A Jam Packed Two Day D-Day Landing Beaches Itinerary

UPDATED FEB 2020. Two seconds in France and you quickly realize it’s drenched in history. The D-Day landing beaches in Normandy are just one of the historic sites to explore. Many years have passed since D-Day but, fortunately for us, the area is now full of memorials, museums, and cemeteries so the stories are not lost in the sand. Instead, they are brought to life through fitting tributes. There’s so much to see there that you would need a lot of time to get through it all, but here is a D-Day landing beaches itinerary if you only have two days.

A Jam Packed Two Day D-Day Landing Beaches Itinerary

Disclaimer

There are affiliate links included in this post. This means at no extra cost to you, I earn a commission if you book through the link.

Are the D-Day landing beaches only for history buffs?

Before we get started, if you think that it is only relevant to military history buffs, think again.

I am certainly no history buff. Honestly, I didn’t know much about the significance of the D-Day landing beaches before visiting.

Before you jump down my throat remember I’m Australian and it’s not really a huge focus in school history classes.

The point is, I went into the visit with limited knowledge at best and I was able to learn a lot through the informative exhibits and films.

Day 1 D-Day landing beaches itinerary

Day 1 D-Day landing beaches itinerary

Utah Beach

A visit to the Utah Beach Museum is well worth it.

This impressive museum moves through the D-Day landings in a chronological order taking you through the strategy, the preparations, mission itself, and ultimate outcome.

If you’re like me and don’t know much about what happened, this is a good place to start.

I found this museum interesting, with a good mix of artifacts and explanations to gain an understanding from.

Cost: €8 entrance fee for the museum.

Travel Tip: There is also an award-winning film shown at various intervals throughout the day so check the times after you get your ticket. 

After the museum, you can venture outside to view the series of monuments and leftover equipment on display before walking on the beach itself.

There isn’t anything on the beach as far as monuments, only the sand and ocean water is left behind.

For more information visit the official website.

Pointe Du Hoc

Though Pointe Du Hoc isn’t one of the five D-Day landing beaches, it is, in my opinion, a must-see while you are visiting the sites in the area.

If you have no knowledge of the significance of Pointe Du Hoc (again, don’t worry neither did I), then I recommend visiting the small museum before walking out to the actual site.

There is no entrance fee and you will go through a security screen and bag check before entering.

The museum is small but they play a video on a loop that allows you to see the site through a new set of eyes.

Not only is it interesting to learn about the brave men who scaled the huge cliffs while under fire, but, through the personal stories of surviving soldiers, it also gives you a confronting dose of what was a reality for those who were there.

Outside, the site is a walking path where you walk around the tops of the steep, jagged cliffs, alongside huge craters, and through bunkers.

It is completely open to the elements. Keep that in mind if you are visiting on a hot summer day or if it is raining.

Travel Tip: Take a free pamphlet from the museum which has a map of the path and explains what each station is. There isn’t a plaque at each spot so this pamphlet will help you understand what everything is (unless of course, you know the difference between a Ten-Person Bunker and an Ammunition Bunker in which case you probably won’t need the pamphlet).

If you are more of a tech person, download the Pointe Du Hoc App which uses your GPS location as you walk the path to share information on each station.

For more information visit the official website.

Normandy American Cemetery

This site is made up of two parts and I recommend visiting both for the complete experience.

The first part is to enter the Visitors Center and walk through the museum.

There is no fee to enter.

In this museum, you walk through exhibits before moving to two of the most moving tributes.

Firstly, there is a photo wall of soldiers with information about their individual stories. Secondly, there is an empty hallway that played an audio recording of the names of soldiers, read out one by one.

After these, you visit the cemetery.

The cemetery itself can best be described as humbling. It serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices of war.

It is the final resting place for 9387 American soldiers, and, as your eyes follow row upon row of neatly arranged white crosses, they seem endless.

There is not one photo I took that conveys the volume of graves. You have to see it in person to fully grasp the numbers.

For more information visit the official website.

Overlord Museum

Overlord Museum is the next stop on your itinerary.

What began as a personal collection of military equipment grew into this museum full of impressive displays.

It’s primarily an equipment museum. As you walk through the exhibits you will see a focus on vehicles, tanks, and weapons.

While I liked all the museums for different reasons, I think this was my favorite because being able to see the equipment up close was really cool.

It’s all well-staged and there are a lot of placards with information – again, great for people with limited knowledge of these subjects.

The entrance fee is €7.80.

For more information visit the website.

Omaha Beach

Unfortunately, the path to Omaha Beach from the Normandy American Cemetery was closed during my visit.

It looks interesting though, and I imagine it is a moving place to reflect. Hopefully, it is open when you visit so you can follow the stair path down to the beach.

Instead, after my visit to the Overlord Museum, I drove to the main monument and walked around in that area.

Day 2 schedule – beginning at Sword Beach and following the coastline stopping at monuments along the way until arriving at Gold Beach.

Day 2 D-Day landing beaches itinerary

Juno (Canadian), Sword & Gold Beaches (British)

These three are smaller scale beaches in terms of things to see around them.

You can see them and the monuments in half a day if you are really short on time, or add in the museums and go slower for a full day seeing them.

I started at Sword Beach and then followed the coastline up to Gold Beach, stopping at monuments I saw along the way.

Sword Beach is a nice area to walk around and has a monument in the main area.

Juno Beach has a Canadian monument off the main road as well as the Centre Juno Beach which is a Canadian Museum. There is also a bunker and a couple of monuments outside the museum before you walk onto the beach.

When you visit Gold Beach check out the Musee Gold Beach to finish off your day.

You don’t need to allow a lot of time as it is a small museum, but the people who run it are really kind and so passionate about their work.

I loved the models they had on display of battle scenes and the attention to detail in them.

Where to stay to visit the D-Day landing beaches

I stayed in the town of Bayeux at this cozy, historic Airbnb.

The central location is convenient for visiting the landing beaches and it is handy to be close to restaurants and shops in town.

If it not available, I recommend searching Booking.com around the Bayeux area. I didn’t know about it when I originally wrote this post. Since then it has become my go-to for booking accommodation when I travel and I can usually find a good deal there.

Other posts to help you plan a trip to France

• Journey Back In Time By Visiting The Castle Of William The Conqueror

• How To Spend 3 Days In Paris – What To See, Do, And Eat

• Colmar Christmas Markets – How To Plan A Weekend Trip & Make The Most Of It

If you found this useful, return the favor by sharing it or following me on Instagram!