Normandy DDay - Tour operators
 

Hi,

I am Canadian and will be in Normandy in August. Any tour operator recommended for the landing beaches, cemetiary,..

Thanks

Hi robotinette,
I too will be there in August.
Here are a few sites for you to look at.
I have not used these myself.
http://www.d-daytours.com/aboutus.htm

http://users.breathe.com/martin.reeve/D-Day60yrs.html

There are plenty on google search,

Good luck

Muck

I used Philippe Cornil who is located near Utah Beach in Ste Marie du Mont. You could contact him to find out his expertise on the Canadian forces since I'm sure you are interested in what those brave men accomplished.

Philippe: [email protected] or through his B&B website at lamaisondeshotes.com.

Philippe put together the 60th Anniv. D-Day tour (June 2004) for the 4th ID which came ashore at Utah, north to Cherbourg, south again through the bocage/hedgerows and down to St Lo. He assembled quite a tour for us and the veterans. I know he works with individuals and groups but my only experience has been in the group setting.

My family is going to do this in August and we have booked Battlebus for a private tour. I chose them after doing lots of reading of a few message boards. I wanted a company that has experience catering to kids and they seem to have it. They have been great to work with so far. You can view their extensive website at:

www.battlebus.fr

Obviously, I have yet to take the tour so I cannot recommend as of yet, but I have high hopes!

You didn't say how long you have in Normandy, but I imagine you will at least want to cover the Canadian sites.

Battlebus Tours runs a special one day Canadian tour to Juno Beach and some of the inland sites of the first few weeks of the battle. The itinerary looks quite good. Normandy Sight Seeing Tours has a half-day Canadian tour. Both leave from Bayeux.

From Caen, the Caen Memorial has tours including one of the British and Canadian beaches. Whether or not you take one, you should certainly plan to to spend some time at the Memorial. In the main lobby, there is a desk with Canadian guides from the Canadian Battlefield Foundation who can give you lots of information on Normandy. They used to give tours as well, but I'm not sure whether they still do. Don't forget the Canadian Memorial Garden at the Memorial--it's not to everyone's taste, but it is worth seeing.

At Courseulles-sur-Mer you will want to visit the new Juno Beach Centre. You should also not miss the Battle of Normandy Museum in Bayeux, in which Canadian participation in the battle is well represented.

Terry Copp and Mike Bechtold's "The Canadian Battlefields in Normandy" is an excellent guide. It was just published this year by Wilfrid Laurier University.

Thanks

Please, please consider Victory Tours. Like you, I posted on fodors.com and people stated that Roel with Victory Tours was great. I must say, they're right!

We didn't have time to stay at his Bed & Breakfast because we were short on time. We decided to do the all day tour for EUR 70 per person. We left Paris by train and arrived into Bayeux by 9:15. We walked into town where he picked us up at the Bayeux Pharmacy. We lucked out and got a private tour in his 8 passenger van.

Roel is very personable, very smart, and loves giving tours. He includes personal stories about his family as well. You can't go wrong with Victory Tours!

His website is under construction, but here is a link to his old site:

http://www.lignerolles.homestead.com/victorytours.html

If you email him, he responds very quickly.

I took the tour to Normandy that is roundtrip from Paris with "parisvision". Our tour guide's name was Christian, and he was great.He took us to Juno beach (canadian) and the Canadian cemetary even though it wasn't on our tour, because there was a Canadian family on the tour with us.

Victory Tours may be a very good tour company, but according to the website, their tours go nowhere near Juno Beach or the other Canadian sites. I suppose one could have a customized private tour with them which would cater to Canadian interests.

This is not to say that one should not also visit Omaha Beach, Point du Hoc, Arromanche, and some of the other main points of interest.

I took the Battlebus all-day American beaches highlights tour this spring, which was excellent! So I am sure their other tours are equally good. They have an all-day British/Canadian beaches highlights tour and a new Canadian Juno beach and inland tour. The web site is: www.battlebus.fr

I would like to thank Alan for the wonderful tour that he provided of the Omaha beach and Point du Hoc earlier this month. We have booked Overlordtour for a private tour.

You can view their extensive website at:

www.overlordtour.com



With best regards,
Fred Burked
August, 2004.