Normandy Day-Trip from Paris

[Ghost of LL 15540]

So from the archives of bad ideas, I want to talk about the possibility of a day-trip from Paris to see the landing beaches at Normandy, and the particulars of carrying that out.

This fall, my parents have decided that they want to take the whole clan (seven of us in all) to London and Paris so that they can see the grandkids' first trip overseas.  Cool.  That's great.  But time is at a premium, once you do the basics and set aside days for Versailles and Disneyland Paris (which is the leverage needed to keep the kids in line for the rest of the trip).  So if we want to go to Normandy, it's got to be a day-trip.

And yeah--that's a long day-trip.  And probably an unmanageable one.  But if I wanted to try it, what are my options?  It seems to me I could do (1) train to Caen and pick up a tour there, (2) pick up a (very expensive) tour out of Paris, or (3) rent a minivan and do it myself.

Does anybody have any thoughts/comments on this course of action?  And, of course, any recommendations on tour operators would be appreciated.

[kevwun 15916]

What about hiring a driver and van?  That way you'll get more time than you would with a tour and still not have to worry about driving anywhere.

[Ghost of LL 15540]

I think that's a doable option.  But what's the cost vis-a-vis one of the tour outfits that regularly does it out of Paris?

[jimmyjazz 46143]

No way would I spend a day at Versailles.  Not that it would help much, but I'd probably do a few hours at Versailles on the way to the coast and spend the night.

[jimmyjazz 46143]

Or better yet, stop at Mont Saint-Michel on the way.

[kevwun 15916]

29 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

I think that's a doable option.  But what's the cost vis-a-vis one of the tour outfits that regularly does it out of Paris?

There are some trips on Viator that do this and will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel.  Looks like it would be around $1,500.  You may be able to find a cheaper option if you do some digging.  I have had really good luck with Viator for trips in Rome and London.
https://www.viator.com/Paris-tours/Private-Day-Trips/d479-g5-c74

One of the tour companies that do bus trips may also have vans if you find a highly rate tour.  Wouldn't hurt to give a couple a call.

Edited May 14, 2018 by kevwun

[Ghost of LL 15540]

9 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

No way would I spend a day at Versailles.  Not that it would help much, but I'd probably do a few hours at Versailles on the way to the coast and spend the night.

I don't think the plan is to spend a full day at Versailles--it's a half-day thing.  My point wasn't to say that we're spending a day at Versailles; it was simply to say that it's a day that I can't spend going to Normandy.

[Brisketexan 105360]

Will you be harried by P-47s?  Because I hear they can make the trip from Paris to Normandy a real bitch.

[GreenspointTexas 9675]

45 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

So from the archives of bad ideas, I want to talk about the possibility of a day-trip from Paris to see the landing beaches at Normandy, and the particulars of carrying that out.

This fall, my parents have decided that they want to take the whole clan (seven of us in all) to London and Paris so that they can see the grandkids' first trip overseas.  Cool.  That's great.  But time is at a premium, once you do the basics and set aside days for Versailles and Disneyland Paris (which is the leverage needed to keep the kids in line for the rest of the trip).  So if we want to go to Normandy, it's got to be a day-trip.

And yeah--that's a long day-trip.  And probably an unmanageable one.  But if I wanted to try it, what are my options?  It seems to me I could do (1) train to Caen and pick up a tour there, (2) pick up a (very expensive) tour out of Paris, or (3) rent a minivan and do it myself.

Does anybody have any thoughts/comments on this course of action?  And, of course, any recommendations on tour operators would be appreciated.

Did a day trip with my dad from paris to normandy and back last september

 

Renter car in latin quarter where we were staying.

Parked it in garage overnight (we were staying in an air bnb).

Woke up at 445am and drove from paris to bayeaux. Its the same as driving from houston to austin, not a big deal at all. Real easy to do, only 3-4 turns once u get out of the city.

