Memorials and sites from World War II are found throughout north France, though the Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches along the Baie de Seine are the most famous, and the most visited.

2024 sees the 80th commemoration of the Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches. Normandy will be crowded but will also have a series of great events all along the coast, and inland.

The beaches are stunning; today the places for dog walkers, surfers and sand yachts, a far cry from the scene 76 years ago.

The Landing Beaches on D-Day

Early in the morning of June 6, 1944, 160,000 soldiers landed on the beaches of Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. It was the start of the remarkable fight by Allied troops against the enemy. Along this stretch of coast 80 kms (50 miles) long, you’ll find the memorials and cemeteries, batteries and bridges of Operation Overlord.

Museums, Memorials, Cemeteries

There are a large number of museums, sites and memorials commemorating the Normandy Landing beaches offensive and the events around Operation Overlord in June 1944.

Some museums and sites are old, but every year a new one opens. Some are financed and run by the French state; others are small private museums, the result of a lifelong passion of an individual enthusiast.

Large concrete batteries line the cliffs. Part ruined, they still echo with the memories of the war.

There are also war cemeteries for the Canadians, Americans, the Germans, the French, the British and the Allies that punctuate the landscape.

And there are many small sites just by the roadside or signposted down small tracks that commemorate a regiment, or a particular significant incident.

The upshot is that you can come back each year, visit the ones you like the best but always find a new one to explore.

This is a very brief overview of the main sites along the coast. My partner, Alastair McKenzie, has a website called MechTraveller.com which covers all the below and more. But for a good overview, start with the…

Mémorial de Caen

The Mémorial de Caen makes the perfect start to any D-Day Landing Beach tour. It’s particularly useful if your knowledge of the events is, as mine was, sketchy. Taking a long overview, it starts with World War I and the aftermath.

According to Anthony Peregrine, one of the great experts on France, the Caen Memorial is ‘probably the best second world war museum anywhere’.

Standing on a hill above the main part of the city, the Caen Memorial was built on the site of the bunker of Wilhelm Richter, the German general who faced the British-Canadian forces on June 6, 1944. 

The Exhibits

You walk down a circular walkway, lined with the events of 1914-1918 and the aftermath. You’re drawn slowly into the Great Depression, the re-arming of Germany and the rise of Hitler.

A series of exhibitions takes you through the main events of World War II. Archives, testimonies by witnesses, maps, artefacts, room settings, crackling black and white videos, and films fill the spaces. It covers the different war fronts that took the conflict from a European War into a World War. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour brought in the Americans; Barbarossa brought in the USSR. It became a total conflict.

And of course, there’s a superb exhibition on the Normandy D-Day Landings.

The Memorial brings you further up to date, with 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

But it’s not just about the big, world-wide events. The Memorial also covers civilian life and personal stories. There are small details: exploding dummies dropped by the Allies; a resistance worker’s equipment; machines to code…and de-code and those telephones used in secret. Was it all really only 80 years ago? It seems a different world.

It’s pretty full on, and the films made both during the war and afterwards raise some uncomfortable questions. One which particularly struck me was a French academic talking about collaboration. If your child or a loved one’s life was at stake, what would you do?

You should allow half a day if you can and a day is best if you have time, and energy, But don’t try to do more than the Memorial in a day; it’s comprehensive, packed with those stories and events of the war and it’s best to absorb the knowledge before taking in more of the Normandy sites.

Here are suggestions of places to stay near the different Normandy Landing Beaches.
Also check out the budget hotel chains in France for good suggestions on where to stay.

Utah Beach: The American Sector

Utah Beach was the first to be assaulted by the US 4^th Infantry Division under Major General Barton on June 6, 1944 at 6.30am. It was vital to the success of the whole enterprise; the Allies had to cut off the Cotentin Peninsula, blocking Cherbourg harbour to the Germans.  By the end of day 123,250 men had landed, with 17,000 vehicles and 1,695 tons of supplies.

To the west, it was the task of the airborne troops. The 82^nd Division under Major General Ridgway and the 101^st Division under Major General Taylor were deployed to seize control of the area around Sainte-Mere-Eglise. 14,000 parachutists were dropped in various waves. There were heavy casualties of 2,500 men.

It was in this part of the Normandy beaches that the paratroopers of E Company, 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, played their part. Some of the story of Easy Company (who hasn’t read or seen the TV series Band of Brothers?) is shown at the 2 museums here.

Utah Beach Museum

Utah Beach Museum is one of the must-see sites along the whole Normandy coast. It is comprehensive with maps, photos, videos and a huge number of exhibits well displayed in special settings. Don’t miss: the B26 Marauder Aircraft in a large glass-clad hangar and the outstanding film Victory in the Sand. 
MechTraveller Review of Utah Beach Museum

Sainte-Mère-Eglise

Sainte-Mère-Eglise in the Cotentin Peninsula is just a 16-minute, 16 km/8.5 miles from the Utah Beach Museum. Itss a small village with a big history, much of which is told in the Airborne Museum.

