going to Normandie WWII beaches from Saint-Malo

We will be in St. Malo for 11 hours and want to go to the Normandie WWII beaches. Has anyone done it in one day? We have contacted a local tour operator and they say travel time each way is about 2 1/2 hrs. Any information would be very helpful.

Thanks so much

|||

It is 100 miles from St Malo to Bayeux and the beaches are along the coast from there. So the 2 1/2 hours each way sounds reasonable.

|||

Have you done the trip? With the limited time that we will have at the beaches--do you have any recommendations on what not to miss?

|||

Not yet, if I did I would take my own car, which isn%26#39;t much help for you.

Try getting hold of the book %26quot;The D-DAY landings and the Battle of Normandy%26quot; from here www.calvados-tourisme.com/doc/index_gb.asp

|||

Thanks so much. I copied it off in PDF. Really appreciate the help.

|||

Hi.

My %26#39;must-sees%26#39; for the area would include the %26#39;cinema circulaire%26#39; at Arromanches. Check it out at:

http://www.arromanches360.com/

if you have a car, once you reach the Normandy beaches from St Malo, it then doesn%26#39;t take too long to drive along the coast from St Aubin to Arromanches.

|||

we just returned from a one day trip and enjoyed the 5 hour afternoon (1400-1900) Normandie WWII beach tour conducted by the Memorial Museum in English. Very informative and with the museum visit was every thing we had hoped for-maybe more-considering our time restraints. We booked this in advance online directly with the museum to confirm an English speaking tour, We could never have accomplished the beach tour on our own in that short time.

Loved Bayeux visit %26amp; had planned to stay there, (hotel not available) but did an overnight @ HI Caen....would never stay there again. The room was OK, but the staff not helpful. Town was dead, unlike Bayeux.

|||

I have booked a hotel at Caen and hope to see all three of the following via day trips:

1. D-Day Beaches

2. Bayeux

3. St. Malo

Does anyone know how long it would take and how to get from Caen to each of the these locations by train or bus?

gemsmith, was Caen very close to Bayeux? I was planning to take the train there. Is there much to see in Caen itself?

Good tip about booking an English-speaking tour with the Museum. My only concern is cost, probably. We don%26#39;t have a car... are the D-Day beaches do-able on foot? Thanks.

|||

Hi Lowerstreet,

There%26#39;s enough to keep you occupied in Caen itself for a couple of days - the cathedral is worth a visit and there are other churches/abbeys in Caen whose names escape me.

Le Memoriel is absolutely unmissable and well-worth at least half a day of your time:

www.memorial-caen.fr/portail_gb/hp/hp.asp

With regards to trips of the area, it takes about half an hour by car to drive to Bayeux from Caen. You may wish to hire a car during your stay as this is the easiest way to explore Bayeux and the D Day landing sites, etc. from Caen.

Battlebus are very popular for tours, but you need to be able to get to Bayeux by 8.30am:

http://www.battlebus.fr/index.html

Hope this helps a bit.

:)

|||

Thanks, Micra. It%26#39;s much appreciated.

I%26#39;ve heard good things about the Battlebus tour too, but I want to see a mix of the American %26amp; Canadian sites, and the Battlebus tours seem to be strictly geared American vs British vs Canadian. I am leaning towards the American one since it probably visits the most places.

Has anyone heard how the Bus-Fly tours are? How do they differ from the Battlebus? www.d-daybeaches.com

|||

Hi Lowerstreet,

I don%26#39;t know about the Bus-Fly trips. You%26#39;ll probably get a better response if you create a new thread requesting info on them specifically.

:)