Day Trip to Normandy from Paris
 

We're going to Paris and would like to take a day trip to Normandy. Should we make advance reservations through a tour group before leaving the US or can we arrange a tour while we are in Paris? Or, would it be easier to rent a car/take a train and explore Normandy on our own?<BR>Any advice?<BR>

You may wish to enlist the front desk help at your hotel. Normandy by car is a very, very long day. You might investigate a tour cum TGV train or overnight stay. Look at www.conciergerie.com and www.ticketavenue.com for ideas and prices. I do not endorse or curse either.

This is an extremely long day trip but I believe there are a couple of tour companies (Parisvision, Cityrama) that do it. Check out websites. The best way to go is rent a car and spend several days but I realize you may not have time for that if your schedule is limited.

If you have the time, do as Lori says and rent a car for longer trip.<BR><BR>If you are primarily interested in the D-Day beaches, the Cityrama/Parisvision are good choices<BR><BR>If you'd rather do it at your own pace, you can do the D-Day beaches in a daytrip by taking an early morning train to Bayeux and either picking up a tour or renting a car there. It's a long day, but taking a train back to Paris around 7 will mean no stress on the trip back.

Hi Lynne, we did the Cityrama trip and were extremely pleased, check their web site but it might have left around 7:00am?, we walked there from our hotel and were back around 10pm. Guide couldn't have been better, this was all in a drizzly rain just like the real D-Day. The museum and films in Caen set the stage nicely for what we saw that afternoon. And the meal was even good. The entire visit was a memorable one. I believe I did make advance reservations. Our bus was full. We went on 5/30/2000, 46 years to the day. Don't miss it. Judy

Lynne,<BR>Depending on when you go, I would suggest that you book the tour before you leave. At certain times of the year, like November when I went on that same trip, the tour company's did not operate on a regular schedule. I needed to arrange a private tour.<BR><BR>I booked my trip though a travel agency in New York (French Accents (718)896-5400.) We went to the D-Day Museum in Caen and the landing beaches. <BR><BR>If your interest was to see both the landing beaches and Mont St. Michel, I understand that it is difficult to do both in one day. <BR><BR>As we had 5 people, renting a car did not make sense. Frankly, I'm glad we didn't because it is a long drive to and from Paris in one day. We left Paris at 6 a.m. and didn't get back until 7 p.m. I believe it was at least a 3 hour drive each way.<BR><BR>If you do decide to rent a car and go at your own pace, I would recommend picking up the car in Normandy and avoiding the long drive and the "ruthless" Parisian drivers.<BR> <BR><BR>Good luck. BTW, the Museum in Caen is much more than military history. There is a nice section that relates to the occupation. Although, the relatively new WWII/Occupation exhibit at the Musee d'Armie, is more extensive.

There's a great tour company (from what I've heard) called Busfly tours (you can search the web) out of Bayeax. They do full & half day tours of the D-Day sights. The hard part is catching a 6.30am train to get there, and then you can only take the afternoon tour (but you'd have time to see the Bayeax tapestry & Cathedral). Either the train & tour, or city bus tour make for a really long, long day. Really, if you can afford two days, either take the train or rent a car...