Exploring Normandy
 

Before I start my exhaustive research for our 2017 European vacation, I'd like to hear suggestions from the travelers who generously offer advice.

I'm hoping to start with a week in England, probably London area, and moving on to Northern France for a week. While we mostly travel on our own, I think the WWII experience in this area would best be done by tour. Any recommendations for tours and towns to see or use as a base for exploring the region would be appreciated.

We plan to go in September and travel by bus and train.

FYI for any other WWII buffs, I highly recommend the WWII Museums in Catania Italy, Bastogne Belgium and New Orleans Louisiana USA - Three amazing places to visit for anyone with an interest in WWII.

Thanks for any advice.

I can highly recommend http://ddaybattletours.com

We met in Sainte Mère Eglise, where the paratrooper famously got hung up on the church steeple (wait until you hear the real story about that!).

René, the guide, lives there. We spent a day in a very well-planned manner, logically put together, never rushed, always informative, and I couldn't imagine a better D-Day experience.

The contact is [email protected]

Separately, I can recommend visiting the "tapisseries" in Bayeux (http://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/la_tapis...de_bayeux.html) - not really tapisseries but a very long strip (20 inches high and about 230 feet long!) of embroideries telling the history of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings, frame by frame.

Aside from taking a tour with a guide you should seriously consider renting a car to explore as you'll limit where you can go, when you can go and how long it will take to get places using public transport. For car rental info use autoeurope.com. The public transport website is commentjyvais.com if you want to do research on public transport options.

Also, how long will you be in Normandy? Where will you arrive there from (maybe Paris)? And where will you go afterwards (maybe back to Paris)?

Sorry, I see you'll be there for a week.

You might be interested in reading the following newsletters:

http://www.maribelsguides.com/Haute-Normandie.pdf
http://www.maribelsguides.com/Basse-Normandie.pdf

I really liked Normandy Sightseeing Tours. The guide did an excellent job and it was very well-run. Small group.

http://www.normandy-sightseeing-tours.com/

You can take catamarans or overnight ferries from southern England-Portsmouth I think, to Oustreham, Caen's port and take bus into town and train to Bayeux, IMO your best base- a great place in its own right - famous cathedral and Queen Matilhda's Tapestry documenting 1066 Invasion of Britain in a museum.

No need to go via Paris.

Plus one of few Cotentin Peninsula towns not decimated in WW2 - yes hook up with mini-bus tours like those recommended above - pick up at many hotels I think in Bayeux.

Car would be great but for a quick look the mini-bus tours are great - or rent a bicycle!

For lots on trains check www.voyages-sncf.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com.

You can take a tour to Mont-Saint-Michel or take train to Pontorson and bus to the Mount if you want to stay the night- from there take a bus to Rennes train station for bullet trains to Paris.

Thanks for all the great information! They give me a good place to start my research. I'd plan a week in the area - Mont-St-Michel, Bayeaux, Caen are definitely towns I want to explore. Any other suggestions are welcome.

We did a private tour with Sean Claxton (a splurge for our trip) and very much enjoyed him and our day.

We loved putting around the countryside. There's so much to see and do. Chateau de Pirou was another great stop.

The best advice that I can offer is to spend lots of time with the <i>Michelin Green Guide</i> for the area (even if you aren't driving).

Your week will be delightful -- but not nearly enough to see even the highlights of Normandy, so thinking through your priorities in advance could be really beneficial.

Enjoy!

Pay attention to the regional food! Cheeses for example: Not just Camembert, but Livarot, very pungent Munster varieties, and much more!
And - of course - Calvados, the high-potency distilled marvel that looks like Cognac but is made from apples!

I recommend a night or two in Honfleur. Very cute small town with a number of sites to see!

We enjoyed a brief stay in Bayeux, and used Normandy Sightseeing Tours for a small-group minivan-based tour of a few D-Day sights. I would recommend an overnight stay in Mont St Michel (we stayed just off the Mont) - it's a different experience when the daytrippers vanish, and the glorious view of the Mont at sunset / lit up as night falls is permanently etched in our memories.

I second Michelin Green guide - If I had kept all of them I'd have a great collection.

I don't recommend a guide in Normandy for WW2 sites - I did all of them alone and when I overheard some guides I was appalled at their level of knowledge - anecdotes, yes, but it stops there for a lot of these guides.

And Like FM says, a car is for me very helpful in the region.

ps : did you go in the cellar in Bastogne where they 'recreate' the experience of a bombardment ? My father was impressed and told me it reminded (somehow) him of the actual ones.

If you plan to arrive to Normandy from England (London, Nottingham, Manchester), you could consider a plane to Dinard, in Brittany (Normandy is just 100km away). This would save time and allow you to discover a region also highly involved in WWII.

For example, on your way to Normandy, you could stop in Saint Malo, there are tours related to the assault of Allied forces on this major German base. Such tours may also lead you to places described in the book 'All the light we cannot see'. http://visite.bretagne.free.fr/index...aint-malo.html

Then you could stop in Mont Saint Michel, before reaching D-day sites.

A third vote for Michelin. And a car. We did our own tours using the Guide and enjoyed doing it that way for about 3 days. One in Rouen and one in Honfleur, enroute from CDG.
Stayed in Bayeux at Hotel Bayeux==VERY clean and very economical with car park. Near the Cathedral.

We took a Omaha Beach and Band of Brothers tour through Overlord Tours. We really enjoyed it and felt it was worth the expense.

In Caen definitely go to the Peace Museum. We didn't realize how much damage the Allies did to the towns and cities of Normandy.

Also in Caen we had a lovely lunch at Le Bouchon du Vaugeux. Great food and lovely people.

I second the recommendation of visiting the "tapisseries" in Bayeux. Amazing work of embroidery which is accompanied by an audio guide which tells the story.

In addition to the Camembert and Livarot there is Neufchatel which I always thought was a form of cream cheese. Look for some of the aged varieties.

30 000 deaths within civilian population of Normandy during the battle if I remember correctly.
Mostly by bombings.

Yes we often think of only the troops on both sides who got killed and are memorialized in say the Colville allied military cemetery - as usual civilians also took the brunt of battle- today in Aleppo more than ever.