travel to vimy ridge and juno beach memorials

Arras can be your base for Vimy. It is a pleasant small city with lots of history in both WW1 and 2; take a look at the city hall. Information here: http://www.arras.fr/tourisme/arras-tourist-information-office.html Unfortunately there is no daily mass transit to the Vimy site although in summer there is a shuttle one day a week. Easiest way is to take a taxi; the drivers seem used to the run and will return for you at a set time or after a telephone call.
It is astonishing to see how much of the Vimy battle depended on tunnels. The guides are excellent, Canadian university students who have to promise to finish their degrees when the job ends. Here is the Canadian government's site: http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/memorials/france/vimy

I recommend staying at least one night in Normandy. It's a long day trip there from Paris. We stayed 2 nights at the Hotel Churchill in Bayeux and had a rental car. We toured the area at our own pace. We looked into several tours but decided to go it on our own. There are a lot of really good tour companies in the area that will pick you up at your hotel.

Tanja, I don't have any information on Vimy Ridge, but Southam covered that well. If you only have three days, it could be "challenging" to see both. Regarding the "Juno Beach Memorial", are you referring only to the Juno Beach Centre? There's LOTS more interesting sites to see in that area besides that. Depending on your level of interest (and budget), I'd suggest staying at least two nights using Bayeux as your home base. That will allow you to take one of the excellent local tours, which is good as they provide the transportation. The Guides are outstanding and they'll provide a much more interesting view of the history than just wandering around on your own with a rental car (I've done both). There's also an excellent WW-II Museum in Bayeux, and of course the famous Tapestry which depicts a much earlier battle. Some of the tours you could look at: > www.ddayhistorian.com > www.daleboothnormandytours.com > www.overlordtour.com The tours covering the Canadian sectors usually last a full day (AFAIK), but Overlord has half-day tours covering the U.S. sectors (if you'd like to also see sites shown in famous movies such as The Longest Day or Saving Private Ryan. In addition to visiting the U.S. Cemetery, I've also been to the main Canadian Cemetery in that area at Beny sur Mer. It's well worth a visit! Another significant site for Canadians in that area is the Abbaye d'Ardenne Monastery. Depending on the ages of your children, that may or may not be a suitable site. Yes, you can absolutely take the train, but you'll have to consider the travel times with such a short time frame. Good luck with your planning!

Hi, The above poster mentioned Arras in connection to Vimy. To the left of the Arras train station as you exit, is a hotel, Holiday Inn with an Hertz rental. The train station also has a bus depot but I'm not sure any of them go out to Vimy, only to Neuville St Vlaast, the village between Arras and Vimy. Across from the Arras train station are numerous hotels in the 2 and 3 star range. Connecting Paris Nord and Arras is a TGV, ca. 40 mins. From there it's best to get a rental car. At the edge of Arras is a large British WW I cemetery, next to the French Army caserne, ca one hr or so to walk it from the station.

Thank you for all of the great suggestions! I will make note of them and then as we sketch out our plan I am sure to have further questions. Ken, I put our the three days as a guess but that time line is not set in stone. We also want to spend some time in Paris. My kids are 16 and 13 and their interest in going to both locations is quite high.
Southam, Stephen and Fred, thank you for your input. It is all very helpful!

A quick PS: It is worth paying for a guided tour of the Commonwealth sites at Normandy, including the tank battles outside Caen which were such a significant part of Canada's campaign in Normandy. A tour is not just transportation. A good guide's insights are valuable, since much of what you see needs to be placed in context.
The Canadian museum at Juno is controversial. It is not sponsored by the federal government and some think it was motivated in least in part as a response to the national war museum in Ottawa. It tries to cover many parts of Canada's military history, not just D-Day.

I would second doing a guided tour with a small group tour. those mentioned all take only 8-10 people max and they really make an effort to connect with the younger members of the tour. Several of them are former British soldiers.
We always base out of Bayeux as tours start early.