Normandy Beaches Tour Options

Chris, I don't know of any "shuttles" that operate between the various beaches, nor do I know of any "cheaper tours" in the €20-30 range. With a day trip you'll only have a few hours to look around, which will include your travel time to and from the various sites. The easiest option would be to rent a car in Bayeux, but that will be more expensive than €20-30. Your most practical method might be to book a half-day (afternoon) tour with Overlord Tours, but that will be €50. Although you don't want a guided tour, it provides the transportation so that might be a good compromise. If you had more time and could spend at least one night in Bayeux, there are some excellent all-day tours in that area (check ddayhistorian.com or daleboothnormandytours.com for the details). Happy travels!

Chris - a day trip to Normandy by train from Paris isn't practical. It's too far and there isn't public transportation to see the beaches. The invasion sites are spread across a very large region. Your choices are to rent a car to see the invasion sites by yourself or buy one of the organized tours.

I think most people under estimate the size of the beach area. It is over 50 miles from east to west and then the huge areas behind the beaches. And there is the distance from Paris. If you are looking to hang out, use a bike, etc. you have to plan at least one overnight in the area. No other way to do it. Good luck.

Chris, To add to the comments from the others, not only are the D-Day sites very "spread out", but unless you do a lot of research and have a really good Map, you may have difficulty finding some of them. Getting lost will reduce your very limited touring time. I've used the car rental agency in Bayeux, but as I recall they didn't speak much (any?) English. The owner of the Hotel arranged all the details for me. Also, the cost was considerably more than €30 for the day. Is there a specific reason you chose Utah Beach and Pointe du Hoc? There's a small Museum there, but I found Utah Beach somewhat "unspectacular". Although there isn't much to see at Omaha Beach, it's a much more significant site and more interesting from a historical perspective. It's also just below the American Cemetery, which is a "must" (IMO). If you visit there, try to find the graves of two of the Niland brothers, which were the inspiration for the movie Saving Private Ryan. Pointe du Hoc consists of a variety of trails among LOTS of craters and the remains of some small Bunkers. You won't be able to get close to the small Memorial overlooking the beach as it's been closed for awhile due to "safety concerns". Without a Guide you may not find enough there to hold your interest for more than a few minutes. It's unfortunate that I can't post photos here, as I could provide some examples. Is there any possibility you could revise your plans a bit and add more time? Even a short tour would be really worthwhile (again IMHO). Cheers!

Very cool. How is a 1 star hotel in Bayeux? I've heard 1 star in Europe can be nicer than a 1 star in the states/canada. C

The one star in Caen was Hotel Saint Etienne, if you want to look it up. It was minimal, but clean. Friendly staff and good breakfast! Our only complaint (and this was because we were really short on time at this point in our trip) was that it wasn't close to the train station. We walked pretty much everywhere in Europe, and we walked from our hotel to the Memorial, but it was a bit of a hike, depending on what your take on getting from place to place is :) Oh, and just a heads up, the museum is huge! We spent about 5 hours there and didn't get to see either of the films or the section on the Cold War. But this is a huge area of interest for me, so I read every little bit of information.

Chris, I agree with the others that a day trip is too short. I would spend one night in Bayeaux and do a Battlebus tour. They are expensive, but worth every dollar/Euro. The sights are not marked very well and there is so much information to know about for each area. I spent 5 nights in Bayeaux and I still would like to go back and learn more on the British and Canadian beaches.

Unfortunately I believe the Battlebus tours folded last year.

Chris, I'm going to throw my two cents in here and recommend you take a look at Le Mémorial de Caen (http://www.memorial-caen.fr/portailgb/). They have several tour options and even packages that include accommodations in Caen. The museum is massive and full of information. You can take buses out to the beaches, but they don't run often as they mostly service school children.

It's sounding like a better option would be to go to caen late the night before i want to hit the beaches. Then the next day I do a tour of the beaches and then come back. The only issue with this plan is I want to see the Tapestry in Bayeux. If my tour originiates in Caen this might be difficult. Any ideas? C

MD: Do you have some experience with ( http://www.memorial-caen.fr/portailgb/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=809&Itemid=1746 ). Most notably the 2 day tour. It seems like that is a really good deal as it allows time in Bayeux (something I Defintely wanted). I just want to make sure the tour of the beaches is resonably in depth. Do they spend enough time at all the things or do they spend most of the time at the cemetery and glance over everything else? Thanks, C

Hi again, We stayed in Bayeux for two days and went to Mont St. Michel and the Tapestry from there. We took the train from Bayeux to Caen and did the half day tour with the Memorial. Included in our deal was all day access to the museum, lunch, the half day tour and accommodations. The guide we had was excellent. We stopped for a few minutes at each place and the guide explained to us what happened there and had some visual props illustrating the damage done, etc. It was mostly emphasizing the American sectors. There was about 45 minutes at the American cemetery and about half an hour each at Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach. The other stops were shorter lengths of time. But I think you can do various tours with more stops. Again, knowledgeable guides (and drivers!) and the groups aren't very large. A good deal for everything included. Just a bummer that Juno beach isn't included :)

Chris, If your time is somewhat "limited", one method that might work would be to travel to Bayeux on the morning of the first day. After you arrive and get settled in your Hotel, you'll have time to see the Tapestry and explore the town a bit. The following morning, take one of the tours I mentioned in my first reply. It would be a really good idea to pre-book the tour, as they're often fully booked. It will be an all-day tour, and you'll probably get back to Bayeux about 17:00. When you return to Bayeux, take the train back to Paris (the Hotel should be willing to store your luggage while you're on the tour). This method provides both the Tapestry and a tour within about a two-day time frame. Have a look at the websites for the two tour companies (both are excellent) to decide which one best fits your preferences. While the tours might seem a bit "pricey", I find them to be good value as they provide not only all transportation to a variety of sites, but also the services of an outstanding Guide. One point to note is that lunch is not usually provided, however this is usually only a few Euro's. Cheers!

@ Darla, Just to clarify, BattleBus Tours is no longer operating under that name. The owner is now providing tours on a smaller scale with his new company, www.ddayhistorian.com. One of his former Guides is also offering tours with his own company, www.daleboothnormandytours.com. Both Guides are outstanding, and I'm sure the tours they offer are of the same level of excellence as they were with BattleBus. I've toured with both of them, and know how enthusiastic they are about presenting the history. Cheers!

Chris:
My wife and I aren't crazy about "guided tours", but after spending some time researching the D-Day historic events including descriptions of the sea bombardments and airborne and sea landings (with quite a bit of time studying maps and topography), I felt we would be doing a lot of "wandering around" if we tried to visit the various sites without a guide. We did find a way to book an 8-1/2 hour tour (greater than 30 Euro) and still make the round-trip train from Paris to Normandy and back in a day--a looooong day, but a single day nonetheless. We'll be making this visit late in April. If you're interested to hear how it went, send me a PM and I'll let you know.