Normandy
 

Visiting the beaches of Normandy in September. We will hire a guide., and have accomodations in Bayeux. We have 5 days scheduled for this area.. One suggestion was to visit Omaha beach pointe du hoc and other American sites in the am. Then the Canadian sector in the afternoon. Does this seem like too much in 1 day?
We will visit mount st. Michel on our own, and also the museum at Caen. Any other suggestion? Thanks

There is a lot to Normandy apart from the D-Day beaches and le MSM. Are booked in Bayeux for the entire time?

But to answer your question, no, I wouldn't want to try to pack all that into 1 day. The "other American sites" are numerous.

Another "no" for that itinerary. Is that your tour guide's suggestion?
As for a guide, we loved doing it oursselves, based out of Bayeux with the Michelin Green Guide to Normandy and their suggested tours. There are also guide books sold at the various museums that are excellent.
I would recommend Ste, Mere Eglise, Omaha, Pointe du Hoc, Arromanches, the American Cemetery in the Bayeux area. We drove from CDG so stoppped at Pegasus Bridge on the way to Bayeux (from Honfleur, that day).
I think we may have gone to Juno, but probably did not do the Canadian and British beaches as much.
There is the Tapestry, not to be missed, of course.
IMO, after the ones I mention above, there is a good bit of repetition in the museums. Arromanches is unique, as is Ste. Mere Eglise. The sheer sight of the sea from these sites is staggering for the realization of how far ships could be seen approaching on that fateful day.

I agree with the advice above - too much for one day. On our last trip to Normandy, we stayed two nights in Etretat and three nights at Sully near Bayeux (with a day trip to MSM). Like StCirq says, there is a lot to Normandy and we loved our time at Etretat - quite a contrast to the D-Day area. And like Gretchen, we prefer to tour on our own at our own pace using guide books. It is personal preference and many people like guided tours but doing it ourselves works well for us.

I posted a trip report (Paris, Normandy & the Loire Valley with our Granddaughter) If you scroll down to day 8 in it you will find the Normandy portion of our trip where you can see how we spent our time there. What an absolutely incredible and historic area!

Nearby Caen deserves at least a half-day, with its own devastating invasion history and also to see the fortress of William the Conqueror. Its Peace museum gets good reviews. Mont St-Michel could be a comfortable day tour.

john...we too, stayed at Chateau de Sully..one of our favorites. Easy daily access to all of the beaches. In four days we covered a chunk of historic ground....from Pegasus Bridge to Ste. Mere Eglise. Easy, well marked driving, very little traffic off season (April). My suggestion agrees with several posts above...don't rush it!

I've been to the Mémorial in Caen twice, and never managed to spend less than 4 hours there.

we spent a week in Bayeux. One day was Omaha Beach, Longue Batteries, Mulberries, Pointe Du Hoc, British Cemetery and German Cemetery (all with a private guide). Second day was the American Cemetery, again with the same guide (a half day). We drove to Utah beach and St Mere Eglise on our own. Also did St Lo and Mont St Michel as a day trip on our own. The Bayeux Tapestry, Cathedral and market can take most of a day. We also spent a few hours at the Peace Museum in Caen. There is just so much to see and do; we didn't get to the Canadian areas at all. Our hotel was Lion D'Or which had off street parking (a big deal for us). I'd love to get back there again!

I would recommend Ste, Mere Eglise,>

Yes a sleepy village known for its famous incident during the landings - an American paratrooper literally got hung up on the church steeple - dangling there with snipers all around - check out the famous stained-glass window in the church memorializing this strange event:

https://www.google.com/search?q=para...w=1920&bih=955

Grandville is a great seaside town and from Arromanches town center - in the Bishopry's garden (I think that is it) there is a classic view of Mont St Michel looming far away over the flat sandy bay - making one thing of what medieval pilgrims must have thunk when glimpsing the goal of their arduous journey from afar - hopes mounting that they will reach their goal and their prayers will be answered.

I would rent a car and go by my own pace - easy to do as others above testify - get a Michelin Green Guide and it has a lot of history in it with driving itineraries.

Coutances, en route to MSMichel from Bayeux is a nice stop - really sweet cathedral.

<< One suggestion was to visit Omaha beach pointe du hoc and other American sites in the am. Then the Canadian sector in the afternoon. Does this seem like too much in 1 day?>>

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

That's anywhere from 2-4 days' worth. Especially considering you'd have to haul it from Omaha Beach to Juno Beach (the beaches, west to east, were Utah-Omaha-Gold-Juno-Sword). The American cemetery at Omaha would take a morning.

We did it on our own and really enjoyed setting our own pace. Some things are repetition at different places and you can decide if you want to go into a museum or not. We enjoyed the ride and a man at the American cemetery told my husband how to find some out of the way places to explore. We liked going through some of the villages that have history but not well known. So many civilian casualty's in Normandy and you want to pay respect to those. I am trying to find the name of a church we went into in this one village. The church has a lot of history because of the snipers in the steeple. I will ask my husband who is the true historian.
Bayeux is a real gem. Great places to eat and walk all over the town. I love how they grow apples on vines and trellis.

Will you have a rental car for your 5 day stay or are you relying on public transport? This will greatly affect the answers you receive. I would strongly suggest a rental car. Whether or not you have a rental car I would not recommend spending all 5 days in Bayeux.

Hi all,

We spent a few days staying near Courseulles with a rental car. We did some exploring on our own. Highlights included the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, the Caen Memorial (the best WW2/D-day museum we visited) and Arromanches.

But we did one half-day tour specifically focussed on Juno Beach and the Canadian D-day perspective. Our tour guide was excellent -- we learned so much and our kids really benefitted. The company was called Normandy Sightseeing Tours.
http://www.normandy-sightseeing-tour...-cemetery.html

They have a number of tours focussed on either US/British/Canadian sectors.

So we thought that was a good compromise.

Bonne chance!