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DDay American Beaches and US Airborne Full Day Tour from Bayeux

5.0

61 Ratings

Bayeux

Experience the American involvement on D-Day with a small group tour of the American beaches and US Airborne sites. Visit Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Sainte-Mère-Eglise, and the Normandy American Cemetery.

Duration: 8 hours, 30 minutes

Cancellation: 1 day learn more

Highlights

Omaha Beach - First, we will have a 30-minute drive from Bayeux to Omaha Beach.

You will start the day where the 1st and 29th US infantry divisions landed. Our guides, with the help of maps and pictures, will explain to you all the details of “bloody Omaha”. From the layout of the German defenses to the plight of the first waves, we will share with you the stories of these brave Gi’s who conquered the beach.

Cimetiere Americain de Colleville-sur-Mer - Your guide will show you the American cemetery behind Omaha beach. the resting place of more than 9,000 American servicemen and women. This sacred place, run by the American Battle Monuments Commission, is the most visited D-Day site in Normandy.
Pointe du Hoc - You will discover the unique site of Pointe du Hoc. Follow the footsteps of the 2nd US Ranger Battalion led by the famous Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder who scaled the cliffs to destroy a German gun battery threatening the whole US landing operation. Bomb craters, bunkers, dugouts, come and see this outstanding battlefield.

After visiting Pointe du Hoc, we will drive 30 minutes to Sainte-Mère-Eglise.

Sainte-Mere-Eglise - In the heart of the Airborne operation, you will visit the small town of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. It was the first town to be captured by the American paratroopers. One of them got stuck up on the church tower during that night. Your guide will share with you the details of this crucial operation and many stories of these brave men.

We will then leave Sainte-Mère-Eglise and drive 20 minutes to Utah Beach.

Utah Beach - At Utah beach your guide will tell you how the 4th Infantry Division successfully breached the German defenses. The first wave was led by Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr who landed on that Beach at 6:30am. He was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor.

We will then drive 15 minutes to our next stop, Angoville-au-Plain.

Angoville-Au-Plain - Your guide will bring you to the church of Angoville-au-Plain. This site was used as an aid-station. Two young medics treated about 80 wounded soldiers for two days. Discover their heroic feat, a moving story about humanity and dedication on the battlefield.

After this visit, we will have a 35-minute drive back to Bayeux.

What's Included

Experienced and certified guide
Round trip from central Bayeux in a minivan with A/C

What's Not Included

Gratuities
Lunch

Additional Information

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the United States’ role in D-Day, we recommend a small group tour of no more than 8 people, led by our knowledgeable guides. This tour explores the American soldiers’ sacrifice on June 6th, 1944 in depth.

The tour will take you through the American maritime operation, with stops at Omaha and Utah Beach—the main landing sites for US forces. We’ll also show you Pointe du Hoc, the German stronghold which was attacked by US Army Rangers. Additionally, we’ll explore sites related to the US Airborne Operation, including its most significant location, Sainte-Mère-Eglise, scene of a fierce conflict on the night of June 5, 1944. The tour concludes with a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery, where we will honor the thousands of individuals who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Europe.

Location

Place du Québec

Your guide will pick you up at the excursions parking space ("excursions" painted in yellow on the asphalt), in front of the white sign saying "pick-up for excursions"

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

5.0

(61 Ratings)

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Trek02519195398

May 28, 2024

Excellent Tour for a Family of Six - We visited Normandy with our family of six with or kids ranging from 21 own to 9. I have always wanted to visit Normandy, but we only had one day this trip, so we opted for the Full Day US Beaches and Airborne tour with HQ Company and Yannick as the tour guide. Yannick was friendly and cared for the comfort of the participants throughout the tour. The Mercedes van was new and clean, he managed our stops well, and made sure we picked a lunch spot suitable for the entire family. I am a former Army officer and my oldest is active duty Army, so we had base familiarity with the overall terrain, context of the battle, and the Allied units involved. With that, Yannick did an excellent job explaining landmarks, using visual aids to show the timeline of the battle, and he sequenced his stories ranging from the overall command decision making, down to the actions of a single soldier in a way that made the locations come alive. He is a wealth of knowledge, and involved our whole family in picking different soldiers from a particular area of operations/unit, and then told their story on the spot, as well as connecting them to other places we visited during the day. We visited Omaha Beach, Point du Hoc, the American Cemetery, Utah Beach, and various points of interest along the way from small unit engagements to aid stations . . . All mixed with great stories. Along the way, we took photos and Yannick made sure we had the right locations to capture the moment. Yannick gave excellent recommendations for future visits. I highly recommend the HQ Company Tour.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Petesmom1