 

got to bayeux early, had a cup of coffee.

left on day tour by Bayeux Tours (they are the best, imo, and they hit everything) at 8am

returned back to bayeux at 530ish pm. 

Got back to hotel at 8 pm

 

 

 

its not hard to do and was pretty cheap. Def. doable. We ultimately had to rent a car instead of the train because we did a saturday tour and the trains to caen didnt run that day that early.

 

use bayeux shuttle tours, cant recommend them enough. Check out their webpage

 

http://www.bayeuxshuttle.com/

[travelingtexan 198]

Going for the anniversary next year, train to Caen, car to Bayeux. Bayeux is base and going to use Overlord tours.

[Robin Masters 122]

I did this in 2004 with a company called Battle Bus or something like that. I found them on Tripadvisor back then. Doubt they are still around. We had to book our own train out to Bayeux from Gare du Nord. Then we walked up the street to some parking lot. Dude in a van picked up my wife and I, and a Canadian couple. He spoke minimal English but he could push play so we listened to a tape about each site on the way. He also passed out laminated sheets of each site, often showing then and now pics. It was more than enough info.

Seems like we started at the rebuilt Pegasus bridge, then hit several of the beaches going east to west, as well as the American Cemetery and ending at Point Du Hoc. Lunch was at some little town right on a beach with a piece of one of the Mulberry Harbours sitting there just offshore. Kind of meet back here in 45 minutes, eat at whatever cafe you like.

We had a nice partly cloudy day. Rainy day would have sucked.

Back to Bayeux in time to catch one of the last trains back to Paris. There might have been a train switch from Paris to Bayeux, I can't remember. One downside, we didn't have time to see the Bayeux Tapestry.

You could just as well self drive this. You'd lose some time getting out of Paris, maybe gain some back once you're out on country roads, and then be able to see what you like, stay longer if you like(I felt like they didn't spend enough time at the American Cemetery) etc. plus you don't have to go if it rains. The tours are probably going to charge you rain or shine. Maybe arrange car pickup and drop off at a station just outside of Paris. My dad and I had to drive into Paris to drop off our car, and we looked like European Vacation only substitute Arc d'Triomphe for Trafalgar Square. 

Since 2004 there's also a lot more D-Day museums. Practically every little town now has one of varying quality. Tripadvisor research for which are legit. There's  a German Cemetery as well, worth a quick stop if you self drive.

[Chuychanga 133]

I’ve done it twice. Once by train to Caen and rental car from there and once by rental car from CDG. If you drive, ask which highways have the cheaper tolls. There was one particular one that was way more expensive and our uber driver to CDG warned us about it. Of course Waze chose that route so it was good we knew. 

Also the parking lot at the cemetery closes at 6pm or so. Pay attention to that. My kids and I explored all the bunkers and the beach too long and our car was locked in. Had to ask a groundskeeper to let us out. 

We left in the morning, maybe 6 or 7ish. Had time to spend a couple hours in the museum in Caen and spent a couple hours roaming through the cemetery and beach. Did not do Point Du Hoc.  We were back in Paris around 9pm. 

Edited May 14, 2018 by Chuychanga

[Ghost of LL 15540]

1 hour ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Did a day trip with my dad from paris to normandy and back last september

 

Renter car in latin quarter where we were staying.

Parked it in garage overnight (we were staying in an air bnb).

Woke up at 445am and drove from paris to bayeaux. Its the same as driving from houston to austin, not a big deal at all. Real easy to do, only 3-4 turns once u get out of the city.

I'd like to do that, but with two kids, that is an early wake-up call.

The big problem I see is that all of the tours call for a roughly 12-13 hour day.  If it's three hours each way, we're only talking 6 hours in Normandy.  Scratch off another hour for lunch (at least), and you don't have just a whole lot of time out there.  Is that enough time to see what you need to see?

[Shmitty 112]

Rouen is a must-see.  It was the capital of Normandy back in the middle ages.  

