D-Day Beaches Day Trip (from Paris)
 

Hi Everyone,

Just joined this site & I am very excited. However, not as excited about our European trip in a few months. It will be our 1st trip to Europe even though my mother is from England, so we have a lot to learn in a short time. OK, my question is about visiting the D-Day sights (unfortunately for only one day), specifically Omaha Beach, US cemetery, Caen Museum, & the St. Mere Eglise Church with the paratrooper hanging. Does anyone know of any tours that cover these specific interest? If not, do you have any suggestions on accomplishing this goal including transportaion tips & so forth? I appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance for the help.

Tony B.

Battlebus Tours in Bayeux cover all those sites, and more, except the museum in Caen. We did the museum one day, then the Battlebus tour the next.

On our first visit to France, we only had one day so our hotel arranged for a private driver and we did the museum in the morning and a few sites in the afternoon. It was a long day, but worth it. We enjoyed the 2nd trip more though with being able to stay in Bayeux for a couple nights. The Battlebus guides are excellent, BTW. We were kicking ourselves for not taking the 2 day tour, and this was 3 women (myself, my mother and my DD who was 16, if that tells you anything).

When you say one day, just to be clear, are you saying you want to leave from and return to Paris on the same day, or are you planning an overnight in Normandy? It makes a pretty big difference towards the appropriate response.

I highly recommend Roel, from Victory tours. My family loved the tour he gave us. He can customize a tour for you.

http://lignerolles.homestead.com/victorytours.html

Roel was our guide as well--he is very knowledgeable and I think you will be quite pleased with his tour. We saw everything that you mentioned above in 2005. He does a great job!

Thanks to everyone for your responses so far. I will look into your suggestions. For MrNuke,yes. The plan, as of now, is to leave & return to Paris on the same day. Thanks again for your responses.

You can also take the train to Normandy, hire a car with guide/driver at the Tourist Information Bureau in Caen or Bayeux, and tell him where and when you want to go. We never paid more than 70€ a day for a carload of five people.

Since your schedule is so tight - if you want to see the Bayeux Tapestry, study the backstory before you get there so you can skip that part of the museum.

If you like seafood, try to schedule things so that you're around Port-en-Bessin at lunchtime. It's a stone's throw from Arromanches, where the Mulberry Museum is.

Full day bus excursions from Paris to the D-day sights are not unusual. Your hotel can probably tell you one or two that will even pick you up at your Paris hotel.

I don't think that you can do the invasion beach sights, the Peace Museum in Caen and travel to & from Paris in one-day. You might end up with the invasion beach sights and drop the Peace Museum.

If you do this yourself, in Bayeaux take cabs from the train station to the Tourist office.

Another vote for Battlebus Tours. Small van, only 7-8 people. We were very satisfied with our day tour of D-Day beaches, St. Mere Eglise, American Cemetery. The drive through the small roads in the countryside, on the way to the actual tour sights is very enjoyable. We did stay a couple of nights in Bayeux, though. It's quite pleasant after the hustle and bustle of Paris. We enjoyed Normandy. Should have stayed longer.

A few years ago I did the DDay tour with Paris Vision. They picked me up at the hotel at 6.30am, and dropped me back in the evening. We had lunch at a nice country restaurant, then visited (briefly) the Peace memorial in Caen, then went to Omaha beach, the US cemetery and Point du Hoc. The day was good, but very rushed, and we never had long in any place.

The museum in Caen can take several hours (highly recommend the film), and the US cemetery as well. The best bet is to take several days at least, but the daytrip is better than nothing, just don't expect too much.

For a half-day trip D-Day tour, I highly recommend Overlord Tours. They take a small group (there were six of us) and they are extremely informed. We went to all the places you mentioned. See their website for testimonials and descriptions of all their tours. We took the train from Paris to Bayeux arriving at 6pm and took a full day tour with them the following day, returning to Paris on a 6p or 7pm train. It's a two-hour train trip. If you have time, be sure to see the Bayeux tapestry. If you have to go up and back in one day, you might need a car if the train schedule doesn't work for you. But it sure is convenient. BTW- we weren't prepared for the windy and wet weather (in Sept.) The beaches there are often/always like that.

Have a look at http://perso.wanadoo.fr/normandyours This is the site of French guide Danielle Duboscq who speaks perfect English and was a local Tourist Officer so knows just about all there is to know. She runs her own vehicle and will pick up and put down.