Private Day Tour Omaha beach and Pointe du Hoc

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. After about 25 minutes drive from Bayeux, we will first position ourselves at the top of the cliff, at the eastern end of Omaha Beach. You will then discover an extraordinary view on the 6 kilometers of the beach ... There, a few meters from the first German bunkers, we will evoke the plan of attack of the German defenses by the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions of the United States on June 6, 1944, at 06:30. After this first step, we will reach the beach, at the foot of another German Fortified Point, the "Wn62, where you will discover that unfortunately nothing went as planned...

   45 min

2. Once on the beach, a few dozen meters from the infamous "Widerstandnest 62", a formidable German fortified position, we will recall the death trap into which the first waves of American assault fell due, in particular, to the failure of preliminary bombing and the tragedy experienced by the crews of Sherman tanks "Duplex Drive" amphibious. We will also see together how, after several hours of fierce fighting, small, determined groups managed - against all odds - to turn the situation around and bring down the 15 fortified positions protecting the beach.

   50 min

3. The third stage of the day is a particularly moving and very symbolic place of American involvement in Europe during the Second World War: the American Military Cemetery of Colleville sur mer, where 9389 fighters killed on the day of the landing or during the "Battle of Normandy" lie today. After discussing together the history of this cemetery - the largest of the two American cemeteries of Normandy - you will have time to gather with some of the burials before taking the path to the "Pointe du Hoc"...

   50 min

4. For the vast majority of our clients – often established outside France – visiting the Normandy battlefields is an almost unique event in their lives. Also, to give them the opportunity to also discover the Museum Collections that evoke the D-Day in Omaha, we allow them the opportunity to devote about an hour to visit one of the five museums in the area presenting the landing operations and exhibiting important Collections of uniforms, equipment, vehicles, and materials. If you wish, you will have the choice between: - Overlord Museum, Colleville-sur-mer; The Big Red One Museum, Colleville-sur-mer; -The Memorial Museum of Omaha beach, in Saint Laurent-sur-mer. The D-Day Omaha Museum, in Vierville-sur-mer. The D-Day Underwater Wrecks Museum, Commes. As a museum visit is optional, the Award of Entry is not included in the tour. But you will benefit from the discounted rate granted to Memory Tracks.

   1 h

5. After the meal break, we will then follow the beach of Omaha beach towards the west (along the sectors "Easy Red", "Easy Green", "Dog Red", "Dog White", "Dog Green", and " Charlie"). Before heading for La Pointe du Hoc, we will discuss the tragic fate of the men of "A" Company (116th/29th Inf) who landed just in front of the German fortifications preventing access to the Vierville valley.

   25 min

6. Arriving at Pointe du Hoc, on the remnants of the formidable German artillery battery that threatened Omaha and Utah, you will most likely first be seized by the landscape, still marked 82 years later by the many aerial and naval bombings. But then you will most certainly be shocked by the account of the near-desperate battle that Lieutenant-Colonel Rudder's 225 Rangers had to fight to accomplish their dual mission: to climb to the top of the cliff under enemy fire to destroy the 6 155 mm guns of Pointe du Hoc, but also to hold the perimeter of the battery while waiting for reinforcements from Omaha. Again, the plan did not work as intended and, surrounded by German forces, the Rangers had to fight for two days and two nights before receiving the expected support.

   50 min

7. We will then begin our return by taking beautiful little roads of the Normandy countryside, in landscapes that have hardly changed since the D-Day. If you wish, before joining the main roads, we can stop for a moment at the German military cemetery of La Cambe where 21,222 soldiers killed in the Battle of Normandy lie. You will probably be taken by the very special atmosphere of the place, very different from that of the American cemetery of Colleville sur mer that you discovered a few hours before...

   30 min

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 38 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Bayeux

• Its from-price is close to the median of the 92 day trips we list in Bayeux.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 31 of 92.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Bayeux

Bayeux is a small Norman town of medieval lanes and a Gothic cathedral, home to a famous embroidery of the Norman conquest and close to the D-Day beaches.

A strip of embroidered linen almost seventy metres long, made in the eleventh century, tells the story of the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and hangs in its own museum in town. The cathedral, whose crossing spire towers over the rooftops, was consecrated in 1077 with William the Conqueror present. Bayeux escaped bombing in 1944, so its old centre of half-timbered and stone houses along the River Aure is largely intact.

Top-ranked sights in Bayeux: Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.

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