Day trip to D-Day Beaches

Ya, don't go. A day trip from Paris is very difficult to do. The beach area is massive - 50 miles from one end to another and a long ways from Paris. The best option is to overnight in the area but that doesn't reduce the cost but it does provide the opportunity are better experience. If you cannot do an overnight, you might consider saving it for another time.

Mary, A day trip from Paris to tour the beaches is somewhat difficult, as the arrival time of the trains is often too late to join the tours. You didn't say which "tour" you were planning on using, but the most popular ones (at least with many in the group here) depart from Bayeux at precisely 08:00. While it won't save you any money, the most practical suggestion would be to travel to Bayeux early on the day prior to the tour. Get settled in your Hotel and then perhaps have a look at the famous Bayeux Tapestry or the WW-II Museum there. Take the tour the following morning (your Hotel should be willing to store your luggage). At the conclusion of the tour (often about 17:00), collect your luggage and head for the station for the train back to Paris. You could also look at a Paris Vision tour which provides day trips to the D-Day sites, but it's not an ideal solution. These typically provide only a few hours at the historic sites, and many hours sitting on a Bus. Happy travels!

I did the bus tour in 1998 from Paris to Normandy and the bus ride was long and the time at the one beach and american cemetery was short. The tour included a stop at a farmhouse for lunch which was a waste of time. I would make the Normandy trip a 2-3 days with a stop at Mount San Michel.

I did the bus tour in 1998 from Paris to Normandy and the bus ride was long and the time at the one beach and american cemetery was short. The tour included a stop at a farmhouse for lunch which was a waste of time. I would make the Normandy trip a 2-3 days with a stop at Mount San Michel.

Thank you all for your recommendations

I took the D-Day Tour in 2009 from the Caen Museum. They will pick you up at the Caen train station & return you there at the end of the evening. The tour included: Arromanches, American Cemetary, Omaha beach and Pointe du Hoc. We got to see some German bunkers & some of the big guns. After you are picked up at the train station, you are driven back to the Museum for a brief walk through, a lunch and probably the best 30 minute film about WWII I have ever seen. There were 7 people on the tour & we all asked if there was a DVD copy of the film for sale, as it was that good. My mother & I took the tour, we were staying in Caen, but met the guide at the train station & were dropped off there around 7pm that night, in time for others to catch a train back to Paris.

Absolutely, yes! The Caen tour is superb!! By all means do this; it was one of the best (of my many) days spent in France!

I booked a tour through LinkParis.com which starts at the Caen Memorial, so it sounds like it might be the same tour as yours. They will pick us up at the train station as well. It sounded fairly complete for a one day trip. Thanks again for the suggestions.