Normandy Beaches - Paris - Brugges - Advice Appreciated

Good for you for trying it on your own.

You are covering an awful lot of ground in a very short time. I know because we have traveled to all of those places and have usually planned it out so as to be just a little too rushed. (I keep telling myself we'll slow down the next time, and we do, but never slow enough). Two nights in London and three in Paris are really short.

In getting from Bruges to Normandy, if you intend to drive a rental car, watch out for large drop fee on the car from picking up and dropping in a different country. You are better off going across the border on the train. The train from Brussels to Paris is expensive, you may save by booking in advance.

Three nights and two whole days is not too much for Bruges, if you want to slow down a little it's a pleasant small city. Depends on what you like, but if you like art they have a couple of great museums that I only wish we had had more time for. If all you want is to see the town then a single day might be enough.

The Roman baths in Bath are really interesting and fun.

I suggest two full days for Normandy. The American cemetery is a great sight, not to be missed. I suggest basing yourself in Bayeaux, and don't miss the tapestry while you are there. Normandy is one of the most pleasant regions in France to travel in.

Two nights in London and 3 in Bath? Three in Bruges and the same in Paris? I think that with the number of places you want to see, you might want to spend only 2 nights each in Bath and Bruges, add a night to London and either Normandy or Paris.

You may experience jetlag when you arrive in London. If you only have 2 nights there (= 1 full day) you will not see much.

You can definitely do this on your own. I personally find that the planning is an enjoyable aspect of the trip, and helps me anticipate what is to come for a longer period.

John: Vimy is humbling ,Beaumont Hamel is not far. (The Newfoundland Regiment fought here July 1 1915. 801 men went over the top, within hours only 69 were left) . Dieppe is 3 hour drive (Royal Hamilton Light Infantry and others landed there in August of 42). About another 3 hour drive gets you to Juno beach were the Canadians landed on D Day. There is a new Canadian museum there (The Juno Beach Centre). Not far from there is the Canadian cemetery. It's not large, but still far to big.

John: I agree with the other posters that less time in Bruges and Bath and more elsewhere is a good idea. It wasn't clear to me how you plan to get from Bruges/Brussels to Paris and Normandy. If you go by train, which I would recommend, then you'll go to Paris first, change stations, and go to Bayeux. The next morning take the Battlebus D-Day tour. Then return to paris that evening.
If you are driving, the other posters are quite correct that you'll pay through the nose for dropping a car in a different country, and for sure you don't want a car in Paris. Perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to train to paris, train to caen and pick up a rental car (returning there a day or two later) at the train station. If you do that, then you won't need the battlebus tour. There are tours of the Flanders WWI battlefields that run from brussels, but not--so far as I know--from Bruges.
A certain amount of backtracking seems inevitable, given your itinerary. You might consider stretching to 14 days and arranging it as follows: Day 1 arrive London. Days 2-5 London including a daytrip to Bath. Day 6 to Paris. Day 7 To Caen, drive to the DDay area. Day 8 Normandy. Day 9 Drive to Caen, return car, train to Paris. Day 10 Paris. Day 11 to Brussels/Bruges. Days 12-13 WWI battlefields, Brussels, Bruges. Day 14 fly home from Brussels. Of course, this may not work for you at all...use your own good judgement in taking advice.

I want to thank each of you for kindly taking the time to give my wife and I some really good advice.

You've collectively given us some considerations to think about and mull over - I'll likely be contacting some of you soon for a follow-up question or two -again, thank you very much .....John Daniels, Canada

There are tours that leave from Bruges and go to Iepers ( Ypres_) Or you can go on your own if you have a car. We just spent a great day doing just that from Bruges. We stopped near Sanctuary Woods and saw the WW1 trenches there and then went to Ieper to the incredibly well done "In Flanders Field" museum. Also intersting is the Mennin Gate and ramparts on the edge of town. They have lots of guided tours available in the area.

Ditto what Janet said. You could easily spend one Brugge day checking out Flanders Fields. I would recommend traveling to Ypres and taking a tour from there.

Just a few of the interesting sites:

• The crypt of the church that was converted to a German field hospital. Hitler was cared for here. Too bad they were successful.

• A reconstructed trench system. It is on private property, so you will need to be on a tour to see it.

• Irish peace memorial (Island of Ireland Peace Park).

• All sorts of beautiful parks with ponds that are filled in shell craters.

• Moving cemeteries.

• Noting how modern farmers have managed to recycle war parts (like for their fences).

• Remains of battlefields.

We just visited Paris in May/June. We took Gray Line/Cityrama day trips and were very happy with them. We used them in London also. This time we took day trips to the Loire Valley, Normandy, Bruges, Mount St. Michel, etc. We felt day trips were sufficient. Bruges was really beautiful. Elaine, Mission Viejo, Ca.

One of the best things about the Battlebus tours is that they offer a "Canadian Experience tour. I think that would be so meaningful."

Elaine, I am really confused, as you give very conflicting answers on here. In one post you say that Bruge wasn't very interesting and that there wasn't much to see there and you were not complimentary about the Grayline tours in a couple other posts. Now, it is all praise. Which is it?

Several different quotes from your various posts:
"We tok many day tours (Gray Line) outside of Paris, some I wouldn't recommend, as they were not worth the time invested and the money."

"Unfortunately we were suckered into going to Mt. St. Michel. Big mistake. We took Gray Line (Cityrama). It was a boring four hour trip out there. The surrounding are pretty cool, as it is on the water. Not worth driving all that way for. Then we had to climb in inordinate amount of steps, in the heat for absolutely nothing. The inside isn't worth even mentioning. It is very touristy, beyond touristy. More like tacky. We couldn't wait to get out of there and we were there in May. The trip wasn't worth the money or the time and energy."

"We just took a Gray Line day a trip from Paris to Bruge. It was definitely enough time to see Bruge. There really isn't anything to do there."