Beaches or Museum first?

While staying in Honfleur in October, we have one day to devote to the D-Day beaches and the Caen museum via car.

I planned to start at the beaches due to the drive from Honfleur (we can leave early and not worry about the opening of the museum). I believe the American Cemetary closes at 5:00pm, and in October I assume it will be dark at that time.

I thought we%26#39;d do the museum last because it closes at 7:00pm, then drive back to Honfleur.

Does this make sense, or am I doing it all backwards?

If it does make sense, would Caen be a good place for dinner or is there someplace you%26#39;d recommend for a family of four on the way back to Honfleur?

thanks for any input.

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You%26#39;ll be hard-pushed to get right round to Utah from Honfleur in a day if you are visiting all the beaches, so I presume that the US cemetery is going to be your most westerly point? Do you intend to try and visit all of the British and Canadian beaches as well?

It certainly won%26#39;t be dark by 5pm in October. Are you going to be there in the very last week after the clocks have gone back an hour? If so, it will be about 6pm, otherwise more like 6.30 to 7pm.

If D-Day history is your main objective of this day the Caen Memorial only has one section on WW2, the rest is about all wars since to present day, so you won%26#39;t need hours there.

If you give an idea of how many of the beaches you want to see I can give you a better idea of how to spend your time.

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Thank you for your response.

We%26#39;d like to see the American sector first - and I assumed we would not have much time for anything else. However, my husband really wants to see the Omaha and Utah beaches. From looking at the map, Omaha Beach is in the general area but Utah seemed like a long distance away.

What may help in planning, is that the following day I had planned to spend the morning in Honfleur an then drive to MSM, where we will spend the night. I%26#39;d like to be at MSM by 3:00pm or so. We could always go to the Caen Museum on this day, in the AM on our way to MSM?

wn the day we see the D-Day beaches We could always drive to Utah first, and work backwards towards Honfleur, if that helps. We could get an early start, take the long drive and then spend the day working back to Honfleur.

As you can see, I%26#39;ve got absolutely no idea what we%26#39;re doing so any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

thanks again for your assistance.

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I forgot to mention - we%26#39;ll be there around the 18th of October. I had heard it got dark by 5:00pm around then, so hearing otherwise is welcome relief! I thought 5:00pm seemed rather early, so the extra day-light time during our trip will be wonderful!!!

thanks

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Unless there is a reason why you are making Honfleur your base, I would suggest Bayeux as your base and making a day trip to Honfleur.

We traveled to Normandy last October, and while I am not sure exactly when it became dark, we took a tour that ended at 6:00 and still had some daylight afterwards.

Have you considered a guided D Day tour? On our first trip to Normandy, we toured the D day sites on our own, and on our second visit, we took a tour with Overlord. The tour is the best way to go. You%26#39;ll see more and hear some wonderful stories that you miss traveling by car. Battlebus is another popular touring company with travelers on this site.

For dining, if you are in Bayeux, try Le Drakkar. It has a varied menu and is very good. I believe Le Drakkar also has a restaurant in Deauville, which could be on your way to Honfleur from the beaches. Check the restaurant reviews on this site.

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Well if you want to do Utah as well I would definitely make an early start and take the A13 to Caen and then the peripherique sud and the A84, leave at junction 40 and take the N174 up to Ste Mere Eglise, this will be very, very much quicker than taking the coastroad. There is an excellent museum at Ste Mere Eglise, the Airborne museum, you could then go to the beach which is only about 10-15 minutes away where there is another museum but I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll have time to do all the museums possible.

You can then get onto the N13 and come round to Omaha and the US cemetery, via Pointe du Hoc, which the Rangers scaled on D-Day. There is a nice little museum near the beach at Omaha. There is a flag-lowering ceremony every day at 4.30pm in the cemetery which a lot of our American guests enjoy watching, and often participating in.

My husband has occasionally done tours for guests taking this route. If he gets to the Airborne Museum by 9.30am it usually takes best part of a day, ie, ending up at the US cemetery at around 4.15 in time for the ceremony - this is going at a steady but unrushed pace and only stopping for a picnic lunch.

This would still give you time to get closer to Honfleur to eat. I agree though, that if you don%26#39;t have to be in Honfleur that night why not base yourselves in Bayeux - it%26#39;s only 20 minutes from the Caen museum and will be over an hour nearer to MSM the next day. Otherwise, yes, you could do the Caen Museum the next morning before going on to MSM.

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By the way, on 18th October it will still be light until about 7pm.

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You mean the Caen Memorial.

If you only have one day I%26#39;d suggest not going to the Memorial. It%26#39;s an interesting museum but you can get most of that information on the net and history channel. Where as to appreciate the beaches you have to be there. In a day in your car from Honfleur you could see most of the important sites.

La cambe, La fiere, Ste Mere eglise, POW camp, Utah beach, Brecourt manor, Point du hoc, Omaha, cemetery, Arromanches.

If you spent 2 hours in a quick visit to the memorial you%26#39;d cut out at least three real sites.

People have suggested a minibus tour. For 4 that comes to 320€, A private guide would be cheaper at 260€, or a d day audio guide at 25€. A guide book costs about the same but you%26#39;d miss many sites because it%26#39;s not easy to follow a guide book.

On that itinerary you%26#39;d be finishing at Arromanches where there%26#39;s a good choice of restaurants at all prices. From the %26quot;Marine%26quot; and %26quot;Normandy%26quot; to %26quot;6 june%26quot; or %26quot;bistro%26quot; and many others.

From there you%26#39;d have an hours drive back to Honfleur.

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When i do this tour from Le Havre (close to Honfleur) we do A photo stop at Arromanches, then about 45 mn at the American cemetary , then 45 minutes at the Pointe du HOc, then we drive to the memorial to have lunch at 1h30 and spend the afternoon there. These times are with a bus, so by car they would be a bit reduced but not much, as you will be crossing small villages.

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I love the Ferme de la Rançonnière in Crépon, near Arromanches, but i don%26#39;t know if they do dinners. Very picturesque place, good food.

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If you%26#39;re going to MSM the next day why not stop at Bayeux the night folowing your beaches visit, That%26#39;ll cut out 160Km of going back to Honfleur and then back to Caen to carry on to MSM.