Normandy Best Day Trips from Bayeux

The Normandy landing was a moment that marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War. I show you excursions to learn about this historical episode.

Andressa García

Andressa García

11 min read

Normandy Best Day Trips from Bayeux

D-Day Commemoration | ©Falcon

One of the best things to see and do in Bayeux, without a doubt, is to take an excursion to Normandy, to know in detail what were the most important events that marked the history of the Normandy landings during D-Day.

In these excursions you will see the different landing sites and also where the bloodiest battles of this confrontation that decided the course of the war were fought. Not only will you see the beaches, but you will also visit sites that saw decisive battles for the recovery of France from Nazi domination.

1. Full day following in the footsteps of the 29th Infantry Division to Saint Lô

Omaha Beach| ©Pedro
Omaha Beach| ©Pedro

You will learn how the 29th Infantry Division experienced the Normandy landings as it arrived at Omaha Beach, bound for the crossroads of Saint Lô, the most important objective of Operation Overlord in its first phase.

Together with your guide you will discover during the day, what were the roles, objectives, battles and achievements of that division during the military operation. On your tour route, you will learn what the three regiments of the division did until they reached the hedgerow countryside, where the famous bocage combat began.

If you are a lover of World War II movies, you will love this excursion to Normandy because it will take you to the beach that was depicted in the film Saving Private Ryan. You will learn the story of Brigadier General Norman "Dutch" Cota and in general each of the battles of this division to achieve its objectives.

Details of interest

  • Price: this experience has an approximate price of 810 euros for groups of up to four people.
  • Duration: it will take you about 8 to 9 hours to complete the tour.
  • Means of transportation: you will mobilize in an air-conditioned vehicle.
  • Advantages of this option: All entrance fees are included. Private transportation is provided.
  • Disadvantages of this option: Tips, food and beverages are not included.

Book a Normandy Landing Beaches tour

2. Full day Normandy D-Day Beaches from Bayeux

Pointe du Hoc| ©Travelling Slonik
Pointe du Hoc| ©Travelling Slonik

An expert guide will take you to walk in the footsteps of the American troops who landed on the beaches of Normandy during D-Day. This experience, which is also one of the best excursions from Bayeux, will be a full day tour and you will have the opportunity to visit the U.S. sectors, including Omaha Beach and St-Mere-Eglise.

You will also pass by battle sites such as Pointe du Hoc and Utah Beach Museum. You will also enter the Normandy American Cemetery, where you will learn about the history of those who gave their lives to liberate France.

At the end of the tour, you will visit the town of Sainte Mere Eglise, which is famous for the arrival of the 82nd Airborne Division on June 6, 1944 to liberate Paris, and which since then seems to be frozen in time.

Details of interest

  • Price: to enjoy this experience you will have to pay around 140 euros per person.
  • Duration: it will take you around 9 hours to complete the experience.
  • Means of transportation: the whole tour is completed by minivan.
  • Advantages of this option: the transfer to and from Bayeux is included. Tour guide is included. Comfortable, air-conditioned transportation is also included.
  • Disadvantages of this option: Not a wheelchair friendly tour. Lunch is not included.

Book a Normandy Landing Beaches Tour

3. Private and personalized Normandy D-Day tour from Bayeux

Overlord Museum| ©Falcon® Photography
Overlord Museum| ©Falcon® Photography

In this private experience in Normandy, you will have the opportunity to customize the itinerary and points of interest to visit. You will learn from your guide all the details about the D-Day landings and visit the battlefields and monuments of the Second World War in this French region.

Along with one of the best tours in Bayeux, this is definitely one of the activities you can't miss if you go to that city. As you will be able to customize the itinerary according to your choices, you can go to see British, American or Canadian sites.

Some of the places you can include in your tour are: the D-Day beaches, Pointe du Hoc, the Cimetiere Americain de Colleville-sur-Mer, Omaha Beach, Overlord Museum, Sainte-Mere-Eglise Church, Batterie Allemande de Longues-Sure-Mer, Remains Mulberry Harbour and Arromanches 360 Circular Cinema, all outstanding D-Day sites of interest. You can include all or as many of them as you want, you can also suggest other sites.

Details of interest

  • Price: you will have to pay around 1,200 euros for groups of up to 8 people.
  • Duration: the tour takes between 8 and 10 hours to complete.
  • Means of transport: the whole trip is done in an air-conditioned vehicle.
  • Advantages of this option: it is a private and personalized experience. You will have a professional guide. You are offered a round trip transfer by private transportation from your hotel or accommodation in Bayeux.
  • Disadvantages of this option: lunch and tips are not included.

