Normandy D-Day & Mont Saint-Michel

Paris – Étretat – Honfleur – Colleville-sur-Mer – Omaha Beach – Mont Saint-Michel. Your day begins with a 07:30 pick up from your hotel in Paris. You travel in an air conditioned Mercedes with your guide on board, heading to Étretat on a journey of up to 3 hours (213 km) with one rest stop en route.

On arrival in Étretat at around 10:30, you walk to the celebrated chalk cliffs with their three natural arches and the Needle, which rises 70 metres above the sea. Monet painted these views, and the town remains a classic Norman seaside resort. You have free time to stroll the beach or climb for wide views, and to choose a seafront café or restaurant – many serve moules frites.

You depart at 12:00 for Honfleur, arriving about 12:45. You explore the historic port on foot during a guided walk of around one hour. Once a key Norman stronghold and later enriched by Atlantic trade, Honfleur’s Vieux Bassin and old streets reflect its layered maritime past and the artistic interest it drew in the 19th century. You then have free time for lunch from 13:45–14:45 before you continue.

At 14:45 you drive to Colleville–sur–Mer (about 1 hour 15 minutes – 110 km). From 16:00–17:15 you visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Visitor Centre overlooking Omaha Beach, resting place of 9,387 US servicemen, with the Wall of the Missing listing 1,557 names. The site includes remnants of German defences on the cliffs, a semicircular memorial colonnade with the sculpture Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves, large operational maps and a small museum on the Battle of Normandy.

You make a short transfer to the nearby Overlord Museum for a visit from 17:20–17:50. You view a collection that includes tanks, military vehicles, weapons, a V–1 missile and personal belongings illustrating the D–Day campaign.

From 18:00–18:30 you pause at the Omaha Beach Signal Monument to reflect on the scale of the landings by some 34,000 men on D–Day. At 18:30 you depart for the Mont Saint–Michel area (about 1 hour 45 minutes – 150 km), arriving around 20:15 for your hotel accommodation.

Mont Saint-Michel – Caen – Rouen – Paris. Depart for Mont Saint‑Michel island and its Benedictine Abbey at 08:00 – about a 20 minute drive. Please check out before departure and place your luggage in the Mercedes.

From 08:30–12:00 you visit Mont Saint‑Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage site, making your way up the narrow medieval streets to the Abbey. Expect wide views over the Atlantic and the bay, and time inside the Abbey – tickets include audio‑guides in multiple languages. The island and its bay have drawn pilgrims since the Middle Ages and remain among the most visited places in France. You have free time to explore the village and the bay at your own pace until 13:00.

At 13:00 you depart for the Caen Memorial and Museum – about 1.5 hours. From 14:30–16:00 you visit this museum in the British Sword Beach sector, which presents an overview of the Battle of Normandy and the human stories behind it, including a 19 minute film with original archival footage.

At 16:00 you continue to Rouen – about 1.5 hours. From 17:30–19:00 you take a guided walk through Rouen, historic capital of the Duchy of Normandy, known for its Gothic architecture. You see Notre Dame Cathedral from the 13th to 16th centuries – painted by Monet – the Vieux Marché where Joan of Arc was executed and the Church of Joan of Arc, the 16th century Palais de Justice and the medieval Gros–Horloge. The walking tour lasts about one hour.

Depart for Paris at 19:00 – about 2 hours. At around 21:00 you arrive back in Paris and will be dropped off at your hotel.