Normandy Must See itinerary

Bayeux - the rare town here not destroyed in WWII - great small town base. Famous cathedral and queen Mathilda's 1066 Tapestry.

Caen- so so large city but with the acclaimed DDay Museum on the edge of town - the best place i think to get an overview of the whole area, war-wise.

Mont Saint-Michel, a few hours drive or train ride from Bayeux.

Otherwise in DDay area nice little towns, countryside but no musts. But if you drive from Paris area, then you can go via Giverny and Monet's Garden/House, Jumieges - romantic abbey ruins, Honfleur on the coast, etc.

Also - near Bayeux - Ste Mere-Eglise (sp?) first village liberated during D-Day i think and an American parachutists got hung up on the church tower - he survived and in the church is a stained-glass window commemorating his dangling.

And when driving to Mont Saint-Michel, go via Avranches, on the bay and where from the garden of the old Bishop's palace there is an acclaimed view of Mont Saint Michel levitation across the sands, at low tide, miles and miles away. Go down to the beach here and get other mesmerizing views, then drive along the coast to the Mont.

bubbaloo Hi,
Will you have a car?
The WW11 sites in Normandy are excellent places to visit. I think the French have spent a couple of generations looking after these places and the current generation probably see things as quite lucrative, therefore access is easy and routes are available to follow which allow the visitor to really explore what happened in WW2.

Bayeux is in my opinion the best place to have as a base. The town is quite pleasant and as PalenqueBob said was not destroyed.

There are eight signposted routes, looking at different phases of the fighting from the landings, to battles in the Bocage, to the final breakouts. The eight routes have different names, and are clearly signed . At major points along these routes are multi-lingual information totems which tell you the history behind the location you are visiting. It is well worth following these routes.
They will take you to the well known places and also the lesser visited places too.

I found a previous post of mine hope it helps.
I have dug up a recent pamphlet I picked up in Normandy it may be of some interest regarding WW2 touring routes. You can do part or all of which ever you wish.
Sorry its a little long winded but it may be of some interest.

The routes are identified by sword shaped signs and totem poles scattered around the areas.
"Normandy is a veritable open air museum; the historical area of the battle of Normandy brings together all museums and places of interest and remembrance connected to D Day and the ensuing offensive in the three departments of Calvados Manche and Orne.

There are 8 itineraries in chronicle sequence clearly signposted
?Normandie Terre-Liberté?
These routes enable the visitor to discover these history packed places and follow the unfolding of the huge battle on which the outcome of the Second World War depended.

These itineraries are as follows:

OVERLORD-L?ASSAUT (OVERLORD-THE ASSAULT)
This route is designed to help discover a great many places that marked 6th June 1944 in the Anglo-Canadian sector from the right bank of the Orne estuary to Bayeux.
You will first come across Pegasus Bridge at Bénouville, and then carry on along the coast following the signs.
Juno and Gold Landing beaches as far as Arromanches and the Longues Battery. Finally reaching Bayeux the first French town to be liberated.
Distance : 72km

D-DAY-LE CHOC (D-DAY-THE ONSLOUGHT)

Starting out from Bayeux, this route covers the entire length of the Omaha sector as far as Carentan. Taking in places like Colleville-Sur Mer and Points du Hoc, it gives an idea of the violence of the battle and the scale of the American casualties, which earned the Omaha beach the nickname ?Bloody Omaha?
The route then follows the hard fought advance of the American troops towards the town of Saint Lo badly scarred by intensive bombing raids and then through marshlands to Carentan where the link up took place with the troops coming ashore from Utah beach.
Distance :130km

OBJECTIF-UN PORT (OBJECTIVE-A PORT)
From Carentan to Cherbourg, this route lets you relive the parachute drop by the American 82nd and 101st airborne divisions around Saint-Mere Eglise and the landing on Utah beach at St Marie-du-mont. Moving on to Cherbourg, a vital base for importing the equipment and supplies required for the operation to succeed.
Distance :95km

L?AFFRONTEMENT (THE CONFRONTATION)
Starting out at Bénouville this completes the ?Overlord-L?assaut? route and follows the extremely difficult advance and consolidation of the beachhead by the British and Canadian troops. Between Caen, not liberated until 9th July, and Vire in early August, strategic towns like Caumont-L?eventé and St Martin des Besaces would be wiped out under Allied artillery fire and air attacks during ?operation bluecoat? (breakthrough in the Bocage) with the aim of supporting the American offensive in the West .
Distance :207km

COBRA-LA PERCEE (COBRA-THE BREAKOUT)
From Cherbourg to Avranches, you will follow the difficult progress of the Allied tanks under General Patton as far as the tremendous breakout at Avranches, which was not liberated until 31st July.
The towns of La Haye-du-puits, Périers and Coutances, and the battlefields of Mont Castre, la chapelle-en-juger and Roncey show with what extreme difficulty the fighting forces contrived to get around the German defences entrenched in Normandy.
Distance :174km

LA CONTRE ATTAQUE (THE COUNTER ATTACK)
The decisive phase of the Battle of Normandy took place with the wide sweep from Avranches to Mortain, where a deadly counteroffensive put paid to German hopes of halting the Allied advance.
From Mortain, the route then takes you to Alencon along either side of which Anglo-Canadian forces, to the North, and American forces to the South would gradually close the jaws on the German divisions.
Distance :209km

L?ENCERCLEMENT (THE ENCIRCLEMENT)
This itinary, from Alencon to L?aingle, gives an idea of how the trap designed to encircle the German forces closed in from the south. After following the progress of the French 2nd Armoured Div and American units moving northwards, you can discover the place where the bloody and decisive and decisive battles were fought for the Falaise-Chambois pocket. Before going on to L?aingle, whose liberation opened the road to the Seine for the Allied Armies.
Distance :162km

LE DENOUEMENT (THE OUTCOME)
This circuit covers the phase in which the Allied offensives converged towards what would be the most decisive battlefield of the whole Normandy campaign, the Falaise pocket. It follows in the footsteps of the British, Canadian and Polish Armies, heading due south in operation ?Totalize? to meet American and French (2nd Armoured) troops who had achieved a breakthrough towards Alencon and were moving North to encircle the German army as it withdrew following its failure at Mortain.
Distance: 128km"

Muck

Hi,

You've received great recommendations. If you will have a car and if you have time, I recommend going to Etretat.

