Hello We only have 1 day and would like to go to Caen, see the museum and tour the D-Day beaches. I have a few questions for all you knowledgeable folks : 1. What times does the Caen Memorial Museum offer their tours? I like the Day-pass tour on their website but unable to find a schedule with it. It includes museum pass and a 5 hour guided tour of the beaches. How much time do they allow to tour any museums / exhibits AT the beaches? Is it enough time? We are mainly interested in the American beaches due to our time constraints. 2. If we leave our hotel in Paris at around 8:30 am (on Wednesday), arrive Caen around 11:00 am, and start back around 7 or 8 pm from Caen to Paris, is this doable? 3. What kind of travel options exist in Caen to and from the Railway station. Rick Steve suggests taxi one way and local train the other. Do trains run late into the evening in Caen? Any other advice, I will gratefully accept. Thanks!
Arun
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
I can't find any reference to the starting time for the 5-hour tour either. If you book the D-Day Tour rather than the Day Pass, you will be picked up at the train station in the morning and taken back in the evening. Here is what it includes: • Pickup from your arrival at the mainline railway station in Caen • Bilingual (French/English) guided tour of the Second World War exhibition area of Le Mémorial de Caen museum • Lunch in Le Mémorial de Caen • Bilingual (French/English) guided tour, lasting 5 hours, of the Anglo- American beachheads. • An illustrated booklet on the Normandy Landings.
• Return to the mainline railway station in Caen. Direct trains from Paris to Caen depart at 07:07 and 08:45. I suggest that you take the 07:07 train which arrives at 09:03 which will give you lots of time at the museum before lunch. Direct trains from Caen to Paris depart at 17:48, 18:50, and 20:13. I expect that the 18:50 train would work well for you.
Posted by
OP
Olympia, WA
9 posts
Hi Tim thanks so much for your response. Which train were you recommending with the times you mention in your post below? If indeed I can get the trains at the times below all would work! However, I have been trying to book tickets at the www.voyages-sncf.com website and the last train from Caen shows leaving at 6:30 pm :-( I think I might be looking at the wrong site? <snip> Direct trains from Paris to Caen depart at 07:07 and 08:45. I suggest that you take the 07:07 train which arrives at 09:03 which will give you lots of time at the museum before lunch. Direct trains from Caen to Paris depart at 17:48, 18:50, and 20:13. I expect that the 18:50 train would work well for you. <snip> thanks!
Arun
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7937 posts
I want to preface my remarks by saying that I have never done Caen and the D day beaches as a day trip. However, having seem the museum a couple of times and most of the beaches, I would personally recommend you spend more time at the museum and maybe pick out only 1 or 2 beaches to see. The American Cemetery and the accompanying beach is really spectacular. Maybe one additional beach if you have a special interest in it. I found the museum so fascinating that I spent most of 2 days there. I found that after 2 beaches the rest were somewhat redundant.