Try and get a tour if you can at this late time. Be aware that President Obama will be at the omaha beach & Coleville cemetary on the 6th & security will be horrendous.

Patka

We did this trip a couple of years ago . stayed B+B in Bayeux which is a good location to stay in for the landing beaches.

Personally,if you have a car and a decent guide book I would do it your own way . Theres a bit here that I wrote on our return http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=99017&p=987838&hilit=normandy#p987838
This was essentially a DDay trip for us so on the afternoon of our arrival we went down to Arromanches to see the mulberry harbour and on to the batteries de longues. On our first full day out to the Omaha beach/american cemetary area and then on our last full day pointe du hoc and the Utah beach area and Ste-mere Eglise .On our drive back home via calais on our last day we stopped off at the beaches we had missed. Juno was one of them I believe .

As we were staying in Bayeux we also stopped at the cemetary and musuem there later during the day after dinner and early morning . Recommend you visit the british cemetary there .

lyn

This is a significant anniversary, being the 65th, and will be extra busy as was the 60th in 2004.

The security near where President Bush was to visit was horrendous with locations sealed off and roads closed from around the 4th June if not earlier.

Peter

In that case maybe something organised would be the better way to go . It was this bank holiday 2 years ago when we went so obviously no security implications to worry about .

Thanks to everyone for your replies. It's been pretty much a last minute thing. Had a real problem getting accommodation but managed to get on the Siblu site near Bayeux. Will take a look at some escorted tours but might be struggling for availability now . Think we might look at tour websites and go our own way .

If you can avoid the security implications by choosing different days for your visits there are two signposted routes "overload- Assault and D-day Le choc . Drivers follow the routes backed up by info totems at each place of interest. There are 2 accompanying booklet type leaflets available from the tourist office called "the Dday landings" and "Battle of Normandy"

We didnt follow the routes exactly but the leaflets were very handy . I didnt get them from the tourist office as we never went there but I may of requested them via the tourist board website or got them at one of the points of inerest.

You will really enjoy it . We did . there are several guide books that you can get from Amazon . the DK eyewitness top Ten book is very useful.

lyn

Hi Lyn. Thanks for your reply. Will download the leaflets, if possible, and take a look at Amazon.

We were in Normandy on 2004 for the 60th anniversary. Security on 6th June was, as mentioned, horrendous. We found it much easier to get out and about the day after when all the 'important' people had gone. On the 6th we just went within walking distance, taking the car was an absolute no-no.

Might I suggest that you contact the local tourist offices or even the Comité Régional de Tourisme de la Manche to ask what the official ceremonies will be and where and at what time so that you can plan your day accordingly. You might need to get tickets in advance if they are open to the public.

However, if BIG CHEESES like President Obama will be there, security will be an absolute nightmare and there will most likely be a wide exclusion zone around the places such folk will be visiting. The recent G8 summit at Strasbourg was horrendous and even those who lived close to the venues had to have passes to allow them to access their homes and they had to keep their shutters closed (by a special byelaw introduced for the occasion) and watch ceremonies on the TV even if they overlooked the actual site itself!!