Day trip to Normandy from Paris

I assume you mean you want to visit the D-Day beaches? First, I would look into any other tour companies. I don't know for sure, but some may leave from Paris. If you can't find a tour group, it is possible to self-tour the area. Perhaps take the train to Caen or Bayeaux and rent a car for the day?

You could do a day trip but if you have an extra day I would suggest that you stay in Bayeaux. I stayed there and rented a car. I left around 7am to see the D-Day sites and did not get back till around 5pm. There was a lot more that I missed. I think 1 day is to short of time to get the real feel of the sites and countryside.

Yes, it is possible to take a bus tour , directly from Paris, to Normandy D Day beaches. It is expensive and a long day,, but you can sleep on the drive right?

Two well known and completely reputable companies offer this daytrip( as well as many others).

ParisVisions

Cityrama

The Memorial de Caen sponsors a day-trip from Paris. You may get your tickets at LinkParis.com. Since you will have a great guide you will cover a lot of territory at a comfortable pace. They also offer the rail tickets, but you may get those on your own costing less. (The train will get you from Paris to Caen much quicker than the buses). Bon Voyage.

I have taken this tour, it is excellent!

Oh, and by the way... you didn't say what time of the year you were traveling. If in the winter, I wouldn't bother wasting a day for this. Daylight hours are very short, and thick fog can cover the region. Any other time of year, though, should be OK.

I wouldn't recommend it as a day trip from Paris. You'll probably spend most of the day getting there and back and won't really be able to appreciate a fraction of what there is to see. You'll have time to see very few sites (probably Point du Hoc, Arromanches and the American Cemetary, maybe squeeze one more in if lucky) and that's it. PLUS it'll feel rushed. We live halfway between Paris and the beaches and a day trip from here is just about possible by car, but needs an early start and late finish.

I've been plotting out some way to do this myself, since staying in the area for the night is out of my budget...but these were the only two good options I could find:

1. Leaving from Paris: D-Day Beaches Tour by Fat Tire. 150 Euro, including rail.
   http://fattirebiketours.com/paris/tours/d-day-beaches

2. Half-day tour leaving from Bayeux AFTER the first train arrives. 45 Euro.
   http://lignerolles.homestead.com/victorytours.html

I have to agree with the other posters that said rent a car and stay overnight. Everything is very well marked and if you have your own car you can spend as much or as little time at the sights. When we went, we saw a lot of sights, but really only lingered at a couple- Omaha Beach, where we walked down to the beach to see what the view of the soldiers getting off the boat was like and Longues sur Mer where we could see the big guns that are still there aimed out to sea.

B&B's are really reasonable in Bayeux, so staying there overnight is cheaper than staying in Paris!

In 2003, I took my mother to Paris. Since it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, we took the 1-day D-Day beaches/Normandy mini-bus tour from Paris Vision. It was expensive and a very long day, but we saw a lot in a very short time. It included stops at Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, the American cemetery, Arromanches, Pegasus bridge, and lunch was included.

I would try to do an overnight trip. A day trip would be such a waste. We were there last July and rented a car using Sixti and then stayed the night in a gorgeous Chateau near Mt. Saint Michel. We took our own time and thanks to the car's GPS, didn't get lost.

If you can extend it to an overnight trip, that's the best bet!

Lyle, I am still confused as to why you cant stay overnight in Bayeux. Why pay extra money for a tour from Paris, when you can pick one up there. Take a train there, stay overnight or even 2 nights, as there is so much to see. There are several different companies working out of Bayeux, if you do not want to do the Battlebus tours. You will get so much more out of your visit if you do one of these tours rather than just driving to a beach and saying, yeah, wow, that must have been hard landing on this beach. Hearing the personal stories of sacrifice, going back in the hedgerows to all the small memorials that the townspeople put up, going to the Nazi sniper positions, visiting the little churches where our troops helped care for the townspeople. For the cost of a car, you can take a tour and come away from this place with not only awe but a better understanding of what happened and why.

I am one of those who can see Normandy in only a one-day trip from Paris. A reason is that, given somewhat limited time in Paris, others in my group prefer to stay in Paris to visit certain sites while I devote a day to Normandy.

A challenge has been finding a one-day tour that includes the German cemetery at La Cambe as well as the American cemetery, Pointe du Hoc, and Omaha Beach. I believe Classic Walks Paris does. But I am interested in learning of other ways, other than a private guide or simply on my own renting a car in Caen, where I can in one day travel from and return to Paris, and see what I want to see.

Just visited the Battlebus website to look something up for some friends, and lo and behold, they actually list other tour companies. They realize they cannot fulfill everyones time schedules and interests. Got to say, that is a truly confidant company when you can list your competitors

We have a free hotel provided by my wife's company for the week in Paris. It seems a waste to get a hotel room outside of Paris when we have one provided.

So lyle, you are not actaully losing any money, the hotel is paid for right??
An escorted bus tour from Paris will cost you far more then taking the train on your own, and staying one night in a hotel. . So by going on your own and staying one night you get a better trip and save money,, how can you lose!!?

Per ViaMichelin.com, someone planning to drive from Paris to the D-Day Beaches, Caen, Bayeux, etc and back to Paris in one day should expect to have 9 hours + of straight driving time (the 9+ hours is road time, does not include gas stops and stops to see the sights). Having the rental car the day before would be important so that daylight hours are not used up in the morning going to get the rental car. The total amount of daylight hours, time of sunset, etc would be factors in all of this--actually seeing the things you came to see would add many hours to the 9+ hours of driving time.