Mont-Saint-Michel & D-Day Beaches: Private Paris Day Trip

15 Hours from Paris: Mont-Saint-Michel, D-Day Beaches & American Cemetery

You're picked up from your Paris hotel at 7 a.m. and driven to Normandy in a private minivan, stopping at the Overlord Museum, the Normandy American Cemetery with its nine thousand buried soldiers, Omaha Beach's D-Day memorial, and Pointe du Hoc's remaining bunkers and gun battery. After lunch time (not included), you continue to Mont-Saint-Michel, where you enter the Benedictine Abbey with audioguide and have free time to explore the medieval village. The return drive to Paris takes four hours, with hotel drop-off around 10 p.m. Total time: 15 hours.

Step-by-step itinerary

• 07:00 Hotel pick up and depart to Normandy
• Stop at rest area
• 10:30 Short stop at Overlord museum
• 10:45 Visit Normandy American Cemetery
• 12:00 Depart to Omaha Beaches
• 12:10 Visit Monument SIGNAL at Omaha Beach
• 12:30 Depart to Pointe du Hoc
• 12:45 Visit Pointe du Hoc cliffs and bunkers
• 13:45 Depart to Mont Saint-Michel
• 15:30 Visit Mont Saint-Michel and Benedictine Abbey
• 18:15 Depart Mont Saint-Michel to Paris
• Stop at rest area
• 22:00 Return and drop off at hotel in Paris

The Experience

The car pulls up to your hotel at 7 a.m. and you're off toward Normandy in a Mercedes minivan—faster and roomier than a coach, which saves you about two hours over the day. The drive takes three and a half hours, one rest stop included, and by 10:30 you're standing in front of the Overlord Museum looking at actual WWII tanks and guns before moving on to the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. That's where the weight of the day really hits. Nine thousand three hundred eighty-seven U.S. soldiers are buried there, most of them killed during the Normandy landings, and the cliffs above Omaha Beach still show the concrete German casemates from the Atlantic Wall. The visitor center has maps of the operations, and there's a sculpture called "Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves" that stays with you.

From the cemetery it's ten minutes to Omaha Beach itself, where you stop at the Monument SIGNAL and learn that thirty-four thousand men landed here on June 6th, 1944. Then twenty minutes more to Pointe du Hoc, the cliff battery that was so crucial the 2nd Ranger Battalion had to take it by force. The bunkers and gun pits are still there, open to walk through, and you can stand on top where the fire control casemate sits and understand why this ground mattered. After Pointe du Hoc, you drive nearly two hours to Mont-Saint-Michel. If you have a guide (groups of four or more get a live guide), they'll walk you up the narrow medieval streets, but even solo you move at your own pace. The abbey tickets and audioguide are included, so you enter the Benedictine Abbey at the top—construction started in the 700s and kept going through the 1200s—and you get free time to sit with the view of the Atlantic and the bay. Mont-Saint-Michel is the most visited site in France, and it's been practically the same since the Middle Ages.

You leave at 6:15 p.m. for the four-hour drive back to Paris, another rest stop on the way, and you're dropped at your hotel around 10 p.m. It's a long day, but it's one car, one driver, no switching between buses or trains, and you see four major sites without arranging tickets or timing yourself.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off in Paris.
• Mercedes E220 business-class car (2 people) or Mercedes minivan (3–7 people).
• professional driver.
• entrance to the Benedictine Abbey at Mont-Saint-Michel with audioguide.
• visits to the Normandy American Cemetery and Visitor Center, Omaha Beach memorial, Pointe du Hoc bunkers and gun battery, and the Overlord Museum.
• bottled water.
• all fees and taxes.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearby

Operated by Clewel Travel

Is this one for you?This works well if you want to see Mont-Saint-Michel and the main D-Day sites in one day without renting a car or juggling train schedules—the private minivan means no waiting for group departures, and the fixed pickup time is what makes a 15-hour itinerary fit into a single day.

Traveler reviews

5.00★★★★★★★★★★

3 verified traveler reviews

Read all the reviews ›

Top questions

What's included in the price?

Abbey entry and audioguide at Mont-Saint-Michel, bottled water, all museum and cemetery visits, and hotel pickup and drop-off. Lunch is not included.

How many people can go?

Groups of 2 to 7 people. Two people travel in a Mercedes E220 business-class car; three or more travel in a Mercedes minivan.

Do I get a guide?

Groups of four or more have a live guide throughout the day. Smaller groups travel without a guide but have access to the audioguide at Mont-Saint-Michel.

How long is the drive each way?

About three and a half hours to Normandy in the morning, and four hours back to Paris in the evening, with one rest stop each way.

Can I eat lunch?

Lunch is not included. You have free time at Mont-Saint-Michel (around 3 hours) where you can eat, or you can eat near the D-Day beaches before heading inland.

What time do I get back to Paris?

Around 10 p.m., depending on traffic and your hotel location.

Is the Overlord Museum a full stop?

No, it's a short stop of about 15 minutes to see the WWII tanks and guns before moving on to the American Cemetery.