Going to Normandy - Suggestions?
 

Any information/suggestions are welcome. My interests are in WWII, the Catholic Church and biking.

Dk...dude(ette), <BR> <BR>Do a few 'basic' searches at this website/forum and you WILL receive a wealth (motherload is more like it) of information and suggestions. Be sure to *check* the "Exact Phrase" box. <BR> <BR>The problem is, your question comes up almost daily and people get tired of answering all of them. I recently 'posted' a list of all the Tanks and Armoured Vehicle Museums in Europe. Others have posted the WWll sites, Air Force Museums (the best of these seem to be in England and Germany), and Normandy Memorials & Sites. Try a search for Normandy; World War Two; WWii; War Museums; etc., etc., etc.. You WILL BE pleasantly suprised. Good Luck

Hello, <BR>If you want to see areas or museums in Normandy related to WWII, I will suggest to you to visit firstly the "Memorial de Caen" (Calvados), then the beaches of Arromanche (near Caen) and also Utah Beach and Omaha beach. <BR>As for Catholic Church, you can go in Rouen (Seine-Maritime), the town is very pleasant. <BR>For the beaches, the best are Deauville, Trouville and also Etretat.

If you want to see an amazing working monastery, St Wandrille is fascinating. It is both different (extremely modern) and beautiful (gothic ruins and unusual architechture in the same place). They give tours and have a beautiful shop with monastic products. It's not too far from Giverny.

Hi! I stayed in Bayeux for 3 nights and rented a car for 2 days. One day we drove to Mont St Michel (about 1.5 hours away) and the other was to drive to the D-Day beaches. We started at Arramanches and its museum, then headed towards Omaha beach. The American cemetery is a very moving place, with beautiful grounds. <BR> <BR>Bayeux is a good home base being close to the beaches and has the famous Bayeux tapestry. Also has a great church. Email me directly if you have any other questions.

book marking

The only way to appreciate the WWII sites is to have a guide. Or you are jsut looking at concrete blocks. The landing zone covers 50 miles so finding the essential sites in a short time is not easy. You can take a minibus tour. If you're on a bike (is that a mororbike?) an audio guide is the best bet.
For the catholic church, Bayeux Cathedral, Bayeux tapestry, and Mont st Michel (the eighth wonder of the world).

cpmac states, &quot;<i>The only way to appreciate the WWII sites is to have a guide.&quot;</i>

The only way? I would beg to differ.

Do a bit of research, get a map of the area, and you'll be surprised how much you can &quot;appreciate&quot; the sites all on your own.

Happy travels!

You can do a lot of research, have a map, and still flounder around wasting your day wondering where to start visiting a region that covers 70 x 10 miles (just considering 6th june).
You can see the american cemetery, point du hoc (it's asheer cliff with concrete blocks on top), and omaha beach (it's a four mile long sandy beach). But what happened at each place? Your history book and map doesn't tell you which part of the cliff they came up, in which bunker Col Rudder set up his HQ, where the first exit from Omaha beach is, what that strange metal structure is on the way down to omaha, what that statue is for, how the &quot;fiasco&quot; at Point du hoc helped Omaha beach, where la fi&egrave;re is, where Capt Winters led the attack on the field battery, why there are groups of five croses in the german cemetery, why there are 13000 unknown graves etc...
Giving people the idea that they can read a book, get a map then just go would be leading them to dissappointment.
I have over 20 books on d day and the battle of normandy including place by place guide books. You could read them all and still flounder around on a day tour.

Taking up points in different posts.

I would only recommend the memorial if you can visit it and have a whole separate day to visit the beaches.

Etretat had nothing to do with D day. It's 20 miles north east of Le Havre which is 50 miles (by road) NE of sword beach.