One Day Omaha Beach D-Day Tour
One Day Omaha Beach D-Day Tour _______________________________________________________________________________________
Omaha D-Day Tour in general:
On this full day tour of the American Omaha sector on D-Day, you will visit the most important sites:
La Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach and the Normandy American Cemetery.
Along the way and on site, you will hear how the largest military operation in history was planned and prepared, what units were involved, what their objectives were, and how victory was achieved.
Locations we will visit on this day:
La Pointe du Hoc
The Germans had deployed an artillery battery on this promontory that threatened the landings on Utah and Omaha Beach. Had the guns remained intact, they could have wreaked havoc among the landing forces, so they had to be eliminated at all costs. Despite major problems in the approach, 220 men of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder scaled the cliffs and neutralized the guns.
You will see the huge bomb craters, the cliffs the Rangers scaled, and you will stand on top of German bunkers for a spectacular view of the coast. You will hear what happened on D-Day and in the days that followed, and how this daring force of US Army Rangers came close to annihilation before reinforcements finally arrived.
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach, one of the two American landing beaches, is probably the best known, but also the most infamous of the five landing beaches. It was here that the 29th and 1st Infantry Divisions were on the verge of defeat, suffering the highest casualties of any Allied force landing on D-Day.
At Omaha Beach, we begin our tour in the Dog Green subsector, the area depicted in the opening scenes of Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan".
You will visit large memorials and German bunkers, one of which still houses its deadly anti-tank gun. You'll learn why so many young Americans had to pay the ultimate price on the morning of D-Day and how, despite the initial chaos, leadership, bravery and determination led to ultimate success.
Tides and weather permitting, we will also walk the beach so you can get a sense of the sheer enormity of the task the Americans faced.
We will then visit several German resistance nests to learn more about the landing from the German perspective. This includes the largest German resistance nest at Omaha Beach, WN62, where you'll encounter impressive monuments, large gun casemates and the position from which a German machine gunner fired more than 12,000 rounds with his MG42 on D-Day.
Omaha Beach - Normandy American Cemetery
The Normandy American Cemetery is the final resting place of 9,387 American service personnel, their white marble headstones are a stark reminder that freedom isn't free.
I will take you to some notable graves and you will have time to pay your respects to the women and men who made the ultimate sacrifice for the liberation of Europe. Our tour will end with witnessing the lowering of the Stars and Stripes and listening to "Taps", a bugle call sounded on honor of the fallen. A very evocative moment that you will never forget.
Tour summary:
Tour title:
One Day Omaha Beach D-Day Tour
Tour price:
350 EURO
Start:
09:00 a.m.
End:
06:00 p.m.
Duration:
9 hours
Lunch break:
Tour includes 45-60 minutes lunch break, price not included
Pick-up/drop-off location:
Place Quebec, Bayeux, or, in order to save 40 min travel time at the Office de Tourisme/Formigny (which allows one additional stop during the tour)
Please note:
The suggested itinerary does not include time for a museum visit. If you would like to visit a museum, the itinerary can easily be adjusted to accommodate such a visit. However, since a museum visit easily takes 60 to 90 minutes, we will not be able to spend as much time as originally planned at other locations.