D Day tours starting in Bayeux, France recommendations? car rental

Sue, I'll try to answer some of your questions.... 1.) There should be tours available on Sunday, but I haven't checked. I'd suggest checking these websites for information: > www.ddayhistorian.com (Paul Woodage) > www.daleboothnormandytours.com (Dale Booth) > www.overlordtour.com > www.ddaybattletours.com/elldi.php Overlord will be the most likely to have a half-day tour on a Sunday. 2.) The Tour Leader will be whoever is provided by the tour firm. If you'd like a more "custom" tour (more expensive), I would highly recommend either of the first two on the list (Paul or Dale). I've toured with both of them, and they're both outstanding! 3.) I rented a car from the Hertz / Gas Station location last time I was there, and it worked well (although I don't believe it was on a Sunday). One point to mention though - the rental staff didn't speak much if any English. The Hotel owner made all the arrangements for me, so all I had to do was sign on the dotted line and hand over my credit card. Could you clarify about Honfleur being "open"? It's a town so should be open on Sundays. If you have a car, you could also visit the Gun Batteries at Longues sur Mer if not covered on your tour. Take a flashlight if you want to have a look in the Control Bunker (used in The Longest Day) as there's no lighting. The site is only about 20-minutes outside Bayeux. Also in Bayeux, an excellent WW-II Museum and of course the famous Tapestry which depicts a much earlier battle. Bayeux is a wonderful city! If your budget will allow, I'd recommend dinner at Le Pommier Restaurant. Happy travels!

My wife and I went to the D-day beaches in late April 2011 while staying in Paris. We booked a tour that was a full day event in an 8-person van that we sandwiched between a train trip from Paris and back again at the end of the day. Most of the posts on RS Helpline said it couldn't be done; I gotta say it was a stretch. I can't recall the name of the tour (maybe this is okay), and despite the fact that it was windy, with a light rain all day, with a lot of the day standing on wide expanses of beaches with the wind blowing us around and our teeth chattering, it was worth the day. However, if we had it to do over, we would have done a lot of reading about the D-day invasion rented a couple of documentary DVDs, studied some maps easily available online, and then would have rented a car with a GPS and made the tour unescorted. We could have lingered at sites where we wanted and spend less time where there was really nothing to see. Our tour spent a dreadfully long time standing in the parking lot of the church Ste Mere Eglise and even more time on the beaches explaining the nuances of the invasion. Conversely almost no time was spent at Pointe du Hoc where there were things to see. We had a basic #3.00 box lunch and no place to sit during the 30 minute stop, so we stood in 15-20 mph winds, in the light rain and braced ourselves for the second half of the trip. I'm glad to say we did make a brief stop at the American Cemetery at St.Laurent, but only drove by the German Cemetery at 60kph.

Husband & I did a half day (4 hour) Sunday afternoon tour with Overlord in August 2012. It was terrific. Stayed at Hotel Churchill and loved it. Don't miss the tapestry & cathedral too. We trained from Paris to Rennes rented Avis car drove to Mont St Michel for an overnite then Bayeux 2 nites then Rouen 1 nite then Amiens 1 nite where we returned the car right at the train station before heading to Belguim for a week. You'll love the Normandy beaches. Do some reading before your trip. Bon voyage!

Husband & I did a half day (4 hour) Sunday afternoon tour with Overlord in August 2012. It was terrific. Stayed at Hotel Churchill and loved it. Don't miss the tapestry & cathedral too. We trained from Paris to Rennes rented Avis car drove to Mont St Michel for an overnite then Bayeux 2 nites then Rouen 1 nite then Amiens 1 nite where we returned the car right at the train station before heading to Belguim for a week. You'll love the Normandy beaches. Do some reading before your trip. Bon voyage!

We did a tour of Normandy beaches in October with Overlord tours - full day tour/Band of Brothers. It was very informative, and we enjoyed it very much. My son and husband loved it. I believe you will find tours available everyday, and in Rick Steeves book on France there are many recommendations for different tour leaders/groups. Enjoy your trip !

My husband and I "self-toured" and we were there the same week the poster Jon was there (April 2011) when he described eating a box lunch standing outside the tour van in the wind and rain he had my total sympathy! The weather was awful!!! We'd just completed our week in Paris, took a taxi to CDG, rented a car and with our handy GPS that we'd removed from the car at home, took off! We also stayed in Bayeux, and it was a lovely little town. We went to all of the beaches. Many of the sites you can enjoy with the RS book and the historical plaques in place at all the sites. This will give you the freedom to travel at your leisure. Don't miss the Museum in Caen! We also self-toured the American Cemetery, which really takes your breath away. I don't feel we missed anything, having read up on the history of the sites ourselves -- except maybe eating that sandwich outside in the wind and rain, rather than stopping for a nice lunch in a warm cafe. We kept the car for three days of
leisurely touring the area, and returned it to CDG.

Sue I have to strongly second Donna's advice. Many travelers seem to feel that unless they have a tour ( and or a guide ) in such a place ( and many others ) ,they will not be able to have a meaningful experience. Nothing of that sort is true . I'm not knocking a tour , I just don't agree that it's a necessity , particularly if you do some preparation ( read: homework ) . My wife and I are BIG homework fans , in fact we have been studying for over forty years and have finally had the good fortune to begin traveling three years ago . Normandy , as Donna says works perfectly just as she has described it. We did the same in fall of 2011 and wouldn't have done it differently . There are many sources of good information out there ,but a very good start is to wtch the film " The Longest Day " , before you go . Seeing the Normandy sites had a deep impact on us , I'm sure it will do the same for you . Have a wonderful trip !!

agree with Steven and Donna... I am not much of a tour person (although sometimes they can be okay) but usually I would much rather explore a place on my own, and read whatever history I find necessary. I explored the beaches and the American Cemetery on two different occasions, both times with teenage grandsons, and we were free to wander at our leisure and I feel we were more in touch with what happened there than if we had been herded about with a tour group. Maybe we did miss some of the details, but we most definitely experienced the overall picture. Also stayed in Bayeux and loved it as well as driving around and exploring the area.

Sue: The tour we took was the only tour we've ever taken; enough said? You've got a trifecta of unanimity: Donna, Steven, and Terry Kathryn. In our specific case, we had to make a snap decision, do we go on the Tour or not go at all? We hadn't allowed ample time for the logistics of renting a car, driving to Normandy and returning the car (we departed Paris the next day for Switzerland)
. Do a bit of reading so you can understand the significance of the various beach landing zones (they are not close to one another), the 101st Airborne tragedy, the NAZI Atlantic Wall, and yes, rent The Longest Day. We studied some coast line maps (including topographic maps) of the D-day invasion before we left home and even drew by hand where the various Allied ships were located from which the troops boarded their landing crafts. We would have really enjoyed sitting on the several escarpments overlooking the beach below looking at our map and imagining the colossal events that occurred on the very spot where we were. We would have also packed a scrumptious lunch with fresh bread baked that morning, a bit of sausage, cheese, some pastries, and Appellation (the local spirit), and a couple of glasses. Go for it!