Paris - D-Day Beaches
 

Greetings! We would like to take a day trip to the Normandie D-Day Beaches from Paris in June. My concern is, what is the best way to cover so much in this short time. or is it better to spend a night there? Advice please. Thanks!

Do go back through the history files of fodors on Normandy-you will get some wonderful tips from many seasoned travelers. Personally, the Normandy area should have a MIMIMUM of 3 days with all that there is to see and do. I would recommend having two different areas to base out of-one being Bayeaux.The day trips that are offered out of Paris would not do any justice to seeing the area. The Caen museum is a must and it would be at least a 4 hour visit (even for people that are not interested in musuems).If you want to visit the American cemetary, do more than one beach, the Caen museum-plan on a few days. Have fun!

I agree that several days would be optimal...but if your time is limited and you only have a day you can definitely do a lot. Our plans were messed up a bit in Paris and so we ended up only having one day for the beaches. Our hotel arranged a private guide for the day and we left very early in the morning and arrived back in Paris late that evening. We went to the museum in Caen, then to a little village for lunch, then to Omaha Beach and American Cemetary. Having the guide who knew where to go was a lifesaver! Worth every penny. Plus having lunch with him was a wonderful way to learn about a typical French person and their way of life.

And although we spent 6 days in Normandy last fall, if you only have one day the large tour companies in Paris do a day trip--leave early and come back late. You could also take the train to Bayeux and take a tour from there--someone will know the name of the best company, it escapes me.

My wife and I and some friends spent some time in Europe last summer. While in Paris we took a train to Bayeux and stayed for 1 night at Hotel D'Argouges which is right in the center of town. While I agree that more time could be spent for the Beaches we were able to get a capsule tour that covered many sites, including Sword, Omaha, Pont de Hoc, and the Cemetary. Staying overnight gave us time to see the Tapestry also and explore a really nice town and partake of a great dinner.

Normandy needs more than one day. The area is fantastic to visit, even without the D-Day invasion. We enjoyed the area more than Paris. <BR><BR>A good friend of mine took a 54 day around the world trip when he retired. His highlight was Normandy. Definitely try to do more than a quick day trip over from Paris. Spend at least one night and get in two full days.

Folks, we all agree that more time is needed. The advice asked for was for one day. We saw a LOT in one day--saw Caen on a day coming to Bayeux. It is all very important but you can definitely get a true feeling for the enormity of the invasion in a well planned tour day.

Thank you all for the information.<BR><BR>mms, may I ask which hotel arrange the private guide, and how much you paid?<BR><BR>oberost, did you reserve the capsule tour when you were in Paris? which tour?<BR><BR>From what I read, it is better to spend more than one day. just that I've paid for a week apartment in Paris; going to normandie to spend a night is double accommodation. It may be worthwhile though..<BR><BR>Thanks again for the input.<BR><BR>

You might try this web site. We've done their WW1 tours and they are excellent.<BR><BR>http://www.salienttours.com

Also go to www.timesonline.co.uk..<BR><BR>On the right hand side of the ffront page there is a section about traveling in France..they have an article on the battlefields and they have several links to tour companies

I wish Fodor's had an edit button!!<BR><BR>The France article has been moved here is the url for the page <BR><BR>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...626774,00.html