My husband and I spent 4 full days in Normandy arriving by overnight Brittany Ferry from Portsmouth, England to Ouistreham. We hit the ground running, taking the bus to Caen from the ferry to the train station where we rented a car from Europcars across the street. By 9 am we were at the Caen Memorial Museum, hoping to pace ourselves to 2 hours as recommended in Rick's Normandy Book. We could not do that however and spent over 4 hours there--so much to see and absorb. As US Army veterans we were able to get free tickets but had to talk to the right person at the desk. From the museum we headed to Arromanches and did the Arromanches 360 as well as Rick's self guided tour of the area. We then hoped to go to the Juno Beach Center but we had run out of time, we did however visit the Canadian Cemetery and the Juno Beach area.
We spent the 4 nights in Bayeaux at B & B Hotel de Sainte Croix--an excellent choice with large quiet rooms, great breakfast and wonderful proprietress.
We spent the next two days touring with Overlord Battlefield Tours--1st day focusing on Longue sur Meres, Omaha and Utah Beach and Pointe du Hoc. Yannick, our guide, was simply fantastic. His breadth of knowledge and engaging personality brought the battles to life. Our 2nd day focused on the 101st Airborne areas (Band of Brothers) and our guide, Charles, was also excellent. We would have missed a lot on our first visit to Normandy had we not taken these tours. In the early evenings we visited the British Cemetery in Bayeux, the Reporters Memorial and the Cathedral.
Our final full day in Normandy started at Mont St. Michel and as recommended we arrived early (9:30am) and beat the rush. We used Rick's self-guided tour which was excellent. In the afternoon we stopped at the German cemetery near Mt St Michel and then returned to Utah Beach and the very excellent Utah Beach Museum--highly recommended by Rick --we especially appreciated the exhibit of "then and now" Photos from the battlefield superimposed on photos of today blending beautifully. Once again, Rick suggests 45 min is all you need for this museum and we spent 2 hours! We hoped to get back in time for the Bayeux Tapestry, but sadly would not have had enough time so will save that for another trip; we did however visit the 2nd German Cemetery on the way back.
Lessons Learned: we were definitely prepared for our visit, having read several books and rewatching Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan. Even with extensive preparation and some level of tactical expertise, I think a guided battlefield tour is a must for first time visitors to Normandy. Our days were full--breakfast at 7:30 and touring til 7:00-7:30pm with very few breaks. Make sure to plan for more time in museums if you have a need to read and absorb as much as possible. In retrospect, I wish I had planned for 5 full days instead of 4. Rick's Normandy Snapshot is excellent and well worth having a copy with you.