As you enter the village, your first sight will be the model of American paratrooper John Steele of the 82^nd Airborne Division hanging by his parachute from the church steeple. The story has a happy ending.
MechTraveller Review of the Airborne Museum

Azeville Battery

Azeville Battery is just a 11km/6 mile, 15-minute drive north of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. It’s bleak with underground paths that connect the bunkers looking out to sea. Walk along these with the audio guide giving you invaluable information, and look out of the narrow slits.
Mech Traveller’s article of the Azeville Battery

Omaha Beach: The American Sector

Omaha Beach was one of the most formidable beaches facing the Allies. It was backed by rocky steep cliffs and strong defences. It was assaulted by the 1^st Infantry Division, the 116^th Infantry Regiment and the 29^th Infantry Division under Major General Huebner.

Just before the 29^th landed on the beach, Colonel Goode said to his troops:  “You get your ass on the beach. I’ll be there waiting for you and I’ll tell you what to do. There ain’t anything in this plan that is going to go right”.  Good old American straight talk.

Renamed Omaha the bloody, there were 2 major batteries to overcome, only one of which was known to the Allies.

La Pointe du Hoc

La Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument stands high up on the windswept headland. You walk past large boards telling the stories of various individuals then onto the headland. Casements and gun pits are surrounded by craters, and at the edge, the observation point.
MechTraveller Review of La Pointe du Hoc

Maisy Battery

The Maisy Battery, 8 miles away, however was unknown to the Allies. And it remained unknown after the war until it was discovered by Gary Sterne, a World War II historian and collector. Today it’s run by his son who is more than happy to talk. And it’s worthwhile talking to him before wandering through the 2.5 kms of bunkers and trenches and past the rusting guns. And this is only part of the site which is yet to be excavated.
MechTraveller Review of Maisy Battery

The Normandy American Cemetery

Above Omaha Beach stands one of the most moving of the sites along the coast. The Normandy American Cemetery at Colville-sur-Mer is a peaceful place, housing 9,387 US military dead on the huge 172 acre site. 307 are unknown.

The white headstone, dotted with Stars of David stones, run in military precision. Wander at will to look at the names, and look for Preston and Robert Niland, the brothers who inspired Saving Private Ryan.

Gold Beach: The British Sector

At the centre of the landing zones, taking Gold Beach was given to the Briitsh 50^th Infantry Division. At 7.30am, the first Brigades attacked around Asnelles. By the evening, 24,970 men had landed; on the beach alone, 413 men were killed, wounded or missing. They had secured 10 kms inland nearly to Bayeux.

Longues-sur-Mer Germany Battery

They faced the German battery at Longues-sur-Mer which was also pounding Omaha Beach. Today it still looks formidable; 4 huge casements with their guns still there pointing out to sea which you wander through.
MechTraveller’s Review of Longues-sur-Mer

Arromanches-sur-Mer

The Musée de Débarquement has to be the major sight to visit along this beach. It has been gloriously updated, and tells the story of the extraordinary Mulberry Harbours in grand detail. These artificial ports were built to dock the ships arriving with vital goods and supplies after the main troop landings. A film sets the scene, but it’s the long model of the Mulberry Harbour that was an integral part of the old museum which catches your attention. Then look outside; you can see the remains still in the water.
MechTraveller’s Review of the Arromanches-sur-Mer Museum

Drive out of Arromanches up the hill to the cinema in the round. The film, Normandy’s 100 Days, shown on 9 screens, is pretty graphic, bringing home the reality and horrors of war.

Juno Beach: The Canadian Sector

The 3^rd Canadian Division landed at 8am on Juno Beach, delayed by the sea and formidable beach obstacles and suffered heavy casualties. By the end of the day, the Canadians had got further inland than any other division.

Juno Beach Centre

The Juno Beach Centre is another must-see sight. It’s the Canadian Museum, covering a story which we in the UK know far less about. The permanent exhibition takes you through the earlier history of Canada. An excellent film, They Walk with You shows you D-Day from the Canadian point of view. It’s funded and run by the Canadian government. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable young Canadians take you through the exhibition if you want to.

Don’t miss the Guided visits of Juno Park outside the Centre. You’re taken down and through the bunkers on the beach in front of the museum. They were part of the famous Atlantic Wall built by Hitler.

Sword Beach, the British Sector

The westernmost part of the landing site, Sword Beach was the responsibility of the 3^rd British Infantry Division under Major General Rennie. They began to land at 7.30am on the beach that had heavy defences around the port of Ouistreham. Their aim? To capture Caen, 10 miles/15 kms inland.

