D-day beaches

[clutchspring]

Hi. I'm looking for information on the D-day beaches & battlefields for a possible tour around the area next year.
After biker friendly accommodation & interesting places to visit & route information.

Thanks,
Ian

[Billy Bananahead]

An interesting place to visit would be Bayeux and the tapestry. The cathedral is quite impressive too.
The Parc Normandie - Maine is very nice too. Follow the Route du Poire.

[Flintlock]

Head for Arromanches. sections of the Mulberry Pier still there, also a museum. Not far inland from there is Bayeux, an allied war cemetery there (mostly British/commonwealth). From Arromanches following the coast east you have all the D Day beaches, including the American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach, then inland to Caen and Pegasus Bridge with a museum there.

Everywhere you go in that general area you will come across lots of monuments museums etc


Re accommodation, we stopped over at a campsite just outside Arromanches, but from memory there are loads of B&B in the general area.

A nice wee place to stop for a break/bite to eat is Barfleur, not far from Cherburg, a nice wee harbour there with a good selection of restaurants

[Hugh]

Greetings Ian,

My wife and I visited Bayeux a couple of years ago (sadly by car) and loved the place. We stayed at the Novotel Bayeux and found it just fine for our needs, there were quite a few motorcyclists staying there too. Ideal location to park up and walk around the sites of the city.

You should visit the Cimetiere Militaire Britanique, it takes your breath away and realise just how much we owe to those young people. Please place a flower or small Royal British Legion wooden cross at the grave of an unknown 'soldier'. There is an excellent museum almost opposite, where you can get a dual pass to both it and the Bayeux Tapestry, to save time queuing.

From mid June to the end of August there is a fabulous free light show at the cathedral. Good websites for a start are;

https://www.bayeux.fr/en
http://bayeux-bessin-tourisme.com/en/

As Flintlock has said visit Arromanches and Caen before taking coffee at Cafe Gondree opposite the Pegasus bridge museum. Just down from the cafe is a tiny monument to the engineers who built the first bailey bridge across the canal incase the main bridge was destroyed by the booby traps.

The Museum Memorial de Caen is a must to visit before visiting the landing sites. You will need at least two hours in there.

So much to do, to see and to give thanks for.

TTFN

Hugh.

Ps take a photo of your bike for the "My Bike with a Bridge".

[bikenav]

Just my opinion there is a lot of WW2 stuff to see, I think 2 or 3 days is enough then move away from the area and come back another time to see more, if you want to of course, I am a bit of a Military history enthusiast, been many times and thats how it works best for me. There is a mass of info out there on the topic to get a broad overview of the elements you wont go far wrong with watching the film The Longest Day.

IMG_20180808_153235.jpg (90.06 KiB) Viewed 2386 times

If you watch the film you may recognize this

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a direct hit from a long way off

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plenty of signage

[clutchspring]

Thanks for all the information everyone ,

Ian.

[Monster]

Honfleur is well worth a visit as well - nice to walk about there and taste the Calvados

Been to Omaha Beach and exhibition plus Juno Beach and exhibition - both are very different
Omaha has has a huge US cemetery there

Pegasus Bridge area and the glider museum are also worth considering

Depending upon which way you travel ... Le Touqet may also appeal

Enjoy the area