Normandy & Mont Saint-Michel Explorer

Paris – Caen – Arromanches-les-Bains – Colleville-sur-Mer – Omaha Beach – Pointe du Hoc – Bayeux. Kick off your journey at 07:30 when we collect you from your Paris hotel and set off for Caen in a comfortable Mercedes. The 240 km drive takes around three hours with one comfort stop, and is fully guided throughout.

From 10:30–12:00 you visit the Caen Memorial and Museum in the British Sword Beach sector, a leading World War II museum offering a clear overview of the Normandy campaign and a powerful 19 minute film using original footage.

At 12:00 you drive to Arromanches–les–Bains, about 30 minutes (30 km) along national roads. From 12:30–13:30 you have a lunch break and free time to look around this small seaside town, known for its Mulberry Harbour that supported nearby Gold Beach. By 12 June 1944 it had enabled the arrival of 300,000 men, 54,000 vehicles and 104,000 tons of supplies.

From 13:30–14:30 you visit the 360 Circular Cinema on the hill above Arromanches, with sweeping views over the bay and the site of the former harbour. The immersive documentary covers the 100 days of the Battle of Normandy and explains Operation Overlord. At 14:30 you continue to the Normandy American Cemetery and Visitor Centre, about 30 minutes away (20 km).

You explore the cemetery at Colleville–sur–Mer, overlooking Omaha Beach from 15:00-16:10. It holds 9,387 graves and a Wall of the Missing with 1,557 names. Along the cliffs you can see remnants of German defences. Highlights include the semicircular memorial colonnade with the sculpture Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves, and the Visitor Centre’s museum on the Normandy campaign.

At 16:10 you head to the nearby Overlord Museum. From 16:15–16:45 you visit its collection of World War II artefacts and installations, including tanks, military vehicles, weapons, a V1 missile and personal belongings.

You drive to Omaha Beach at 16:45, 5–10 minutes (5 km). From 16:50–17:20 you spend time at Omaha Beach, where around 34,000 men landed on D–Day.

Then continue to Pointe du Hoc at 17:20, about 15 minutes (10 km). From 17:30–18:30 you visit this prominent cliff position between Utah and Omaha beaches, once a fortified gun battery within the Atlantic Wall. Many original bunkers and casemates remain accessible, including the fire control casemate with its monument to the 2nd Rangers.

At 18:30 you drive to Bayeux, around 30 minutes (32 km), arriving at 19:00 for hotel check in.

Bayeux – Angoville-au-Plain – Utah Beach – Sainte-Mère-Église – Bayeux. This morning you depart Bayeux for Angoville–au–Plain at 08:00, a 40–minute drive of about 50 km. From 08:40–09:00 you make a brief stop at the church of Saint–Côme–et–Saint–Damien, where medics Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore of the 101st Airborne set up a field hospital on D–Day.

At 09:00 you continue to Utah Beach, about 10 minutes and 10 km, for free time on the shore and at the nearby monuments until 10:00. Utah, the westernmost of the five D–Day beaches, was the first assaulted on 6 June 1944 by some 23,000 American troops aiming to capture Cherbourg and its deep–water port. You can walk the beach and explore the memorials at your own pace.

From 10:00–12:00 you visit the Utah Beach Landing Museum, built on a former German bunker. Its collection spans significant artefacts and military vehicles, including an original B–26 bomber – one of only six remaining worldwide.

You then drive to Sainte–Mère–Église at 12:00, about 20 minutes and 13 km, for a short town stop from 12:20–12:50 opposite the Airborne Museum. You’ll see the church made famous by paratrooper John Steele of the 505th PIR and by the 1961 film The Longest Day – a mannequin still hangs from the steeple. The Borne 00 milestone marks the start of Liberty Road commemorating the Allied advance from the landing beaches. From 12:50–13:50 you have free time for lunch near the museum.

After lunch, between 14:00–15:30, you visit the Airborne Museum, dedicated to the US paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. Across five buildings – two styled like open parachutes – you explore the Waco building, home to the only Waco glider on display in France, and follow the story of the glider troops. In the C–47 building you see the original aircraft amid a striking display of deployed parachutes, suspended mannequins and detailed scenes.

From 15:30–16:00 you continue with the Night Jumps experience, a hyperrealistic sequence covering embarkation in England, the drop over Sainte–Mère–Église and subsequent operations, and you view a Piper Cub reconnaissance plane.

Depart for Bayeux at 16:00, around 40 minutes and 55 km with one rest stop, arriving at approximately 16:40.

Bayeux – Mont Saint-Michel – Cabourg – Pont-l’Évêque – Paris. You depart Bayeux for Mont Saint‑Michel at 08:00, covering about 130 km by motorway – roughly 1 hour 30 minutes. At Mont Saint‑Michel we join the abbey’s own guided tour where possible; if not, we provide audio guides. Your guide–driver leads you up the narrow medieval streets to the hilltop abbey with wide views over the bay. This excursion takes place between 09:30–12:30.

After the abbey visit, you have free time to explore the village and have lunch until 13:30. After which you depart for Cabourg – about 1 hour 45 minutes (160 km). From 15:15–16:30 you arrive in Cabourg, where you have time to look around before you continue.

At 16:30 you drive to a Calvados distillery – about 30 minutes (35 km). From 17:00–18:00 you learn how Calvados has been made over the centuries, followed by a guided tasting. At 18:00 you set off for Paris – around 2 hours 30 minutes (200 km) – arriving back at your hotel at about 20:00.