The D-Day Beaches, Normandy

6 June 1944. 156,000 Allied troops, five beaches, and a day that altered the course of the Second World War. The Normandy beaches are some of the most historically significant ground in the world, and visiting them — even 80 years later — requires no particular interest in military history to feel their weight.

The five landing beaches stretch roughly 50km along the Calvados and Manche coastlines. Most visitors see two or three in a day, which is manageable but rushed. Two days allows a more considered visit.

The Beaches

Omaha Beach is where to go first if you go to one place. The wide sand, the bluffs above, and the walk from the waterline up to the high ground make the scale of what happened on 6 June utterly clear. The Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer overlooks Omaha: 9,387 graves in white marble crosses and Stars of David on a clifftop above the beach. The visitor centre is well designed and takes about an hour to absorb properly.

Pointe du Hoc is the jagged headland between Omaha and Utah where US Rangers scaled 30-metre cliffs under fire to destroy German gun emplacements. The craters from pre-invasion bombing are still clearly visible across the whole site. It’s preserved almost exactly as it was, with German bunkers and observation posts you can walk into and climb over. One of the most affecting sites in Normandy.

Utah Beach is calmer and less crowded. The museum there is good, particularly on the paratrooper drops that preceded the beach landings.

The British and Canadian beaches (Gold, Juno, Sword) have fewer American visitors and excellent museums. The Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer covers the Canadian role in the landings with particular care.

Bayeux

Bayeux is the natural base for the beach visits, 8km inland from the coast. The town itself is worth time: the Bayeux Tapestry (actually an embroidered cloth, 70 metres long, depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England) is housed in a dedicated museum and is significantly more interesting in person than it sounds. Entry around €14.

The Bayeux War Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth military cemetery in France: 4,144 graves, and beside it a memorial listing the names of 1,800 Commonwealth servicemen with no known grave.

Where to Eat

La Rapière in Bayeux is a dependable choice for Norman cuisine (calvados-cream sauces, moules, marmite dieppoise). The local farmhouses outside Bayeux also sell cider, calvados, and cheeses direct — worth stopping if you’re driving the back roads.

Where to Stay

Le Lion d’Or in Bayeux is a classic Norman hotel with reasonable prices and good food. Villa Lara is a more boutique option, small and well-run. For self-catering, numerous gîtes in the surrounding countryside are available through local agencies.

Getting There

Bayeux is about 2.5 hours from Paris by train (change at Caen) or around 2.5 hours by car via the A13 motorway. The best way to visit the beaches is by car — distances between sites are too great for comfortable walking, and bus services are limited. Car hire is available in Caen.