[Spankytoes 1743]

2 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

I don't think the plan is to spend a full day at Versailles--it's a half-day thing.  My point wasn't to say that we're spending a day at Versailles; it was simply to say that it's a day that I can't spend going to Normandy.

If you want to go inside, it's a full day. Golf carts + Gardens is where it's at.

Will be in Paris next month and considering the Normandy trek too. Subscribed

[GreenspointTexas 9675]

57 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

I'd like to do that, but with two kids, that is an early wake-up call.

The big problem I see is that all of the tours call for a roughly 12-13 hour day.  If it's three hours each way, we're only talking 6 hours in Normandy.  Scratch off another hour for lunch (at least), and you don't have just a whole lot of time out there.  Is that enough time to see what you need to see?

It was just under 2.5 hrs each way from paris and back. Bayeux shuttle tour was from 8-5. In that time we saw:

German cemetary 

Agonville du Plain

utah beach

45 min for lunch which was provided

ste mere eglise

colleville sur mer 

point du hoc

omaha beach

 

 

none of it felt rushed and at almost all but omaha beach did i feel we had a little TOO much time at, even. Every site is about 15-20 min from each other or shorter. Even if you have your own car, you can def. see it all yourself if u plan accordingly.

 

edit: and yes, i know im butchering the names of the towns, but im at work, sorry

Edited May 14, 2018 by GreenspointTexas

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

3 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

So from the archives of bad ideas, I want to talk about the possibility of a day-trip from Paris to see the landing beaches at Normandy, and the particulars of carrying that out.

This fall, my parents have decided that they want to take the whole clan (seven of us in all) to London and Paris so that they can see the grandkids' first trip overseas.  Cool.  That's great.  But time is at a premium, once you do the basics and set aside days for Versailles and Disneyland Paris (which is the leverage needed to keep the kids in line for the rest of the trip).  So if we want to go to Normandy, it's got to be a day-trip.

And yeah--that's a long day-trip.  And probably an unmanageable one.  But if I wanted to try it, what are my options?  It seems to me I could do (1) train to Caen and pick up a tour there, (2) pick up a (very expensive) tour out of Paris, or (3) rent a minivan and do it myself.

Does anybody have any thoughts/comments on this course of action?  And, of course, any recommendations on tour operators would be appreciated.

It's about a 2 hour train ride each way.  It's very doable, but would be a long day for older folks. We were in Normandy last May, and did the beach tour starting around 9:00 and were back in Paris by 8:00 or so.  Book a tour thru the hotel Churchhill in Bayeaux.  They'll pick you up there, and the tour bus will drop you right off @  the station station that afternoon for a 6:00 train back to Paris (with your luggage in tow).

I don't know what the earliest train out of Paris is, but maybe you book one night @ the Hotel Churchill (or other Bayeaux hotel) and then it's a bit less of a long day.  I;'d recommend staying over one night to see Bayeaux, have dinner, see the Tapestry museum, and have a bit more relaxing journey.

I booked ours a couple months in advance to ensure a place on the tour and a hotel room.  The other major site out of Bayeaux is Mont. St. Michel.  A staggeringly beautiful site if you can add a day to your schedule

[AUS-97HORN 11824]

If you are a WW2 junkie at all I would STRONGLY advise against this.

I did this exact thing in 2002, caught the early bus tour from Paris, got to see St Mere-Eglise (museum), Pont-du-Hoc, Omaha Beach(museum), Omaha Cemetery, Bayoux (tapestry museum along with the church), Aromanches, and whichever bunker has the gun still in the bunker.

The problem was,  it was combined around 5.5 hours both way to travel, and you only get to spend about 45m-60 mins per place.  turned out to not be enough time for me the WW2 Junkie.

Especially at Pont du Hoc & the preserved bunker-   there just wasnt enough time to walk around, and I had a really really hard time at the Omaha Cemetery, just crushing seeing all those crosses.