Book a private tour to the Normandy Landing Beaches

4. Tour of the British sites of the Battle of Normandy

Hillman Bunkers| ©Richard Matthews
Hillman Bunkers| ©Richard Matthews

Not only did the Americans set foot on Norman soil, but the British did too during D-Day, so on this half-day tour you'll discover the wealth of history stored on the Norman battlefields. You will visit key landing sites such as Sword Beach and the Hillman Bunkers of Bayeux.

Your expert guide will take you to the most important French sites related to the Second World War, while telling you all about what happened during this historic period. You will see the exhibits at the Merville Gun Battery and Museum and learn about the D-Day episode at Sword Beach.

Later you will visit the Hillman Bunkers and the Commonwealth Military Cemeteries with a small group of participants. Other sites included in the tour are: Pegasus Bridge and Ranville War Cemetery.

Details of Interest

  • Price: you will have to pay around 85 euros per person.
  • Duration: the whole tour will last approximately 5 hours.
  • Means of transport: the tour is completed by minivan.
  • Advantages of this option: you will have an expert guide. You will be picked up at Bayeux train station or Place de Quebec, according to your request. You will have air conditioning on board.
  • Disadvantages of this option: Tips are not included, nor are food and beverages.

5. One day experience in the Canadian countryside

Juno Beach| ©Brendan Cole
Juno Beach| ©Brendan Cole

Canadian forces also came to Normandy to join the French liberation. So on this tour you will learn about their participation during the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy. For approximately eight hours you will visit some of the most important Canadian sites of the conflict.

You will go straight to Juno Beach, where the troops landed on June 6. You will learn about the German bunkers on the beaches that have already been excavated. In addition, your guide will tell you about the advance to Abbey d'Ardenne and Caen, just before going to see the Canadian cemetery and Hill 67.

Details of interest

  • Price: this experience has an approximate price of 125 euros per person.
  • Duration: it will take you at least 8 hours to complete this experience.
  • Means of transportation: the entire tour is completed by minivan.
  • Advantages of this option: a professional tour guide is included. You are offered transfer to and from your hotel or accommodation in Bayeux. You have air conditioning on board.
  • Disadvantages of this option: it is not a tour that is adapted to wheelchair users.

6. Private one-day tour of British and Canadian sites

British Normandy Memorial| ©www.nmbs2001.com
British Normandy Memorial| ©www.nmbs2001.com

You will depart from Bayeux straight to Longues-Sur-Mer, where you will see the Germans' big gun battery, which was considered a threat to Omaha and Gold Beach. Then you will continue to Arromanches-Les-Bains to look at the remains of Port Winston, one of the artificial harbors built by the Allied force.

From there, your tour guide will take you to Gold Beach, the beach where the British troops landed and quickly reached Bayeux. You will see the British Normandy Memorial, a monument dedicated to the British troops and overlooking Gold Beach.

Other sites you can visit during the tour are: Courseulles-Sur-Mer, the site where Canadian forces arrived by land; Sword Beach, another British beach; Pegasus Bridge and Ranville War Cemetery.

Details of interest

  • Price: you will pay around 710 euros per group of up to four people to enjoy this experience.
  • Duration: it will take you around 9 hours to complete the experience.
  • Means of transportation: you will travel in an air-conditioned vehicle.
  • Advantages of this option: they offer you private transportation with all the comforts, including wifi connection on board.
  • Disadvantages of this option: Tips and lunch are not included. Museum fees are also not included.

Book a private excursion to the Normandy Landing beaches

7. Two days on the American battlefield

D-Day Memorial| ©Jacob Johan
D-Day Memorial| ©Jacob Johan

If you want to hear the most shocking stories of the Normandy Landing and how D-Day was experienced by American soldiers, this is definitely the plan for you, because this is a two-day tour of the American battlefields, accompanied by a former British soldier.

Being an ex-soldier, your guide will make you see the battlefields through the eyes of a soldier. In addition, on this tailor-made tour you will be able to ask your guide to show you one or another key site during the Normandy landings.

Interesting details

  • Price: you have to pay around 1,475 euros per group of four people.
  • Duration: the whole experience takes about two days.
  • Means of transport: the tour is done by air-conditioned car.
  • Advantages of this option: it is a tour suitable for children. It is also suitable for people in wheelchairs. You can take baby carriages and assistance animals are welcome.
  • Disadvantages of this option: meals and drinks during the ride are not included. Personal expenses are also not included.