May 26, 2024

A perfect day. Worth every penny. A must see - Gwen our tour guide was so knowledgeable and friendly. He really made our trip perfect. We had an all day DDay tour. Omaha, Utah beach and surrounding areas. We stopped at the best sandwich shop and also a pastry shop as well. It was the little touches that made this all day tour worth it!

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Christopher_w

May 26, 2024

Can’t miss experience - I felt like an expert, but Chloe gave lots of information and details. It made it fun & informative. You will miss too much if try to go without some guidance

Review provided by Viator

Jennalewcooke

May 23, 2024

Awesome tour! - My partner and I had a wonderful time on this tour!! We loved our guide Sofie, she was personable, knowledgeable, fun and organized . I told my parents to book this tour when they visit Normandy.

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Catherine_b

May 19, 2024

Must see for every history buff out there - What a great tour! Convers a lot of sites. Its amazing. Beautiful landscapes full of history Sophie is a great guide

Review provided by Viator

Ellen_s

May 10, 2024

Sofia is a star! - Our guide, Sofia, was phenomenal. She was engaging, invited questions and conversation and has an outstanding understanding of the micro and macro insights into the Normandy liberation.

Review provided by Viator

Tony_m

May 10, 2024

Fantastic experience and learned so much - Our guide, Sophie, was amazing. Extremely knowledgeable and explained things so well. We had such fun and learned so much. I would highly recommend this tour to get a high level overview of the D-Day operation. She used handheld maps and pictures at each stop to spend a few minutes to explain what we were about to see, so it made so much more sense. Thoroughly enjoyed!!

Review provided by Viator

Lizykate

May 2, 2024

Awesome tour! - Truly amazing experience. Our guides, Sophie and Chloe were wonderful. They explained what we were going to see and answered questions and then gave us time to experience the locations on our own. The van was very comfortable. We took the train from Paris and arrived just in time to meet the group. Then we returned to Paris after the tour. We chose this tour because we wanted to see as many sites as possible and we were not disappointed. It was a highlight of our trip to France.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Paul_c

Apr 28, 2024

A Moving Educational Experience - HQ Company Tours provided a profound educational experience which furthered my understanding of the June 6th, 1944 D-Day campaign. I never imagined when initially registering for the tour how much I would learn about this significant moment in history and of the people involved. HQ Company Tours guide Sophie is both an historian and an educator. Throughout the tour, Sophie provided meaningful insights, answered many questions, and shared her considerable knowledge of the people, events, strategies, and circumstances related to 1944 D-Day campaign. The time spent exploring the countryside, towns, and beaches where the D-Day campaign unfolded also contributed to my understanding; visiting places such as Omaha Beach and some of the cemeteries were profound experiences. At the conclusion of the tour, I had a better understanding of the courage demonstrated and sacrifices made during the 1944 D-Day campaign. Administratively and logistically speaking, the price of the tour was a tremendous value. The pickup location in the heart of beautiful Bayeux was convenient and within walking distance of many shops, hotels, historical sites, as well as the Bayeux train station. I’m glad that I stayed in Bayeux an extra day to explore the town and talk with some of the wonderful people. In conclusion, I highly recommend booking with HQ Company Tours for an incredibly interesting, profoundly moving, and highly educational experience. I look forward to scheduling another tour in the future.

Review provided by Viator

Katgall720

May 30, 2024

Disappointing tour - When researching the company, I was thrilled to know that one of the three guides who are local to the region and passionate about WWII would be one of our guides. It justified that fact that this tour was the most expensive one I found when researching a minimum of 6-8 companies. However, the tour guide was not one of the three tour guides on their website which was disappointing and a bit deceiving. The tour guide was not very interested in WWII and did not provide as much information as I would have liked and expected from this kind of a tour. The van used had eight passenger spaces but one of these seats was too small for the average adult. I was in this seat and it was an uncomfortable ride. The tour should have a maximum of seven people due to their van sizes- particularly when competing companies have larger and more spacious vans.

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