This hiking tour of Nomandy in France offers you the opportunity to discover the Bessin area, a part of Normandy where, since the Gallo-Roman era, history has been written. The area is a dense network of towns of art, villages and hamlets, parks and gardens, stately residences, manor houses and fortified chäteaux. It is on these shores that the D-Day Landing of 6 June 1944 launched the Battle of Normandy and began the liberation of France. Although this program is a self guided tour, we have the option to have a professional guide on your first walking day, in order for you to get adjusted to the region and learn about its rich history. In this program you stay in interesting towns with welcoming hotels and can enjoy restaurants where delicious meals and drinks based on local produce are served. And, you will walk along the most historical sites of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. Along your hiking tour you will see a lot of memorials, museums , sites, cemeteries and places of historical interest. In our program we worked out an itinerary which contains most of them. Of course, depending on your personal interest, you can visit places that are not mentioned in our description.		"The routes developed for us were fantastic. Wonderful back roads through beautiful countryside." - M. James, Normandy

Day 2: After breakfast, a taxi will transfer you and to the Battery Museum of Merville-Franceville-Plage sur Mer in the Calvados area, from where you follow a part of a local GR (Grand Randonnée/Long Distance trail) along the Orne River.

During this walk you will, at several places, have a view on the sea of Sword Beach . The trail brings you via the fauna and flora of the Orne river estuary to the Benouville Bridge, renamed Pegasus Bridge where you can visit the Pegasus Memorial and museum, dedicated to the first liberators who arrived in Normandy on the night of 5th/6th June 1944. The west bank of the canal will bring you to Ouistreham where, on Riva Bella you will have an overview on the landing area of Sword Beach. Here you can visit the Atlantic Wall Museum, inside the “Big Bunker”, a former German headquarters. The Belvedere has an interesting orientation table and in front of the casino you can visit the Landing museum. Return to the hotel by taxi transfer and dinner on your own.(B) Hiking 14-16 km. We offer the option to have a professional guide accompany you today. This supplement is 440 euros/2 persons.

Day 3: To day starts at an interesting point about 500 m east from Arromanches-les-Bains. On the descent to Arromanches you walk past Arromanches 360, a circular theatre where “The Price of Freedom” is shown on nine screens. In the D-Day Landing Museum in Arromanches you learn about the construction and operation of the artificial harbors assembled in front of Arromanches on the days following D-Day. After a short walk along the cliffs we take some country lanes to pick up the trail to the Longues sur Mer battery site in front of Omaha and Gold Beach. More country road lanes bring you to Port-en Bessin. As soon as you walk in the town, the shipyard and trawlers of the fishing fleet will tell you that you are in important fishing harbor.

After a taxi transfer to Bayeux, you may take the opportunity to visit one of the many points of interest of this town of art. The Bayeux Tapestry –70 m long and 50 cm high, completed in the 11th century- is unique in the world. Other visits include the recently re-opened Musée de la Bataille de Normandy and Mémorial du Général de Gaulle.
Dinner at the hotel, (B,D) 14-16 km

Day 4: Colleville-sur-Mer, a nice quiet village will be our point of departure of today. A nice walk brings you to the see where we have a superb overview of Omaha Beach. You walk along the vacation resort and reach, after an uphill through a former battery site, the US Military Cemetery. You can visit the cemetery (172.5 acres) , the chapel and the memorial dedicated to the youth of America. There is also a viewpoint which overlooks Omaha Beach. The GR brings you up to the coastline where you can walk on the beach (part of Omaha Beach) until les Moulins. Here again you have to follow the trail until the Omaha viewpont and museum of Vierville-sur-Mer. Return to Bayeux and your hotel, dinner on your own. (B) 14-16km

Day 5: Departure after breakfast, at your leisure. Trains from Bayeux to Caen and Paris possible.

The trip includes: Take the Virtual Hotel Tour! Hotels Le Dauphin in Caen and Lion d'Or in Bayeux. 4 nights lodging: in 3 star charming hotels. All rooms with private bath and complete facilities. Buffet breakfast, 2 dinners, orientation on day 1, baggage transfer, taxi transfers as shown, detailed road book with colored maps and guide book with tourist information, local telephone support available throughout the tour for emergency support. We also include free travel planning to add Paris hotels, car rentals, France hotels, trains, airport transfers, and more.

Additional Nights: 159 Euros/double room with breakfast.

Optional Services: Guided day on Day 2 - 440 euros.
Travel insurance, Paris museum & metro passes, Paris day tours, Lido shows, and other services. Cell phone rental and luggage storage services. Note: prices subject to change based upon currency fluctuations. See Booking Terms and Conditions.