Normandy tours?

Not sure what is meant by overpriced, but many people on this forum, including me, really enjoy the Battlebus tours. I don't think a half of a day would even come close to doing this area justice. Check out the Battlebus tours and all of the many, many posts on this forum about them too.

We did the 2 day American Experience tour and would have done the Canadian Experience and the British Experience if time and money would have allowed.

I am not speaking of the battlebus tour that is about 85 euros, that is for 2 days and i find very well priced. The one i am speaking of is the 9 hour one day tour that runs about 350 euros. (http://www.ddaybattletours.com/)

I only have one day to do this so i am just trying to make it the best for me as possible. I am going only to the american sites i mentioned above because my grandfather was killed storming the beach and his grave is at the cemetary. I have never been there so i am going as a tribute to him. One day i hope to return and tour the rest of the normandy area but this time i can only do what time will require of me.

Conor,

I'd highly recommend the one-day American Highlights Tour from BattleBus. Although it's €85 for one day, it covers all the sites you want to see and will provide an excellent overview of the D-Day landings. They provide some free time to visit (for example) the Airborne Museum at St. Mere Eglise where the 82nd Airborne landed, as well as time for reflection at the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach.

If you decide to take a BattleBus tour, you'll need to base in Bayeux, as the tours depart from there at 08:00 sharp!

Happy travels!

Email Myriam and Paul at Battlebus and explain to them what you want to see and why. See what they say. They tour with family members of veterans all the time.

I also would recommend the American Highlights Battlebus Tour (about 8 hrs). While you can take yourself to the same locations, you will get much more insight and information from the tour guide. Our tour guide really made everything come alive, and we were able to understand the German positioning and strategy, etc. that we would not have gotten on a self-guided tour.

Conor,

We also took the 1-day American Highlights tour with Battlebus, and regarding doing it on your own, there was a lot of driving between the different sites--they are not right next to each other.

We felt it was money well spent to get the wealth of information, especially personal stories of the men who fought at the different sites, including photos and family histories, as well as not having to find our way from spot to spot. It included stops at St. Mere Eglise, the museum and cemetary.

We cannot recommend Battlebus highly enough.

Hey Connor,

We did the Victory half day tour last year and it was terrific. Roel (pronounced Rule) has a great since of history and has made his passion into his occupation. We felt the pricing was reasonable and he even dropped us at the museum in Coen at the end of our Morning tour so we could visit there before catching a late train back to Paris. It is very interactive and personal which we enjoyed.

He has a funky way of handling the deposit through a friend in the States, but we did as we were told and it all worked out just fine. He is also a prompt response emailer which we found to be refreshing. Enjoy your trip.

thanks for the info.

Conor, My wife and I visited the beaches last May on our own, after researching the areas we were interested in and saved a lot of $. You don't need to go on expensive tours. Dorsey

thats most likely what i will do unless for some reason i need the tour. i think i am just more worried about once getting off the train, getting a bus or taxi for cheap and also allowing me enough time to see what i want so i can get back to paris for a late dinner

I do think that unless someone has been there, explored on their own, and then later went back and took a tour, that then and only then, can they really make a true comparison and decide whether a tour is a waste of money or time.

So, lets hear from some people who have done this. Have you been to the D-Day beaches and surrounding areas on your own and then at a later date gone back and taken a tour? Which way did you prefer?

It is like saying one tour is better than the other. Unless a person takes the same, similar tour from 2 different companies, how will you know which is better? Most people do not do that. So they rely on the rest of us to say, oh yeah, that tour was fabulous, worth every penny. Go on that tour. Or that tour was awful, don't go.

What reason do we have to lie? We don't own stock. We just want others to have the same wonderful experience that we had. Isn't that why we all hang out here on this forum in the first place?

You do know that Battlebus will do extra research for you about your relative and his units movements, if you let them know ahead of time?

And lastly, these guides are so passionate about what they do, you can't help but be amazed.

I have done Normandy and the WWII sites both ways - with Roel through Victory Tours and then on our own in a car just last week. Both were wonderful. Roel is an excellent guide - incredibly knowledgeable, great storyteller, makes sure you have a great experience. He was booked when we went last week, so we used a car. My husband is very knowledgable about D-Day, WWII, the individual units, battles, victories, etc, so he knew exactly where he wanted to go and could give it context. If you don't know a LOT about D-Day and the operation there, I highly recommend the guided tours, but if you do know a lot and know what you want to see and do, a car provides more flexibility and enables you to do things at your own pace. Hope that helps!