3 Days in Normandy - What are the must see places?

Qmouse

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I am planning staying 3 days in Normandy next month, just passing the time and having a mini tour between Airshows, never been there before. So what are the must see places / museums, D-Day related or otherwise?

Also any recommended places to stay?

Brian
 
Can you not use Google? Its dead easy when you have such a narrow interest as yours.
 
depending where you are sailing to, just start at one end and work your way along the coast, that will cover the beaches and several other points very close to. further inland you have bayeaux, and quiet a few WW11 cemeteries. lots of places, as already said google is your friend.
 
Se this thread for a comprehensive list with all the info you'll need. Some of my fave places and MUST SEE places in bold!

Arromanches 360, Musée du débarquement & Caissons
WN134 Azeville Batterie & Tunnels
Pegasus Bridge, Gondree Cafe, Pegasus Memorial Museum & Ranville CWGC
Jerusalem CWGC (small)
General Montgomery, General Eisenhower & Piper Bill Millin Statues
US Cemetery
WN62 Big Red One
WN60 (BEST VIEW of Omaha Beach)
Green Howards Memorial
Point du Hoc STP75
La Cambe German Cemetery
La Fiere Iron Mike Memorial
Musée Utah Beach
WN48 Longues sur Mer Batterie
WN01 Merville Batterie
STP135 Crisbecq Batterie
Brecourt Manor & 'Dick' Winters Statue
Sainte Mère Église US Airborne Museum & John Steele Steeple
 
The Caen Canal Pegasus Bridge at Bénouville. The little museum will show you all the other actions where the first wave had targets. You could be a completist and go look at all those sites too.
One of my personal favourites is the Cinema360, just before Arromanches at the top of the cliff. Takes 20 minutes and really worth it IMHO.
Next would be the Musee du Debarquement in Arromanches itself, then a wander across the beach to have a close up look at the cassions.

The Bayeux Tapestry is worth a view too, depicting the collision of two cultures which formed a scab neither country could resist picking at for the next 900 years.
If you have an interest in that too, then a go take a visit to the castle in Falise where Guillaume le Conquérant was born. Not too far inland.

Then on to the US sector, references already given for that.

You can ride from one end to the other of the landing beaches in a few hours, taking it easy on decent byroads. An hour on the RN13.
Stopping and visiting museums, displays and monuments at significant sites, and cemetries. Plus just taking in the views will take as much longer as you are prepared to give.

As others have suggested, google your way along the coast, for your specialist needs.
 
Hi
little tip, Don't rush around too much,otherwise its easy to overload yourself with info and things to do :D, Merville is a good visit And the german cemetery as mentioned,plenty to see all along the coast there

Dave:thumb
 
Breakfast in the Logis Hôtel de Normandie on the pavement opposite the carpark in Arromanches, assuming its sunny, otherwise, inside.
 
Anyway, OP as Waldin el Greco in his van suggests in post #2 there are 101 (like the airborne, see what I did there) sites and sights telling you all about the D-Day beaches, so you'll find something to suit you. After all, you've found the air shows.

The most common mistakes bods make are:

1. Not realising that from one end to the other of the invasion beaches is a bloody long way. Not surprising maybe when one considers that no less than three armies had to be landed.

2. Refusing, out of some weird pride, to use the motorways. Instead, they trundle along the (not very exciting) roads and waste time. Only then do they look at their map to realise that Pegasus Bridge is nowhere near Omaha Beach, so they are not going to have time to see the airborne museum that sits next to it.... And see the (very excellent) Bayeux Tapestry that afternoon.

Get yourself a good map and mark the positions, working out how best to spend your time. You could spend two minutes looking at the remains of the Mullberry Harbours or 30 if you are really interested. That's 28 minutes potentially gone or saved out of your looking time at the battery at point XYZ or ABC.

Hotels / digs / B&B's? How many do you need? It's tourist city. Or if not tourist city, at least tourist town. My suggestion might be to find a hotel / squat / digs / wild camping spot / ditch as a base somewhere near the midpoint of the beaches, viewed east to west. If you chose a spot at one end, it's a long schlep to the other and back again. See point 1.

You'll work it out, I'm sure.

PS Lots of bods like the British run B&B's.... They know why.
 
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