Normandy D-day beaches-getting there from London?

Hi there

My husband and I are visiting London this April but plan to head down and visit Normandy and the D-Day beaches for a few days. My husband teaches History and is fancinated with WWII so we can miss this. We are a bit confused what is the best way to get there from London. We want to do a self guided tour. Do we take the train to Paris and then another to Caen or rent a car in Paris and drive? We planned to rent a car but I heard it was better to do so once you are in Caen not in Paris but we can%26#39;t figure our the best travel plan. Any advice is appreciated. Also, how far in advance are rail tickets available? The schedule for April is not posted yet?

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I would travel by train to Caen (don%26#39;t worry anout buying it in advance, you can buy it when you arrive in France)unless you come for Easter which gets more crowded. Then rent your car in Caen and go to the Mémorial de la Paix museum before heading off to the beaches.

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I wouldn%26#39;t rent a car in Paris - driving there can be hectic.

If you can, you want to be based in Bayeux during your trip to the D-Day beaches. May I suggest you stay in the famous Lion d%26#39;Or where many dignitaries (i.e., Eisenhower) have also stayed?

No doubt your visit to the Normandy beaches will be a very moving experience. However, history buffs CANNOT MISS the extraordinary tapestries that tell the story of the Norman invasion. They are located in the library in Bayeaux.

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Last year, I had to go from London to Normandy and found the best - and original - way to be:

1) Train from London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour (1 1/2 to 2 hours). Schedules on the National Rail website.

2) Ferry Portsmouth to Cherbourg (3 hours). Schedules on the Portsmouth Harbour website.

3) Rental car on Cherbourg harbour, it%26#39;s less than 1/2 hour to the beaches

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Another option would be to fly Ryanair London Std- Dinard in Brittany (around £ 60), there rent a car (nice scenic drive) to the D Day beaches (about 2 hour drive). But, as said, be careful about the Easter week-end/British school holidays.

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i stayed in Bayeux when i toured the DDay beaches and thought the town was a very nice place. Unlike Caen, Bayeux was left untouched by the bombings of world war 2. Caen was decimated and was rebuilt in the stalinesque concrete style, although the peace museum is supposed to be good, albeit steeply priced at about 20 euros.

Definately visit the Pointe du Hoc Ranger memorial near Omaha Beach, it was the most moving part of the tour i did.

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Definitely want to access this thread later for my trip planning.

xyz

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Thanks everyone for all your info. It is so helpful. I have a couple more follow-up questions now.

What about using the Chunnel?

It there a book that is specific to touring D-Day beachs?

Do any of the events (ferry or Chunnel, car)need to be booked in advance?

Also, we plan to head down on Thursday April 20th in the evening so we can tour first thing Friday. Is it possible to do this? We want to loose a little time possible traveling between the two places. We would heading back to Paris on Sunday for our flight home. We will hope to have 2.5 to 3 solid days in the area. This is enough time, right?

thanks again

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;What about using the Chunnel?%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

Oddly eneough, the routes from London to Normandy have become %26#39;..clunkier..%26#39; over time. Used to be when you could simply take a troop train down to Portsmouth, Southampton or Dover, hop onto any LST waiting at the docks and be on the beach at Normandy with scarely and trouble a%26#39;tall (except for the gunfire--Normandy used to attract a very violent sort of tourist..sleeping was difficult...rat-a-tat-tat---BOOM...all night long.).

It would seem that the simplest and most %26#39;..direct..%26#39; route from London to the D-Day Beaches area of Normandy is the EUROSTAR train from LONDON-Waterloo to PARIS-Gare du Nord, then make your way a short distance across town to PARIS-Gare Saint Lazare to catch a regular SNCF (French National Railways) train back north to CAEN or BAYEAUX.

EUROSTAR trains make a stop in LILLE...but there are no direct or convenient local SNCF train connections from LILLE to CAEN or BAYEUX. Most local routing still take you down to Paris first. You could take the EUROSTAR to LILLE and then rent a car there and drive down through Nornmandy to CAEN and the D-Day Beaches area (approx 400 km/250 mi--3 1/2-4 hr drive.).

In any event, this excursion pretty much requires at least and over-night from London. There may be some Londaon based tour companies that offer this as a %26#39;..day-trip..%26#39;, so you might want to check the TA forum for London for any possibilities from that end.

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You can find any book that you like, in English, if you visit the Caen Museum. It can be pricey but definitely worth it as a good basis %26#39;collections and films) before you start. Three days is nice to tour around, you won%26#39;t have time to stop everywhere but you can do the major sites. Pegasus bridge is not very far from Caen. Then the American Cemetery at colleville- St Laurent, Omaha beach next, Pointe du hoc. All this is geasable in one day. Then you can stay in Bayeux and carry on towards Utah the following day. I agree that the Bayeux Tapestry is great.

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Also the artificial harbour in Arromanches and the Batterie de Longues sur Mer are impressive.