Hotels in Normandy
It's easy to jump into a car and whiz along the Normandy Coast from the mouth of the River Orne to the Varneville Dunes on the Cotentin Peninsula. It's pleasant journey, as the coast road passes sand dunes with wide expanses of sand beyond and a series of small seaside towns. For most visitors today, this is the place for relaxed sun, sand and seafood holidays.
Nothing hints at the drama played out here when Allied troops stormed ashore on D-Day - 6 June 1944 - to begin a fight to liberate France that saw 100 000 dead and dozens of Normandy's towns and villages destroyed. From east to west, the invasion beaches were codenamed Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah. Sword stretches from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, and here British forces came ashore. From Saint-Aubin to Courseulles-sur-Mer was Juno, where Canadians landed. Gold occupied the next 8 km (5 mi), again attacked by British troops. Omaha Beach was another stretch of broad sand from Saint-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville-sur-Mer, where American troops sustained heavy casualties. By contrast, the Americans found Utah Beach between Pouppeville and La Madelaine to be lighly defended.
Little evidence of the furious battles that raged here survives, though the sheer size of these beaches makes it easy to imagine the enormous scale of operations. Some traces are left - like remains of the astonishing Mulberry Harbour that was towed across the Channel to Arromanches and many German bunkers, notably at Pointe du Hoc on Omaha beach, where cliffs are pitted with shell holes. Also, nearly every town has a D-Day museum and war memorial that helps to bring the reality of the savage fighting that took place along this coast to life, as do numerous Allied and German war cemeteries. It's a drive that's well worth making - a journey of solemn remembrance.
HOW
By car
WHEN TO GO
April to September
TIME IT TAKES
Two hours non-stop by car, or a full day with exploration stops.
HIGHLIGHTS
One of the best D-Day museums - the seafront Musée du Débarquement in the main square of Arromanches, overlooking the remains of "Port Winston".
The immaculate American Cemetery above Omaha Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer, putting the invasion's cost into sharp perspective - here lie over 9000 fallen US soldiers and the D-Day Memorial names another 12557 who died but were never identified for burial.
The modern Juno Centre above the beach of the same name, commemorating the Canadian involvement in D-Day. Here also is a memorial to the French Resistance and a preserved German bunker.
A side trip to Bayeux - damaged in the Battle of Normandy, sympathetically rebuilt and home of both the famous Bayeux Tapestry and a magnificent cathedral.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
The first Allied soldier to die in combat on D-Day was Lieutenant denholm Brotheridge, killed during the British glider-borne night attack on the now-famous Pegasus Bridge over the Caen Canal near Oulstreham.