Concerned about the possibility of a counter attack by the 21^st Panzer Division, south of Caen, the British sent in General Gale’s 6^th Airborne Division.

Museum of the British 6^th Airborne Division, Pegasus Bridge

The museum, known as the Pegasus Memorial, brings home the extraordinarily risky task of the parachutists, taken in flimsy Horsa gliders to land inland from Sword Beach. They were the first of the troops to attack, landing at 9 minutes past midnight. Look inside the gliders; they had no motors, no parachutes and no second chances.

Outside, the original Pegasus Bridge takes pride of place. There’s also a Bailey Bridge and various huts displaying the stories of the expedition. If you’ve heard of the landing, it’s mainly because of the myth about Lord Lovat, who, according to The Longest Day, walked across the bridge at Benouville (later named Pegasus Bridge) with his bagpiper. It’s not strictly accurate; they ran over the bridge with no bagpipes playing.

It’s an excellent museum, another of the must-see sites.

Merville Gun Battery

The Merville Gun Battery squarely set in the ground is just a few yards from the sea. Part of the huge Atlantic Wall, built by the Germans to defend Europe against the Allies, it was heavily fortified. It was part of the 6^th Airborne’s task: to destroy the Battery.

There are various bunkers which you can visit, all showing different part of the assault and the capture of the battery. It was done at a cost; of the 750 sent on the mission, 150 landed here and only 75 survived.

A trip along the Normandy D-Day Landing beaches is both a dip into a history we should all remember and cherish, and a tribute to those who allow us to live in liberty and freedom today.

More about World War II in France

You’ll find more on World War II in Nord-Pas de Calais

La Coupole and Hitler’s V2 Rockets
The Secret Blockhouse of Eperlecques
Mimoyecques and Hitler’s V3 Rocket Dream

How to get to the Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches

If you’re coming from the UK by car, then take Brittany Ferries. The overnight sailing to Caen gets you there early in the morning.
More Information from Brittany Ferries route here.

Where to Stay near the Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches

Here are suggestions of places to stay near the different Normandy Landing Beaches. It’s a good selection of accommodation including town hotels, a fortified manor house and a fortified farm.

Also check out the budget hotel chains in France for good suggestions on where to stay.

Getting to Normandy
New Travel to and around Normandy: new flight and shuttle bus along the D-Day Landing Beaches to September 2024

Check out the Normandy Tourism website here.

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I drove round the Normandy D-Day Landing beaches on a 5-day research trip with my partner. Our hotels near the D-Day landing beaches are based on this trip and I have added a couple more recommended by friends.

There’s so much accommodation, hotels and charming bed and breakfast manor houses in Normandy I’ve only covered a fraction. You’ll have your own picks and I’d love to hear about your recommendations. So please do send them and I’ll try to get to them on my next trip.

This selection of hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation near the Normandy D-Day landing beaches runs from the Cotentin Peninsula and Utah Beach in the west along to Caen in the east.

Near Utah Beach on the Cotentin Peninsula

A piece of World War II history

The grey stone 18^th-century Château de Quinéville on the east side of the Cotentin Peninsula has seen its fair share of World War II history; Rommel, Goering and Goebbels stayed here on an inspection of the Atlantic Wall. Damaged by bombing during the D-Day landings, it was restored in the 1970s and is now Dutch-owned and run.  

Set in parkland, with a garden where the owners grow bio vegetables for the restaurant, an outdoor pool and a terrace for drinks and dining, there are 32 comfortably furnished rooms in the château and an adjacent building. Fireplaces keep the main public rooms warm in cool weather, there’s a library and bar. It’s a 14-minute walk to the beach.

The east side of the River Douve estuary

Stay in a fortified manor house

The imposing stone Manoir de la Rivière looks as if it could resist any medieval attack a jealous neighbor might have attempted in its past.

We were ushered into a stone-flagged entrance and up to our second-floor room. There are pretty textiles (a passion of Isabelle Leharivel who owns the manor house with her husband Gérard) on the generous beds and at the windows that open onto a rural scene, fireplaces (decorative only) and large beds in the generously sized rooms. Good bathrooms complete the picture.

Downstairs we sat in front of the roaring open fire in the vaulted dining room for a drink before a home-cooked dinner from Isabelle, a 3-course meal vegetables and herbs from the kitchen garden and fish straight off the fishing boats at Grandcamp Maisy.
Breakfast the next morning included unlimited amounts of coffee, freshly baked croissants and brioches, fruit, yoghurt and cooked eggs and ham on the table.

The Leharivels have been here around 37 years and know the area backwards. They sent us to the nearby La Cambe German cemetery which we would never have found on our own, and advised us on local cheese producers.