I convinced my dad to join me in 2003 and we rented a room somewhere near Carentan.  We drove there late in the evening, woke up a little before Dawn and hit up all the stuff with a LOT more time to review all the places- especially pont du hoc.  when you can walk down into that largest crater, and the lip of the crater is easily 20 feet above your head.... thats just mind bottling.    we hit up all the places, and left for Paris after seeing either Gold or Juneau Beach and got back to Paris around midnight.

[PRONG HORN 3159]

4 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

 

And yeah--that's a long day-trip.  And probably an unmanageable one.  But if I wanted to try it, what are my options?  It seems to me I could do (1) train to Caen and pick up a tour there, (2) pick up a (very expensive) tour out of Paris, or (3) rent a minivan and do it myself.

Does anybody have any thoughts/comments on this course of action?  And, of course, any recommendations on tour operators would be appreciated.

 

Do you even Texas bro?  Paris to the American cemetery is only 175 miles.  Leave early get back late.

[jimmyjazz 46143]

1 hour ago, Spankytoes said:

If you want to go inside, it's a full day. Golf carts + Gardens is where it's at.

Will be in Paris next month and considering the Normandy trek too. Subscribed

I disagree.  I've done both in one morning.  Maybe I missed something, but it's a whole lot of "meh" to me.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, AUS-97HORN said:

If you are a WW2 junkie at all I would STRONGLY advise against this.

I did this exact thing in 2002, caught the early bus tour from Paris, got to see St Mere-Eglise (museum), Pont-du-Hoc, Omaha Beach(museum), Omaha Cemetery, Bayoux (tapestry museum along with the church), Aromanches, and whichever bunker has the gun still in the bunker.

The problem was,  it was combined around 5.5 hours both way to travel, and you only get to spend about 45m-60 mins per place.  turned out to not be enough time for me the WW2 Junkie.

Especially at Pont du Hoc & the preserved bunker-   there just wasnt enough time to walk around, and I had a really really hard time at the Omaha Cemetery, just crushing seeing all those crosses.

I convinced my dad to join me in 2003 and we rented a room somewhere near Carentan.  We drove there late in the evening, woke up a little before Dawn and hit up all the stuff with a LOT more time to review all the places- especially pont du hoc.  when you can walk down into that largest crater, and the lip of the crater is easily 20 feet above your head.... thats just mind bottling.    we hit up all the places, and left for Paris after seeing either Gold or Juneau Beach and got back to Paris around midnight.

Yeah you need the whole day to see it at a pace that would suit most people.

[Ghost of LL 15540]

1 hour ago, AUS-97HORN said:

If you are a WW2 junkie at all I would STRONGLY advise against this.

Well, I'm not that big a WWII junkie.  I would actually prefer to skip something from WWII to go see the Bayeux Tapestry.

[Brisketexan 105360]

Well, I'm not that big a WWII junkie.  I would actually prefer to skip something from WWII to go see the Bayeux Tapestry.

What, no time to head north to check out Agincourt? Nobody will speak of you on St Crispin’s day.

[Ghost of LL 15540]

3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

What, no time to head north to check out Agincourt? Nobody will speak of you on St Crispin’s day.

Actually, I would be more interested in that.  But I suspect I would be an outlier in my group.

[AUS-97HORN 11824]

Bayeux tapestry is cool, its worth about 45 mins in that museum, along with around 30 mins in the church in Bayeux.

