Normandy Landing Beaches - 3 nights
“Ok, we’ll go”. Three words spoken by General Dwight D Eisenhower in the early hours of Monday 5th June 1944 would set in motion a chain of events that would change the course of history. Barely 24 hours later 156,000 British, American and Canadian troops along with men from Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Holland, New Zealand, Poland and Norway would begin landing on a 50 mile stretch of beaches in Normandy along the coast of Northern France. Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Europe, was underway. This 3 night tour takes in the major sights of one of the most important single days in world history-D-Day 6th June 1944
Day 1
Morning departure from Portsmouth on the Normandie Express for the 3 hour crossing to Cherbourg to arrive in time for lunch. Following lunch we'll make the short journey to Sainte-Mere-Eglise
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Day 2
After breakfast, we'll leave the hotel and drive to the American cemetery at Coleville Sur Mer. This incredibly moving cemetery is the final resting place of 9,387 US service personnel who died in the Normandy campaign.
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The Afternoon:
The Parachute memorial on the town church and the Airborne Forces Museum.
Pointe Du Hoc and the Ranger memorial at Utah Beach
Check into our accomodation. End of Day 1. |
Following this we'll drive the short distance to Bayeux and, after lunch, visit the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy. Our day is rounded off with a visit to the stunning Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery just a few minutes walk from the museum.
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Day 3
After breakfast, drive to Arromanches where we can see and (depending on the tide) walk out to the remains of the Mulberry Harbour-one of the most amazing engineering feats of the war. During the morning we will also visit the D Day museum and the Arromanches 360 museum.
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Day 4
After breakfast, check out of our hotel and drive to the Merville battery. This was one of the key objectives for the Allied troops to attack during the early stages of D Day. Following this we'll drive the short distance to the Pegasus Bridge memorial and Cafe Gondree-the first place to be liberated on the 6th June 1944.
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After lunch we will then visit the Canadian cemetery at Beny Sur Mer and the Juno beach visitor centre before returning to our hotel.
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After lunch we head to Ranville British cemetery and then on to the Caen memorial before the drive to Cherbourg and the "Fast Cat" home to arrive in Portsmouth at approximately 7pm
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