8. Half day sidecar ride along the landing beaches

Gold Beach| ©Margaret K
Gold Beach| ©Margaret K

This is a half-day retro sidecar ride, during which you will have the opportunity to see and photograph incredible landscapes both on land and at sea. As you tour the entire Normandy area, your tour guide will tell you interesting anecdotes and stories about D-Day and how the battle was experienced in this region.

You will be able to enter museums dedicated to D-Day, while enjoying the adrenaline rush with your helmet, gloves and retro goggles. Gold Beach and Arromanches-les-Bains are some of the sites you will visit.

Your guide will also tell you the story of how the Allies established the artificial harbor of Port Mulberry B and how they liberated Arromanches during the afternoon of June 6 to put the harbor into service on June 14. Other places you will visit during this tour are Marche Criee in Port-en-Bessin, Batterie Allemande de Longues-Sure-Mer and Omaha Beach Memorial Museum.

Details of interest

  • Price: you will have to pay around 245 euros per person, although the price may vary according to the number of people per group.
  • Duration: it will take you about three and a half hours to complete the experience.
  • Means of transportation: the entire tour is completed by sidecar.
  • Advantages of this option: It is a private experience, so only your group can participate. People of all ages can attend. Assistance animals are welcome. It is a wheelchair friendly tour. All sidecar equipment is included.
  • Disadvantages of this option: Drinks and meals are not included. Personal expenses during the tour are not included.

9. World War II classic jeep tour in Normandy

Arromanches Mullberry Harbour| ©topcat309
Arromanches Mullberry Harbour| ©topcat309

This experience is one of the most fun you will have in Normandy, especially if you are an adrenaline lover. You will board a classic jeep in Bayeux to go straight to the most iconic places of D-Day. The ride will be very special, considering that aboard this classic jeep you will have a clearer perspective of what the Allied and German soldiers experienced.

You will visit Arromanches Mullberry Harbour, where the Allies built a deep water harbor. You will also visit Batterie Allemande de Longues-Sure-Mer, where the German battery was maintained and which today is the best preserved area of the Atlantic Wall.

Your guide will tell you the story of the British and French warships that silenced the guns during D-Day. You will then travel to Cimetiere Americain de Colleville-sur-Mer, and finally to Omaha Beach. At each of these locations you will have the opportunity to learn the stories of that day and of the Norman battle in general.

Details of interest

  • Price: this experience costs approximately 545 euros per group of up to three people.
  • Duration: it will take you about four hours to complete the experience.
  • Means of transport: the whole trip is completed by classic jeep.
  • Advantages of this option: you will be offered private and off-road transportation. The tour guide is also included during the whole experience.
  • Disadvantages of this option: food and beverages such as soft drinks are not included. Rain gear is not included.

10. Private electric bike ride in Normandy

Colleville-sur-Mer| ©Enrica
Colleville-sur-Mer| ©Enrica

During this tour you will discover the most beautiful and picturesque sites of the Normandy countryside and seafront. You will also have the opportunity to visit some of the most iconic sites related to the Second World War.

The entire experience will be by electric bike for half a day, which will give you a different perspective of well-known sites such as Omaha Beach or the Normandy American Cemetery. Your tour guide will tell you about the history of D-Day and its impact on the development of the war.

You will visit Colleville-sur-Mer and its related cemetery, where you will find a lookout point from a German bunker. You will also see incredible scenery to photograph throughout the tour.

Details of interest

  • Price: you will have to pay around 130 euros per person.
  • Duration: this tour lasts about four and a half hours, approximately.
  • Means of transportation: the whole experience will be by electric bicycle.
  • Advantages of this option: snacks are provided. The use of the bicycle is included, as well as the helmet. Bottled water is provided.
  • Disadvantages of this option: lunch is not included.

Book an excursion to the Normandy Landing beaches

How to book an excursion from Bayeux?

Book Online| ©Glenn Carstens-Peters
Book Online| ©Glenn Carstens-Peters

You will have to identify the type of excursion you want to do and then make the reservation. Before booking, it is important that you ask about everything related to the trip, as well as the conditions that you must fulfill to participate in the experience you have chosen.

One thing to keep in mind when booking this type of trip is the cancellation policy. Generally it is free of charge up to 24 hours before the experience. It is also important to confirm the departure and price before booking, as these details are subject to change.

Book a Normandy Landing Beaches Tour