patricia1961

Could anyone recommend a private or group tour of the Normandy beaches and museums? We are a group of five and are staying in the Normandy region, near Mont St. Michel. We will have a car so we can meet anywhere, maybe Bayeux? Open to suggestions.
Thank you!
Patricia

grandmere

Check out www.battlebus.fr They do an excellent job and depart from Bayeux.

chartley

I found the following when looking for guided tours of the Nomandy landings.

Overlord Tours - www.overlordtour.com

Battlebus - www.battlebus.fr

Normandy Battletours - www.normandybattletours.com

Victory Tours - http://lignerolles.homestead.com/victorytours.html

They all seem to get good reviews on the Graffiti Wall section of Rick Steves site at www.ricksteves.com. In fact, most of the reviews are incredibly enthusiastic, and it is clear that the tours are very informative and emotional experiences.

We have booked a tour in August with Battlebus. They were the only company who could accommodate us on the dates we wanted. I think you need to book early.

janiekins

Hubby and I just did a 2 day tour with Battlebus 2 weeks ago. They are fantastic!

aprillilacs

I agree -- Battlebus is really good. They limit their groups to 8 people per guide, and the guides are very knowledgeable. Our guide on the one-day American sites tour, Sean, was informative and focused on the stories of a few men at each site, bringing the personal element into the events. You must stay in or very near Bayeux the night before the tour--it leaves at 8:30 on the dot; if you're five minutes late you're out of luck. Very worthwhile.

LauraLF

Ditto! We just returned on July 3 and toured with Battlebus. Our guide was Dale and he was fantastic. He worked so hard to show us the significant sites but we never felt rushed. He also wove in personal stories of soldiers involved in the battles which made it really come alive for us. My sons, ages 15 and 12, said this was the highlight of our 10 days in Europe. We stayed in Bayeux at Hotel D' Argouges which was walking distance to the meeting point. Would also highly recommend this hotel, charming, lovely and a very kind helpful staff.

patricia1961

Thank you everyone!I will get on it today. One more question...do you recommend we do Mont St. Michel on our own or any tour suggestions for that as well?
Thanks!

janiekins

We also stayed at Hotel D'Argouges and we liked it very much.

Palenque

Be sure to do IMO Mont-Saint-Michel at day and at night - at night a Sound and Light Show takes over the basilica (or whatever they call the grand church topping the Mount) - unlike the mobbed day tours at night you just waltz thru the various rooms, wondrously illuminated with music, etc.

aprillilacs

We drove on our own to Mont St Michel in early June of this year, climbed through the throngs of tourists to the top, and were lucky enough to arrive about 15 minutes before a free tour for English speakers got under way. As I recall, it started at 2:00. The guide told us that only about 1/3 of the people who come to the island actually climb to the top! The tour was very worthwhile and added to our appreciation of the structure.

charlesg

We can highly, highly recommend

http://www.victorytours.com/

We stayed at the chateau and went on Roel's whole day tour. We lucked out and were the only two that day so he took us several places he usually doesn't have time to go. Six is the max number he will take. It is worth an overnight stay to take the whole day tour.

The chateau is about ten minutes from Bayeux and Roel will come and pick you up.

Had found Roel on my own and booked the tour. then read about him in Rick Steves's book. He is very passionate about D-Day.
I still can't retell a couple of his stories without tearing up.

Bronxbomber

We are looking at www.linksparis.com. You arrive in Caen by train the morning, get a guided tour and lunch at the Memorial, then take a minivan tour of the beaches at 2:00, and take the 7:00pm train back to Paris. They offer a two-day tour, as well.
Is anyone familiar with this one?