Tours and Packages in Normandy  Back to home page 

 

EXCURSIONS WITH PRIVATE DRIVER/GUIDE

 TO THE LANDING BEACHES from bayeux

 

Whether you are a history buff and have been thinking of coming to Normandy for years or only since you have recently seen some war movies, your dream is coming here to reality!

During the tour, you will indeed step on this historical beachwhere so many died. You will see German bunkers andmonuments everywhere.
And you will be able to pay your tribute to the fallen.

Your local tour guide will remind you of what was at stake in June 1944 and of the incredible planning needed for Operation Overlord to be a success. You will also be told about theextraordinary courage of the first 156.000 soldiers who landed on D-dayand the terrible sacrifice that went on during that entire summer. You will learn about the French Resistance and the German occupation during the four years before D-day.

Being there, you will understand better this invasion along 50 miles of the Normandy coast and its scale. It may also be an eye-opener on how grateful the French still are today, almost 70 years later!
Time has come for you to be there, on these battlefields, like on a pilgrimage. What an experience!

Trying to get off the beaten track and away from the crowds?
Tired of sharing the tour with others? Why don’t you take the option of a private tour ?
And enjoy the day at your own pace and according to your own interests, with a tour guide just for yourself!

 

See below a sample of the highlights in our tours. (Itinerary may vary).

Reserve !

  1-4 passengers 5-6 passengers 7-8 passengers
Full Day (8 hours) $999 $1049 $1099
Half Day (4 hours) $699 $749 $799

Rate per vehicle with private English speaking driver/guide
Local entrance fees and lunch not included/to be paid locally by clients

UTAH BEACH

The first beach secured by the Allies in the early hours of Operation Overlord, Utah Beach is best known for both its light casualties and its famous commander, Theodore Roosevelt Jr, son of the President of the same name. Before the landings started, the Germans had already dispatched their best troops to the interior away from the beach to look for the paratroopers that had been dropped earlier. As a result of this, the troops of General Barton’s 4th Division faced only very light resistance. At the site of La Madeleine, the centre of the landings on Utah, you can see the remains of the German bunkers as well as various different pieces of Allied equipment beside the monuments to the American divisions who opened the “Road of Liberty”.

OMAHA BEACH

Approximately 34,000 soldiers of the 1st, 2nd and 29th Infantry Divisions landed on this beach on D-Day. The beach was covered in anti-tank and anti-landing craft obstacles. Nearly all of the pre-invasion bombardment had missed the fortifications along the beach and the geography of the beach itself, consisting of 80 to 100-foot bluffs rising up from the shore, was very easily defendable terrain for the Germans. One of the only good-quality front line Infantry Divisions available to the Germans was also present on the beach, purely by coincidence. This made the assault the most difficult of all the beaches on D-Day, earning the nickname “Bloody Omaha”. Only a few days after the landings, the Americans had transformed nearly the entire beach into a vast artificial harbour, code-named “Mulberry A”. It was used for less than a week before it was destroyed in a very heavy storm between the 19th and 22nd of June 1944. There is only one piece of this harbour left to be seen today.
POINTE DU HOC
Re-live on this exceptional site the exploits of the 2nd Battalion of the US Rangers. After having scaled the 100-foot cliffs under heavy enemy fire, the Rangers pushed on through this lunar landscape to capture and destroy the 6 heavy guns capable of firing their shells to a maximum range of nearly 15 miles. Colonel Rudder and his men only realised upon capturing the battery that the Germans, under the orders of Rommel, had moved the guns half a mile inland and hidden them while bunkers were being constructed to protect them. The taking of Pointe du Hoc was a long and laborious fight, with the Rangers being left to fend for themselves two days longer than had been planned. The 2nd Battalion suffered very heavy casualties during the two and a half days they were at Pointe du Hoc, only 90 of the original 225 still fighting when they were finally relieved.
LONGUES SUR MER
The battery at Longues sur Mer was composed of four guns of 152 mm calibre, capable of firing shells to a maximum range of 15 miles, allowing them to reach not only Omaha Beach, 8 miles to the west, but also the British landing zone of Gold Beach, 5 miles to the east. The Allies had tried to knock out this battery with aerial bombardment leading up to the landings, but it was not until D-Day itself that the guns were finally silenced by the off-shore Allied Navies. The damage inflicted on the guns themselves can still be seen clearly today. The battery at Longues sur Mer is the only heavy gun battery in France that still has the original cannon in the bunkers, untouched since 1944.

AMERICAN CEMETERY :

The Normandy American Cemetery is the final resting place for 9.387 Americans. It covers 172 acres and is an actual battleground as it overlooks the “Easy Red” sector of Omaha Beach.
Soldiers of all ranks (private to general) honored here were buried after the war was over (close to where they died during the summer of 1944) on their families’ request.Soldiers all equal in death and their graves in no particular order, they are all marked with the same beautiful Italian white marble headstones. Only around 300 soldiers remained buried here in unidentified graves, but over 1.500 M.I.A’s are listed on the Wall of Missing.Even though the story behind each grave is a sad one and the sacrifice of all deserves to be recognized, some of them are better known, such as the three Medal-of-Honor recipients or the three Generals (including General Th. Roosevelt Jr).
Also the two Niland brothers, base of Saving Private “Ryan”, or the Ollie Reed father & son. And more recent 1Lt. Billie D. Harris, whose wife Peggy first visited the grave inApril 2006!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE :

Strategically situated on the main N13 highway to Cherbourg and only a few miles away from the coast, this farming community became the very center of the huge airborne operation (with 15.000 U.S paratroopers) that started during the night before D-day.

In order to stop the German counter-attacks from the north, the village was planned to be taken rapidly by the nearby-dropped 505th P.I.R.

But some of these soldiers had the misfortune to end up here, right on the town full of Germans.

John Steele the most famous of them (because depicted in “The Longest Day”) survived the war and returned here several times to look at the charming old church and its belltower where he had remained hanging for about two hours.

When they came back, all the veterans were moved on discovering the memorial stained-glass window of “Virgin Mary surrounded by paratroopers”.

  

ARROMANCHES :

Charming beach community and quiet fishing village before the war, things rapidly changed when the Germans started building many bunkers and defenses, due to its strategic location at the end of the cliff.

A couple of miles away from Gold beach, it was spared of destruction and rapidly taken in order to start the construction of the Mulberry harbor.

First time in history, this most incredible feat of engineering was first inspired by Churchill with the vital task of replacing the enemy-held ports of Cherbourg and Le Havre in order to resupply our troops.

Everything was constructed ahead of time in England, all different parts were towed across the Channel (Phoenix caissons, floating docks and pontoon bridges) … and put together in about 10 days!

Reserve !

 

CANCELLATION POLICY :

There will be no charge if you cancel at least 15 days prior to the first day of the tour.

    In case of cancellation less than 14 days prior to day of tour : NO REFUND/100% PENALTY

 

 

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Tel : (212) 685 5656

Toll free in the USA:  800 669 8165

 

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