Private D-Day beaches tour from Bayeux: Utah to Omaha with guide

Utah Beach to the American Cemetery: paratroopers, rangers, and the sites where thousands fell

A private tour of Normandy's American landing beaches departing from Bayeux in an air-conditioned van with a local guide speaking English or French. You visit Utah Beach where General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. landed, the bocage where paratroopers fought, Sainte-Mère-Église, Pointe du Hoc's bomb craters and German bunkers, Omaha Beach, and the Normandy American Cemetery holding 9,388 graves. The route is flexible: other sites like Arromanches artificial port and Brécourt Battery can replace or extend the itinerary based on your interests.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time at each

1. Sainte-Mère-Église2h 30m
2. Pointe du Hoc1h
3. Omaha Beach1h
4. Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial1h

Explore Normandy American landing beaches

• Discover typical Norman village near Utah Beach
• Pass by Major Winters memorial
• Explore Utah Beach and related monuments
• Pass by Thomas Meehan memorial
• Pass through Normandy bocage countryside
• Visit Sainte-Mère-Eglise and paratrooper sector
• Visit Pointe du Hoc German battery
• Visit Omaha Beach
• Visit Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

The experience

How do you cover the scale of the American landings in a single day without feeling rushed? A private van tour from Bayeux lets you move at one pace through eight hours of connected sites, each one telling a piece of the story. You start in the Norman villages that link Utah Beach and Carentan (the crossroads the paratroopers had to hold), then move to the beach itself, where you'll see the monuments built from 1945 onward and stand where General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. came ashore. A guide who knows the ground walks you through what happened and why it mattered, drawing on personal anecdotes from Norman soldiers and civilians caught in the invasion.

The tour moves inland through the bocage, the dense Norman countryside where the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions landed by parachute on the night of June 6 and fought through the hedgerows. You visit Sainte-Mère-Église, the village where paratroopers descended into the town square, and see the sector where those two divisions held their ground. Then comes Pointe du Hoc, the clifftop German battery the Rangers had to take: you walk through bomb craters still visible in the landscape and explore the bunkers where German soldiers lived. The route includes Omaha Beach, where thousands of American soldiers died in the assault (the beach most people know from Saving Private Ryan), and ends at the Normandy American Cemetery, where 9,388 soldiers are buried in an immense and formal landscape.

Because the tour is private and flexible, you can shape the day around what draws you most. If you want to add the artificial port at Arromanches, the Cambe Cemetery, or the Longues-sur-Mer Battery, the guide can work those in. The van holds up to nine passengers and includes air-conditioned comfort, parking fees, and hotel pickup from Bayeux.

What’s included

• Private transportation in an air-conditioned 9-seater van.
• hotel pickup from Bayeux.
• local guide speaking English or French.
• parking fees at all sites.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 09:00Last departure this season: 31 Oct

Book up to4h before

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and French

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup is optional; you can also go straight to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.You can choose from 19 pickup points.Operator's directions: “If you do not need support, we can meet you at the carpool parking lot in Guéron (exit 37) (GPS: 49.256065, -0.722331) We can also meet you in Carentan, Ste Mere Eglise, Ste Marie-du-Mont.”

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 5 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Normandy Discovery Tours

Is this one for you?The guide speaks English or French, so book this tour if you're comfortable following commentary in one of those languages. A private van means your group sets the pace and can linger at sites that matter most to you, rather than moving through on a fixed schedule with strangers.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English and French.

What exactly is Pointe du Hoc and why did the Rangers have to take it?

Pointe du Hoc is a German artillery battery built on top of a cliff overlooking the landing beaches. The Rangers' mission was to scale the cliff, destroy the guns, and prevent them from firing on the invasion fleet. The bomb craters from the assault are still clearly visible in the landscape, and you can walk through the German bunkers where the soldiers lived.

Can I visit other D-Day sites if I don't want to see all the ones on the standard route?

Yes. The tour is completely flexible, so you can swap stops or add sites based on your interests. The Arromanches artificial port, Cambe Cemetery, Brécourt Battery, and Longues-sur-Mer Battery are all options the guide can include instead of or alongside the main itinerary.

How long do we spend at each beach and cemetery?

The eight-hour tour covers multiple sites, so time at each location varies depending on your interests and the route you choose with the guide. The American Cemetery is the final stop, giving you time to reflect on the scale of the losses.

Will the guide share stories about what happened on June 6?

Yes. The guide draws on personal anecdotes from Norman soldiers and civilians who lived through the invasion, connecting the sites you visit to the events of that day and the weeks that followed.

Do I need to arrange my own transportation from my hotel in Bayeux?

No. Hotel pickup from Bayeux is included, and you travel in a private 9-seater van throughout the day. The driver handles parking at each site.