If you are not doing a tour bus, one place that I was spellbound by was the Command Bunker of the Atlantic Wall Gun Battery in Longues-sur-Mer   is pretty close to Bayeux and absolutely worth climbing into the command bunker:

I would say these 5 are pretty dead on as must see's along with bayeaux :

http://www.seetheworldinmyeyes.com/travel-tips/5-must-see-d-day-locations-of-normandy/

 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

Mont St. Michel, Normandy beaches, Bayeaux tapestries, the D day museum in Bayeaux, and the town itself for a night at least are all reasons to blow Paris off for 24-48 hours and day out there for a night at least.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19145]

So, we did Mont St. Michel and Pointe du Hoc in one day.  We took the first train from Paris to Caen, rented a car.  Drove to Mont St. Michel (which is amazing).  We then grabbed lunch and drove back to Pointe du Hoc. We only had about an hour there.  Of course, we were there in the dead of winter when, I believe the trains are running much later and earlier on the day.  I think it is definitely doable.  It really sucks that you have to waste a day at Disneyland Paris.  

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

25 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

So, we did Mont St. Michel and Pointe du Hoc in one day.  We took the first train from Paris to Caen, rented a car.  Drove to Mont St. Michel (which is amazing).  We then grabbed lunch and drove back to Pointe du Hoc. We only had about an hour there.  Of course, we were there in the dead of winter when, I believe the trains are running much later and earlier on the day.  I think it is definitely doable.  It really sucks that you have to waste a day at Disneyland Paris.  

You want to see more than just Post du Hoc though IMO, but your point is valid its definitely a doable day trip ion the body is willing.

[TornACL 7722]

How old are the kids? I can't think there's a lot of Venn overlap between kids interested in Disney and interested in Normandy. 

A real baller move would be to split into two teams, get one group of suckers, ahem family members, to take the kids to Disney and the rest go to Normandy. 

[Spankytoes 1743]

2 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

So, we did Mont St. Michel and Pointe du Hoc in one day.  We took the first train from Paris to Caen, rented a car.  Drove to Mont St. Michel (which is amazing).  We then grabbed lunch and drove back to Pointe du Hoc. We only had about an hour there.  Of course, we were there in the dead of winter when, I believe the trains are running much later and earlier on the day.  I think it is definitely doable.  It really sucks that you have to waste a day at Disneyland Paris.  

What’s wrong with Disneyland? That’s on our itinerary too

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19145]

What’s wrong with Disneyland? That’s on our itinerary too

Why anyone would go to France to go to Disneyland is beyond me.

I think going to Euro Disney is an absolutely lately horrific plan. But if I remember correctly, you don't like Paris. Remember though, Paris is best when you take time to enjoy it. If you are always spending time waiting in lines with the other miserable tourists, you don't get to experience the real Paris.

And instead of taking kids to see Cinderella's castle at Euro Disney, go see some of the Loire Valley Chateaus for some real castles. Just a suggestion.

[ousuxndallas 65]

Just stay the night in Normandy. I thought it was extra nice being at Omaha beach as the sun rose, to match the D-Day timing.

Plus, spend some time at local pubs and chat with locals. Those French in Normandy really appreciate Americans and understand our role in their liberation. Normandy is something to savor and soak in, not look at in a hurry. Very somber place.

[Upgrayedd 5821]

^This.  Stay the night.  Worth it.

Maybe you’ll meet a gal from Vancouver that loves anal.  Just my experience.  YMMV

[South Austin 52616]

[Ghost of LL 15540]

14 hours ago, TornACL said:

How old are the kids? I can't think there's a lot of Venn overlap between kids interested in Disney and interested in Normandy. 

A real baller move would be to split into two teams, get one group of suckers, ahem family members, to take the kids to Disney and the rest go to Normandy. 

They'll be 9 and 7.  Their bedtime stories these days are of French and British history (we're up to August 1914--the pursuit of the Goeben and Breslau is tonight), so my daughter is excited to see the statue of Boudica across from Westminster Hall, and my son is jazzed to see Napoleon's tomb.  I have no doubt that they're going to be interested in Normandy by the time we get their.

I think we're splitting into two teams for other stuff, but I don't know that that is going to work for Normandy/Disneyland.  For one thing, Disneyland is a bit of a all-hands-on-deck kind of thing with kid wrangling.  For another, I want to ride the Ratatouille ride.