Agree w/ Palenque Bob's recommendation to stay in Bayeux. I used it as a base and it was perfect.

Whatever you decide to do, have fun. You're going to one of my favorite regions.

TR

why, thank you to all of you! thats given me to much to go on. We will have a car, and will be flying to paris and driving back, and have rented a house near Deauville. The places you have mentioned sound sooo interesting, I cant wait. I would never have found out all of that - would have come back musing on missed opportunities, Many thanks

marking

Get a copy of the Michelin Green Guide to Normandy and the related map. The Guide has excellent suggested driving itineraries, ratings of the major sights, and a whole lot more. We found it invaluable for our five-day visit.

topping for cclemens31

I have been to many of the sites mentioned and I would not miss Giverny and Monet's house and gardens at the gateway to Normandy.

It is one of my favorite places in France and well worth seeing. It can be crowded ( like every where else) , but if you go late in the day you can have the place almost to yourself.

bookmarking

thanks for the helpful post.

TTT

One thing you "must see" is a good book describing the history of the battle, its planning, and the aftermath. Without a knowledge of who did what to whom and where, Normandy is just a bunch of rusted junk.

Just go to amazon.com and search for D-Day or Overlord. Don't overlook the Mulberries and PLUTO - they were essential to the success of the invasion.

Vivent les alliés!

p.s. If you see the Bayeux tapestry (and you should - it's a remarkable piece of art), it might be helpful to research the backstory before you go. There's a history display in the museum before you get to the tapestry proper, but if you know the story already, you can save a lot of time by skimming it. A brief summary can be found at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry

Bookmarking for my May trip to Normandy. Good information here!

Caen for the WWII museum, Honfleur, Dieppe, Trouvers, Mont St. Michel, beaches of Etretat (Monet painting), and of course beaches of Normandy invasion. We stayed at 3 private chateaux throughout here and it was fantastic and quite reasonable.

Can't believe that no one recommended visiting a distillery and cidre,

Be sure to try the local hard cider, calvados and pommeau.

Keith

Of course a stop for some great Calvados, look for signs along the road as well as for fresh foie gras. The towns of Deauville and Trouville are lovely too.

Arromanches.

I highly recommend a tour of the Normandy beaches; my husband and I did a tour with Victory tours, led by Roel Klinkhamer. It really helped to make these beaches come alive with the history. I would not have "felt" the experience so meaningfully without it. Here is a brief description of our tour with him this past summer:

"At last, we are off to meet our guide for the half-day tour of the Normandy beaches and sights. A few weeks before the trip, I decided to book a tour. Dh and I are usually do-it-your-selfers, but I felt that this was one time when I wanted to have someone making the sights come alive. And I can’t speak highly enough about Roel Klinkhamer and Victory Tours. It was a great tour, and at 5 1/2 hours, considerably longer than the half-day we anticipated. We visited Arromanches, Port-En-Bessin-Omaha Beach-The American War Cemetery and Pointe du Hoc, and a lot of spots along the way were given commentary. It was just ourselves and another couple who, like Roel, were Dutch. This was almost like having a private tour. Roel gave us an excellent tour, his knowledge and passion make the experience of the war very meaningful to both of us. The day is stellar—perfectly blue skies, low humidity, and it is an odd juxtaposition of perfect weather with content, and it is a powerful experience. We were both so glad to see footage of the invasion the day before, because it really helped us to imagine 60+ years earlier. Another benefit of having the tour is that we’re both able to relax and enjoy traveling around the countryside."

Paule

Bookmarking

bookmarking

If you like to do it yourself and drive yourself, I recommend you get a copy of _Major and Mrs. Holt's Guide to the Normandy Landing Beaches_. Great photos and maps, several good itineraries, and comes with a big fold-out battle map. If you have this and a Michelin Normandy map, you'll be good to go for battlefield touring.

Try to time your visit to the Normandy American Cemetery at sunset, to hear Taps as they close for the day. Very moving. All Americans should experience this place.

Enjoy!

I agree with 64driver, Major and Mrs. Holt's Guide to the Normandy Landing Beaches is a great source of information. Well worth getting.

I think I got mine in Aromanches.

muck

We shall be in Normandy in September so I've come across the link for the Holt's book. It does look very thorough and worth getting. http://www.guide-books.co.uk/normandy.html

Michelin issued a commemorative version of their road map. It's Historical Map 102: Battle of Normandy.

bookmarking

The Mont st Michel, Bayeux tapestry and d-day beaches are musts.
The Tapestry and Mont St Michel are guided but for the beaches your need a guide or you are just looking at cancrete blocks. You need a private guide a minibus tour or a d-day audioguide.
The zone covers 50 miles of coast so casually driving round you will miss most important sites.

topping for marybethcl

ttt

Bookmarking. Thanks for all the great info!

bookmarking!