Churchill, Eisenhower or Saint-Exupery?

Located at La Cambe between two temporary airfields used by the US Air Force, the Spirit of 1944 really does evoke the past in 3 pretty rooms.

Sir Winston Churchill has a sloping roof, an en-suite shower room, an extra sofa bed and Churchill memorabilia.

Dwight D. Eisenhower is larger with stone walls, a half-timbered ceiling, black and white photos on the walls and US army items.

A large wooden wall with an old map makes Commandant Antoine de Saint Exupery seem like a briefing room. There’s a Victorian roll-top bath and shower in the en-suite bathroom.

All the rooms are fresh and bright, themed to World War II with photos, posters and old maps. It’s very well done, with L’Occitane toiletries, and…nice touch this…The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan on DVD. More wartime books and DVDs are available from their library.

US war correspondents slept here

Located inland about 17 kms south of Pointe du Hoc and Grandcamp Maisy, the stone Château de Vouilly has real connections to World War II.

Take breakfast in the dining room which was used by General Bradley for one of his press conferences, and sleep in one of the rooms that might have been occupied by Robert Capa, Ernest Hemingway, Walter Cronkite or any of 50 World War II correspondents. They stayed here between June 10 and August 10 in 1944, sending their stories of the D-Day landings via a radio transmitter set up in the park.

Four rooms are comfortably furnished with old-fashioned cupboards, chairs and fittings; 3 have views over the gardens and parklands.

In and around Bayeux

Modest Queen Mathilda hits the spot

There are posher hotels in and around Bayeux (the best known is the 5-star Château Audrieu south east of the city) but we were delighted with the 2-star Hôtel de la Reine Mathilde.

Bayeux can be a bit of a nightmare to drive in and park so the public car park we could see from our window was a godsend. We had a ground floor room in the annexe, looking directly onto the canal. It had a large bed, and a small alcove with an armchair, was decorated in pastel colours and had a very good sized bathroom.

We had a simple dinner and breakfast in the casual bistro which also doubles as a local bar.

Rooms are from 95€ to 180€ but prices vary according to the season/demand.

North of Bayeux

One of the best hotels in Normandy

I first fell in love with the Ferme de la Rançonnière when I was researching about William the Conqueror in Normandy twelve years ago. He was all over this part of Normandy though not here; this gorgeous stone fortified farm only dates back to the 14^th to 15^th century.

Drive through the arched stone – and castellated – entrance into a large courtyard enclosed by buildings. Some are bedrooms, others make up the restaurant and bars and an old cider press.

Our room was on the top floor looking onto the inner courtyard with its tables and chairs and cars instead of horses and carriages.

It was a suite with a room which had a sofa bed and separate toilet and a large bathroom with a bath and shower, a room which was blessedly heated at all times (it was April and cold outside).

The bedroom was huge with an antique cupboard that could have come from Narnia; the dark wood furniture offset with red covers and curtains. All very medieval we decided, though luckily the WiFi was not from the same era.

Dinner in the stone-walled, beamed ceiling room with a huge fireplace at one end was a meal that was fit for a king, or in Normandy’s case, a duke. No wild boar and bones flung onto the floors, but local produce cooked to perfection: scallops, guinea fowl, seasonal vegetables, local Normandy cheeses and imaginative desserts.

We retired to the bar for a nightcap, joining a party of very jolly French and Dutch who were regular visitors.

Breakfast in yet another stone-walled room offered everything we wanted. Then we paid the bill and were astonished that the owner remembered me from all those years ago.

Okay, I have written about the Ferme before, but even so, this ticked the final box for me. Perfect hoteliers, perfect hotel. I’ll be back very soon.

Caen

Central and comfortable in Caen

Centrally located, the Hotel des Quatrans is not much to look at from the outside, but it’s welcoming with helpful staff, has comfortable, newly decorated rooms in modern style and is good value.

There’s a small breakfast room looking out onto the street, and public parking right outside and just across the street.

We ate in the evening at the delightful Le Clou de Girofle at number 12 Rue du Vaugueux on a very good value 20€ menu for 3 courses. The wine list is above-average in quality and not expensive. The street which is wall-to-wall small restaurants and bars is just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel.

More about Normandy

Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches
Normandy Travel Guide
Travel to Normandy
Impressionism and Normandy

We went to Normandy on Brittany Ferries

Book with Brittany Ferries. Regular sailings go from Portsmouth to Caen, Le Havre and Cherbourg as well as from Poole to Cherbourg. The best of all the ferry companies, their overnight sailings are more like a mini cruise.

We took the 8.15am morning ferry from Portsmouth which arrives in the French port of Ouistrehem (Caen) at 3pm and returned on the 4.15pm ferry from Caen which arrives in Portsmouth at 8.15pm.

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