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The main landing sites in Normandy

A circuit to be realized by car to discover the combat zones and the memorials of June 6, 1944.

A tour to discover the main D-Day sites: La Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, the German cemetery of La Cambe, the bridge of Bénouville and Arromanches. There are many other sites related to the D-Day landings in Normandy, each town has its own museum and second-hand shops selling D-Day souvenirs.

All the visits presented here are free of charge except for the Bénouville bridge museum and the Arromanches museum.

You can find more detailed descriptions of each visit on this site.

Interest: ratinggood (1 user)
Difficulty: difficulty
Duration: 48 h.

Practical information

Practical information

The Pointe du Hoc

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The Pointe du Hoc
The rangers had to climb this cliff under the fire of the German defenders to seize Pointe du Hoc.

Pointe du Hoc shelter

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Pointe du Hoc shelter
When the American soldiers arrived at the site, they discovered that the Germans had moved the guns a few miles away to protect them from the bombing. They then did not have time to move them to the site.

Battery of Longues-sur-Mer

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Battery of Longues-sur-Mer
On the site you can find 4 shelters with their 152 mm guns. The visit and parking is free. It can be done in 2 hours.

Command Center

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Command Center
The command center is located in front of the four batteries, it directed the firing of the batteries by radio.

Artificial harbour Arromanches

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Artificial harbour Arromanches
On June 6, at 4 p.m., British tanks began fighting against the 600 German defenders of the city. On June 7, the British began the construction of an artificial harbor by sinking ships and bringing in barges from England.

Landing craft at Arromanches

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Landing craft at Arromanches
Right next to the beach is the museum of June 6, 1944.

Omaha Beach

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Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach today. Omaha Beach is the beach of the landing where the fighting was the most violent.

The Omaha Beach Museum

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The Omaha Beach Museum
The museum retraces the events of the landing. A very beautiful museum managed by the Americans, very graphic. The Americans are unbeatable on the glorification of their country. What is not the case of France.

German cemetery of La Cambe

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German cemetery of La Cambe
The German graves, there are also graves of the first world war.

General view of the cemetery of La Cambe

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General view of the cemetery of La Cambe
Here there is no glorification of the combatants as at Omaha Beach. The text on the sign at the entrance says: "They did not all choose the cause, nor the fight". There are more than 21,000 graves of soldiers.

Remains of a glider from the landing

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Remains of a glider from the landing
The museum is located next to the bridge of Bénouville. Inside, you can see the reconstruction of a glider that was used during the landing. There are no more gliders from that time.

Pegasus Bridge

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Pegasus Bridge
The historical bridge is located inside the museum. The present bridge looks very similar to it. You can see shell holes on the deck.

Glider landing area

Steles show the place where the gliders landed.

Departure point (Google Maps)

Other walks

At 2.96 Km

Walk and visit of the battery of Longues-sur-Mer

Walk and visit of the battery of Longues-sur-Mer

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At 11.23 Km

Visit of the American cemetery of Omaha Beach

Visit of the American cemetery of Omaha Beach

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At 21.08 Km

The Pointe du Hoc in Normandy

The Pointe du Hoc in Normandy

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At 23.72 Km

The German cemetery of La Cambe in Normandy

The German cemetery of La Cambe in Normandy

rating very goodVoir le détail