map #303. There's an interesting underwater museum just out of Port-en-Bessin.

Bayeaux: don't miss the Tapisserie

After reading sev of the posts, am even more determined to return to Mont St Michel overnight.