Help! We have planned a trip to Europe with a side trip from Paris to Bayeux to see the D-Day beaches intending to take the direct train route there. Now we are told that is under construction and they are not selling tickets for it. Other train routes take longer and cost more. Does anyone know of another way to get to Bayeux except driving ourselves? Perhaps a place to hire a car and driver? We might only need it from Bayeux to Paris as the trains in the other direction will work even if not what we want but the timing on the return trip will not work with their train schedule.
Posted by
Seattle
77 posts
It is very difficult to see the D-Day beaches relying only on public transportation. Perhaps you could take the train to Caen and rent a car there? (I don't know exactly what train lines are under construction in your scenario.) That would put your self-driving away from Paris and the toll roads but still give you the flexiblity of a car.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32318 posts
Judy, Could you provide some further information? When are you planning to make the trip from Paris to Bayeux? I briefly had a look at both the Bahn.de and SCNF websites and didn't see any mention of disruptions. Also, how are you planning to "see the D-Day beaches"??? They're some distance from Bayeux, so you'll either need to book a day tour or rent a car. Were you planning to do this as a day trip, or stay at least one night? Cheers!
Posted by
OP
Palatine
72 posts
We were planning to stay in Bayeux for three nights and take one of the battlefield tours with a local company and the shuttle to Mont St Michel during that time. We did not think we would need a car if we did it that way. The train we wanted to take was the one directly to Bayeux thru Caen which had tickets for about $21 each way. If you try to book tickets for our dates of travel (Sept. 23&26) they will not offer any for that route. Rail Europe is the source of my information that there will be construction done then. I spoke to them directly and received an e-mail from them about the constructiion. I don't read French so I can not access the French rail site. We can book a train thru Rouen to Caen and Bayeux but it will cost us each $150 round trip and take twice as long. Quite a difference from the $42 round trip we thought we could get.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
I'm one of the people who posted a warning some weeks ago saying that construction on the tracks on the direct route between Paris and Bayeux would begin around 15 July. For travel after that date the SNCF timetables showed routes requiring several changes and taking 3 - 5 hours. However, when I checked the SNCF timetables a moment ago, the regular 2-hour direct route was shown up to 31 August. Beginning on 1 September the indirect routes and longer travel times appear. I'm guessing that the start of the construction project has been delayed until 1 September.