Normandy
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Normandy - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Omaha Beach
You won't be disappointed by the rugged terrain and windswept sand of Omaha Beach, 16 km (10 miles) northwest of Bayeux. Here you can find the Monument du Débarquement (Monument to the Normandy Landings) and the Musée-Mémorial d'Omaha Beach (€7), a large shedlike structure packed with tanks, dioramas, and archival photographs that stand silent witness to "Bloody Omaha." Nearby, in Vierville-sur-Mer, is the U.S. National Guard Monument. Throughout June 6, Allied forces battled a hailstorm of German bullets and bombs, but by the end of the day they had taken the Omaha Beach sector—suffering grievous losses in the process. In Colleville-sur-Mer, overlooking Omaha Beach, is the hilltop American Cemetery and Memorial, designed by landscape architect Markley Stevenson; you can look out to sea across the landing beach from a platform on its north side.
View Tours and ActivitiesAv. de la Libération, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, 14710, France02–31–21–97–44Sight Details
Rate Includes: €7.50, Closed late Oct.–Jan. -
2. Musee du Débarquement Utah Beach
In La Madeleine, inspect the sleek Musee du Débarquement Utah Beach (Utah Beach D-Day Museum)—a stunning facility, located right on the beachhead, where exhibits include vintage aircraft and a W5 Utah scale model detailing the German defenses. Continue north to the Dunes de Varreville, where you'll find a monument to French hero General Leclerc, who landed here. Offshore you can see the fortified Iles St-Marcouf. Carry on to Quinéville, at the far end of Utah Beach, to visit the World War II Museum at 18 avenue de la Plage ( 02–33–95–95–95 www.worldwar2-museum.com); open daily from April to October, this small museum evokes life during the German Occupation (€9).
View Tours and ActivitiesPlage de La Madeleine, Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy, 50480, France02–33–71–53–35Sight Details
Rate Includes: €8 -
3. Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument
The most spectacular scenery along the coast is at the Pointe du Hoc, 13 km (8 miles) west of St-Laurent. Wildly undulating grassland leads past ruined blockhouses to a cliff-top observatory and a German machine-gun post whose intimidating mass of reinforced concrete merits chilly exploration. Despite Spielberg's cinematic genius, it remains hard to imagine just how Colonel Rudder and his 225 Rangers—only 90 survived—managed to scale the jagged cliffs with rope ladders and capture the German defenses in one of the most heroic and dramatic episodes of the war. A granite memorial pillar now stands on top of a concrete bunker, but the site otherwise remains as the Rangers left it—look down through the barbed wire at the jutting cliffs the troops ascended and see the huge craters left by exploded shells. The American Battle Monuments Commission, which maintains the site, provides a self-guided tour that passes ammunition bunkers, a hospital bunker, antiaircraft positions, and other sites.
View Tours and ActivitiesCricqueville-en-Bessin, Normandy, 14230, France02–31–51–62–00Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
4. Utah Beach
Head east on D67 from Ste-Mère to Utah Beach, which, being sheltered from the Atlantic winds by the Cotentin Peninsula and surveyed by lowly sand dunes rather than rocky cliffs, proved easier to attack than Omaha. Allied troops stormed the beach at dawn, and just a few hours later had managed to conquer the German defenses, heading inland to join up with the airborne troops.
Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy, 50480, France -
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