Hi Friends!
When we were in Paris this past summer, one of the days that we planned for our itinerary was to take a day trip to visit Normandy to learn more about D-Day and take more of a historical tour outside of the city. I will get into this a bit more down below but we ended up choosing to take a full-day tour through Viator (which we have used them before, you can read about our Daytrip to Dornoch, Scotland here). There were a ton of stops on this trip including Juno Beach, Omaha Beach to the American Cemetery and the having lunch in the cutest town of Arromanches. The day was packed with so much to see and so much to learn, we were so happy that we went on the tour. If you're considering a day trip like this, you can read all about our experience below!
Why We Chose a Guided Day Trip from Paris
We travel quite a bit and we’ve done trips on our own and with tours and for this specific trip we were breaking down the cost of the tour and then what it would cost if we did it on our own and obviously ended up going with a guided tour. We knew this would be a long day (around 13–14 hours), and we didn’t want to worry about car rentals, taking a train, getting directions, or parking. For us, choosing a guided tour meant we could just show up, sit back, and also learn more from someone who really knew the history rather than just doing it on our own. If you have been around for awhile or have read other travel blogs that I have written, then you might have noticed that we have used Viator in the past. We have liked all of our day trips with them so we opted to use them for this tour as well. It was nice because the drive from Paris to Normandy was about 3–4 hours, and we were able to have a comfortable, air-conditioned bus that made the day trip just even better.
What Our Day Looked Like: Normandy Tour Itinerary
🚍 Morning Departure from Paris
We had to get to our meeting spot realllllllly early, we met our group at a hotel that was just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. The view with the sunrise was actually really cool to see while we waited for our bus! The Viator team was there and separated us onto our correct bus for the tour and we were on our way to Normandy right around 7:00 AM. The bus was nice and spacious, we sat up on the second floor. The views were cool, there were pretty scenery and the right amount of commentary from our tour guide when he was giving us details about different things. We also stopped at a gas station about an hour into the drive where we were able to go to the bathroom and get a snack for the drive.
🇺🇸 Stop 1: Omaha Beach
Our first stop was Omaha Beach, we learned A LOT while we were here. From what I understand, it was one of the five landing beaches that happened on June 6, 1944. It was also the site of one of the most intense battles that happened on the D-Day invasion, it was really something to experience. We walked around the beach for a bit and just took it all in. There was also a small visitor center with a few displays and a great viewpoint over the coastline. They had a “little free library” of sorts that you could take a book if you made a donation which was kind of a cool souvenir and memory to take away from this stop on the trip as well!
🕊️ Stop 2: American Cemetery and Memorial
The next stop on the tour was The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial which was in Colleville-sur-Mer. This was a really somber and emotional part of the trip. Seeing row after row of the nearly 10,000 white marble crosses and Stars of David stretched out across the stunningly manicured lawns which all overlooked the water. There was a museum that was there as well that shared more personal stories about the soldiers who passed away here, it was really something to take in.
🍴 Stop 3: Lunch in Arromanches
We stopped for about an hour and a half and got lunch in Arromanches. It was the cutest seaside town packed with restaurants, souvineer shops and even some WWII history of its own. We learned that this was the site of one of the temporary harbors that they used during the D-Day invasion. When we were there we stopped and got some lunch at a seafood shop and it was really good. The restaurant was called, Fish & Co! Dustin and I split the mixed plate that had fish, calamari, chicken and fries. After lunch we wandered around the shops, got a couple of souvenirs and some ice cream! Then we were back on the bus and on our way to the next stop.
🇨🇦 Stop 4: Juno Beach Center
The next stop was Juno Beach, we learned that this is where the Canadian forces landed on D-Day. The Juno Beach Center was also a museum as well as a memorial that was dedicated to the Canadian role in the liberation of France. There was a lot to learn and the views were really cool too!
Here are some tips that we learned for this day trip!
Wear comfortable shoes - You’ll be walking a lot, like more than we realized would be happening and there were stops where we were walking in grass or a rocked path!
Get water and snacks at the first stop - This isn’t SUPER important, but we were really glad that at the gas station when we first stopped that we grabbed some snacks and drinks to have with us on the bus! It’s not like there won’t be food opportunities but it was just nice to have something to munch on between stops.
Bring layers - We were there in June and it was on the warmer side but even in summer, the coast can be breezy and I was happy to have a little button up shirt to wear over my tank top in the morning stops!
Bring a portable charger - There were plenty of photo opportunities and your battery will most likely be drained pretty quickly. We were so happy that we had brought portable chargers with us!
If you see a bathroom use it - This was our motto throughout the day, we were worried about getting to a stop and their not being a restroom, we did learn that restrooms were available at most of the stops, including Omaha Beach and Juno Beach but it was just a good thing to keep in mind so you didn’t have to hold it for too long if you did need to go.
Overall, this trip was emotional, educational, and so worth the time and I also don’t think that you need to be a history buff to appreciate the weight of what happened here. The tour was well organized, I thought it had a great pace and it was full of information that we wouldn’t have probably learned on our own. I would say if you are visiting Paris and want to add something a bit different to your trip, I would recommend this day trip for sure. I would also highly recommend booking this tour with Viator, they always make our day trips and excursions memorable, exciting and fun regardless of what we are seeing. Let me know if you have any questions at all, you can comment below or send me an email at tarynintotravel@gmail.com and I will get back to you as soon as possible!
Much Love,
Emma
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