culdesac

We're planning to go to Europe for our 25th wedding anniversary and we're very interested in taking a tour of Normandy. Wha are the relative merits of taking an official tour vs. going on our own? We're travelling from England to Caen, France by ferry. We could rent a car and go to Normandy on our own or try one of the tours we've seen on the internet. They all seem outrageously expensive. Is it really necessary to book a standard tour? Has anybody done a tour on their own and if so, any suggestions for us?

Thanks!

Nina66

Considering the number of sites and the museum, etc.. I would look into a tour. We did that a about ten years ago, enjoyed the local color added by our young guide. His family lived there during the war and still do.

We met up with him at his family's hotel in Bayeaux. I think that we may have gotten his name from Rick Steves and made the reservations by phone from Paris. It was reasonably priced, and we really saw a a lot.

We usually do things like this on our own, but we never could have learned and seen so much on our own in one day.

Nina

MomKJC

Just finished month in Normandy
Things to consider I'm assuming that you want to see the WW2 sights

1 How good is your knowledge of history about WW2-mine is very good so I understood what I was seeing and wanted to see. Most places have very excellent guides/guided tours. Therefore I didn't have the need of a tour except at each location. But I have heard good things about some tours. Friends took a Leger tour out of England (hope that name is correct) after much research. Haven't talked to them since they returned. Perhaps others will comment about their tour companies

2)Where to pick up car
I would take the ferry to Caen(actually Ouistreham 15km north) and arrange to get my car there. Bringing a car from England posses the problem of driving a car on the wrong side of the road for which it was built.
About the ferry
Book your tickets early as they are cheaper. I did the overnight Portsmouth to Caen(Ouisterham) didn't take a berth and slept very fine in the large comfortable reclining chairs provided
If time try to get to Mont St Michel.
A personal note. I found all the sights very moving in Normandy. I left many with tears in my eyes having looked at the graves of young men the same age as my kids! Don't speed through anything. Take your time. There are so many nice little towns.
The area is beautiful! Enjoy!

willit

If your ferry departs from Portsmouth, may I suggest the D Day Museum on the seafront at Southsea, and the excellent Naval museum.

dmkujat

I was in Normandy last year and I suggest a tour. The local guides know lots of little tidbits of info that don't make it into the books. We were on a van with 7 other people, inlcuding a french couple in their 70's. The husband had many stories (translated by our tour guide into English) about his memories of the allies liberating the village he lived in. And a big YES to Mont St. Michel....it was one of the highlights of our trip!

carolyn

dmkujat, how did you book your tour?

Keith

I toured that area by myself two years ago. With so many different things to see, renting a car lets you choose which ones you want to do and how much time to devote to them.

Although I was a little apprehensive of driving in a country where I didn’t speak the language, I got over that in the first hour and had a great time.

I want to go back and bicycle that region!

Keith

Keith

Robespierre

Last summer, we hired a car with driver outside the railroad station in Bayeux to take us to the sites we selected. He gave a non-stop commentary from the point of view of a local whose family had lived through the war. It cost 70€ for the five of us (for six hours).

MomKJC

Robespierre, who did you use from Bayeux? How did you contact them? Cost seems very good!

jennymary

My husband and I went to Normandy last November and booked a tour through Battlebus Tours. You can book the tour online at: www.battlebus.fr

The tour was great. The group was small... there were only 5 of us... and the tour guide was extremely knowledgeable. I didn't know much about Normandy before going and didn't realize how spread out the region is. Now that I've gone on the tour, I'd probably feel more comfortable driving on my own the next time. I do believe that we saw things on the tour that we may not have seen on our own.. small monuments, etc. Enjoy!

Robespierre

The company we used is called <i>Les Taxis du Bessin</i>, and their phone is 02 31 92 92 40. Their rates are for up to 7 passengers. Representative prices:

American Cemetery - Omaha Beach 1h waiting - 50&euro;
add: Arromanches (museum visit) Longues-sur-Mer battery, Pointe du Hoc 3h30 waiting - 95&euro;

But there are dozens of other choices:

<b>http://battlefieldsww2.50megs.com/ww2_battlefield_tours.htm</b>

Mary_Fran

My sister and I visited Normandy and toured the battlesites on our own in a rental car. As we traveled through France and through Normandy in particular, I read Stepen Ambrose's D-Day. We did not take any tours, and it was still one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

For me, I think visiting those sites with a tour guide and a group of strangers would not have been as memorable as doing it on our own. There are so many sites that call up deep, quiet moments of reflection. I think that a tour guide yammering in the background would have made me nuts.

Robespierre

My family and the driver were the only ones in the van.

He answered questions and lectured on facets of the operation if we asked, but left us alone when we preferred.

His knowledge of the back roads was invaluable, and probably saved us a lot of time we might otherwise have spent navigating.

cigalechanta

We did like Mary-Fran and it was special being alone without a group tour. The photo I snapped at Omaha beach was the exact spot they filmed in &quot;Saving Sgt. Ryan.&quot;