Hiring A Guide to Tour the D-Day Beaches

tom I haven't done this yet, but I have seen the same tour company mentioned over and over on this and all the other forums I go on, perhaps check them out.. Battlebus I have heard some good stuff about Overlord too. I think a tour would make it a lot more meaningful.. some areas may not have signage up, a guide would be helpful.

Tom, IMHO, it is FAR BETTER to take one of the excellent local tours of the D-Day beaches. The Guides are outstanding and I find that touring with them makes for a much more interesting, informative and rewarding look at the history. It's also nice to be able to ask questions about any points you want more information on. There are a number of good tour firms in the area. Some offer full-day tours and others offer both half-day and full-day tours. They provide transportation and know the area, so no time is wasted on getting from one site to another. Staying in Bayeux the night prior to a tour is usually the best method, as many of them depart from there. Bayeux also has an excellent WW-II Museum and of course the famous Tapestry. Just to clarify a point from the previous reply, BattleBus is no longer operating under that name, so touring with them won't be possible. If you'd like to have a look at some of the tour firms, check their websites: > www.ddayhistorian.com (Paul Woodage) > www.daleboothnormandytours.com (Dale Booth) > www.overlordtour.com > www.ddaybattletours.com/elldi.php? I've toured with the first two, and both are outstanding Guides! The tours are a bit "pricey" but well worth the cost IMO. Most of them make a stop at the American Cemetery, which is definitely something you want to include (see if you can find the graves of two of the Niland brothers, who were partially the inspiration for the movie Saving Pte. Ryan). St. Mere Eglise is also a significant and interesting stop, as well as some of the Band of Brothers sites such as the small Church at Angoville Au Plain. Happy travels!

IME, the guides/tours are expensive, but worth it. We spent some time exploring the area before our guided tour. We went to St. Mere-Eglise on our own because it featured some prominently in The Longest Day. The next day we went there with our guide and he pointed out all sorts of stuff we had missed (some of it was small stuff like bullet holes). We also went to the American Cemetery on our own (so glad we did because we spent way more time there than we would have had on a tour) and when our guide asked, "Did you see...?" questions, the answer was usually no. Our guide also provided us with "before" pictures of things we were seeing. It would have been possible to get those pictures ahead of time, but taken us forever to match up the perspective/picture to see exactly what we were looking at.

I can't say whether it would be worth it or not but we did the RS tour last June. We had Dale Booth and he brought an incredible amount of passion and knowledge to our tour. We had him for the entire day and learned an incredible amount at each site we visited. Our first stop was at the church at Angoville Au Plain. After Dale's story and photos of the two medics actions within the church on the first few days of D Day there was not a dry eye. I agree with Jeff that doing the investigating of the areas you want to see and then being able to go just where you want for as long as you want can be great too. For those who want to learn about the events and sites but were not able to investigate the history before hand or do not have the means to tour the area on there own, I would not pass up a guided tour if it can be afforded. Dale brought so much more to our trip that day and I imagine all of the recommended guides will also.

Let me echo my esteemed fellow Helpliners and say hiring a guide may seem expensive; however, it will immeasurably enhance your experience and understanding of the history of what you're seeing.

www.toursbylocals.com will hook you up with local guides at many different destinations. This is how we did D-Day beaches last year, and the guide was very good. We hired him for the entire day, and it was definitely worthwhile.