Normandy Battlefields Day Trip: Omaha, Sword and the British Airborne

Retrace the main assaults undertaken by the British forces during the first days of the Battle of Normandy on a poignant battlefields tour you'll never forget. If you have a relative who fought in the war, or are at all interested in 20th-century history, you'll find this Normandy beaches tour a fascinating day trip from Bayeux.

Your tour begins with a drive to Pointe du Hoc, where the German gun position threatened the Allied ships all the way to Utah and Omaha. The site remains as it was when the Rangers left it and looks like a lunar landscape.

Next, you'll drive along the coast to Omaha Beach where soldiers of the 29th and 1st Divisions landed, fought and died. Overlooking the bluff is the American Military Cemetery, where 9,387 service men rest in peace.

At the museum at Pegasus Bridge, you'll see a full-sized replica of the Horsa gliders used in the attack, as well as a Bailey bridge and the original Pegasus Bridge.

After visiting Sword Beach, you will visit the Hillman Bunker complex outside the village of Colleville-Montgomery. The bunkers were originally used as a German command post.

The Commonwealth Cemetery of Hermanville holds the bodies of 1,005 soldiers from England, Canada, Australia and France. You will always remember reading the moving epitaphs written by the families who lost their sons, husbands or brothers in Normandy in the summer of 1944. The tour ends in the charming village of Creully, which in 1944 was home to the studios of the BBC.

Schedule Details Departs: Seasonal
May 01 to September 30, 2008
Daily Departure Point: Tour departs from Place du Quebec (behind Churchill Hotel) or Bayeux Station Departure Time: 9:00am Return details: Tour returns to original point of departure at 6:00pm Hotel Pickup: Hotel pickup is available from centrally located Bayeux hotels. Please advise your full hotel name and address at time of booking.

Additional Information