The D-Day landing beaches’ must-see sites
Utah Beach and its hyper-realistic reconstructions
The area stretching from Sainte-Marie-du-Mont to Quinéville in the American sector of the D-Day landing beaches is famous for its immersive tours. The 2,500 m² D-Day Experience at Carentan-les-Marais shows both the American and German perspective on the D-Day landings. You can climb into the fuselage of a real 1943 C-47 aircraft for a flight simulation you won’t experience anywhere else in the world.
The Normandy Victory Museum‘s hyper-realistic audio-visual displays give visitors a real taste of soldiers’ and civilians’ daily lives at the height of the “Battle of the Hedgerows” in La Manche. They include touchable objects and fully accessible materials. At Sainte-Mère-Église, you can take to the skies in a real Waco glider or experience the sensation of parachuting into the heart of the village via re-enacted scenes. The 22 underground bunkers belonging to the Crisbecq Battery still have all their period features and are also well worth a visit.
Omaha Beach and its treasured memories
To explore other D-Day landing beaches that include some must-see sites, continue eastwards towards the second American sector at Omaha Beach. Its Memorial Museum has thousands of skilfully displayed exhibits, including an authentic Enigma machine used to encode messages, a Goliath tank and various different pieces of digging equipment. The nearby Maison de la Libération – the first home liberated by the Americans – is dedicated to combatants. It includes moving testimonies from veterans and civilians.
At Pointe du Hoc or the Maisy Battery, you can find out what a German artillery battery was like. The Overlord Museum has over 10,000 exhibits from the war, including 40 vehicles, tanks and cannons. Finally, the thousands of graves at the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer and the German military cemetery at La Cambe give us a sense of the scale of the loss.
Gold Beach: knowledge-enhancing tours
In the British sector stretching from Asnelles to Ver-sur-Mer, there are a number of experiences to help you find out about how the D-Day landings unfolded and their historical significance. This is the case at Arromanches, north-east of Bayeux. The D-Day Museum presents the different phases of the D-Day landings using archive videos and animated models, while a new film from the Arromanches 360-degree cinema provides an intense recreation of the 100 days of the Battle of Normandy.
The British Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking the remains of the artificial harbour of Arromanches, is the only place that pays tribute by name to the British soldiers who fell in Normandy. Although less well known, the Museum of D-Day Underwater Wrecks is highly informative and the product of 35 years of dives, presenting personal artefacts recovered from warships sunk during the D-Day landings.
At Juno Beach, the eye-witness testimony is as poignant as it is instructive
D-Day landing beaches and must-see sites are also in evidence in the Canadian sector at Courseulles-sur-Mer. This is home to the Juno Beach Centre, the only Canadian museum dedicated to the D-Day landing beaches. The civil and military effort led by Canada – which lost 45,000 of its citizens during the Second World War – is presented in full here.
Also at Courseulles, the permanent exhibition “In Their Footsteps” pays tribute to the people who witnessed the D-Day Landings. At Bernières-sur-Mer (where the highly symbolic “Maison des Canadiens“, or Canadian House, can be visited on request), the permanent exhibition “Remem’Bernières” weaves through the town via several GPS-located walking routes. You can discover for yourself how local people experienced the D-Day Landings with the help of an app. From there, be sure to stop off at Caen for a visit to the fascinating Memorial Museum, which is dedicated to peace and the history of the 20th century.
Sword Beach: unlocking the secrets of the Atlantic Wall
To understand the D-Day landings, you also have to understand the enemy’s secret tactics. Finish your tour of the D-Day landing beaches and their must-see sites in the Franco-British sector at Sword Beach. The authentic German radar station at Douvres-la-Délivrande is the only site in France to display one of the five examples of the giant Würzburg radar. This piece of equipment was capable of tracking aircraft up to 40 miles away and played a vital role in the war.
At Ouistreham, the Atlantic Wall Museum has been set up in the former headquarters of the German Army, a location which once commanded the batteries on the Orne estuary. You can see each room as it was originally used, including the engine room, infirmary and observation post. The formidable German Army fortification known as the Merville Battery was neutralised by British paratroopers during an extraordinary assault. Its five bunkers have now been converted into a museum.
