Visiting Normandy And World War II Battlefields With Kids

We Loved Normandy In Springtime- A Little Rain, A Lot Of Wind, And Hardly Any Other Tourists

So when you are thinking of Spring Break destinations, do the beaches of Normandy and a little World War II history come immediately to mind? No??? Us neither, but that’s how it worked out for our family on a Spring Break trip and we are so glad that it did.

The kids had a blast seeing the sites they were learning about in school in person and the adults appreciated the lack of crowds everywhere we went and also the lower prices for flights, vacation rentals, even restaurants. Sure there was a little rain (and a couple of windy days) but it was well worth it and we would do it again.

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What We Saw In Normandy

You could easily spend weeks trying to see it all but here is what we did in 4 days:

World War 2 Related Sites

• Utah Beach and its museum
• Sainte Mere Eglise
• Omaha Beach
• American Cemetery
• Pointe du Hoc
• Arromanches les Bains
• Longues sur Mer

Non- WW II Related

• Mont St. Michel
• Bayeux- the town, cathedral and the Bayeux Tapestry

We mixed our days visiting WW II sites with day trips to Mont Saint Michel and Bayeux to avoid overloading the kids with too much death and destruction. These were nice changes to cover a different aspect of French history and also just incredibly scenic places to see.

We made our home base in Port en Bessin, a lovely fishing village perfectly situated between Omaha and Gold beaches, and just 15 minutes from Bayeux. We picked this town because of its central location and also because we found a large house for a great price on VRBO.

There are quite a few vacation rentals in Normandy as it is massively popular with international tourists and French vacationers alike. We looked at dozens of “gites” (old French farmhouses) as well as houses in the oceanfront towns and found lots of possibilities for our trip, another reason that spring is much better than summer.

If you wanted a more urban setting or a modern large hotel, you are better off looking in Caen or Bayeux.

How We Ended Up In Normandy On Spring Break

It was equal parts because it was cheap (lodgings, car rental) as well as interesting (WW2, Bayeux Tapestry, beautiful scenery, picturesque villages).

The “France for Spring Break” plan came about mostly because we found super cheap flights to London and then decided to hop on the Eurostar across the Channel.

Normandy made the short list of destination ideas in Europe because the kids were learning about WWII in school and we had never been there before. Also, Normandy is easy to get to from London via the Eurostar and a car rental.

After a cursory check of possible vacation rentals in Normandy, I was shocked at the cheap prices for renting a large house in March. That really sealed the deal.

What Is Normandy In Spring Like?

Yeah, the weather was a thing but the lack of crowds more than made up for it.

So France in March? Cold, windy, rainy…. you are probably thinking all of these things and you would be correct. It was not warm (but not freezing either), cloudy most days, and rained about 40% of the time we were there. And it was definitely windy.

But we also had the museums almost to ourselves, the beaches had that amazing, dramatic kind of weather, and the intermittent rain just meant we spent more time in cafes deciding what was our favorite kind of crepe. It was a real hardship.

It didn’t rain everyday either- some days were absolutely gorgeous.

I will take a few bouts of rain and having to wear a fleece versus struggling against hordes of fellow tourists any day of the week.

Spring worked out well for us because there are just enough tourists for most things to be open (restaurants, museums, vacation rentals) but nothing is crowded and most places haven’t switched to the higher peak season prices.

Getting Around Normandy

You are going to want a car. Sites are fairly spread out and while there are public buses, especially between larger towns, a car will maximize your time. It is possible to sign- up for bus tours that visit a set number of sites or you can hire a private tour guide and car. We opted for the flexibility of our own wheels.

Car rentals in Normandy

We took the Eurostar from London to Paris, then a train from Paris to Caen.

We rented cars through both Europcar and Hertz at the train station in Caen. We rented 3 cars because we had a large family group of 9 people total, including 4 kids and 5 adults. It is hard to get the minivans or huge SUVs in Europe that we Americans are used to so we often end up with multiple sedans.

The car rental places were close to the station in Caen and renting/ returning was easy enough. The only issue was that we arrived at the Hertz place at lunchtime and it was closed for 2 hours. There is only one attendant working at this time of year so we had to wait for him to get back from his lunch break.

There was no problem dropping off in the morning when we left but if you have a short time window, I would call ahead or email to double check open/ close times.

Rental prices were pretty good as well- we paid just under $200 for a compact SUV for 4 days and a little less for a small 4 door hatchback. You do need to be able to drive a stick shift though or pay a lot more to get an automatic transmission.

Driving around Normandy was actually pretty easy

Driving in France was not that difficult as an American because the French also drive on the right side of the road. (Pun intended Brits!)

I would definitely recommend paying for international data on your phone though, and using Google Maps. Many of the tourist sites have signs but it can get confusing when you don’t see them or the signs are small.

Driving around the Normandy coast was car-stoppingly magnificent at times and I quite enjoyed it. Plus, there isn’t much traffic on these roads, especially at the time of year we went.

Even driving from our house in tiny Port en Bessin into larger Bayeux was a breeze, although I would take advantage of the large car park just outside the historic city center and leave the car there. Some of Bayeux’s medieval streets were super narrow, definitely more fun to explore on foot.

Caen, which is the biggest town in this area, is more like city driving but we found our way pretty easily. We definitely used Google maps and probably annoyed the heck out of locals by driving slow looking for turns, but you know, normal tourist stuff.

You won’t find tolls driving between the D-Day sites or even across the Normandy peninsula to Mont Saint Michel which is always nice too.

Driving Time Examples

To Utah Beach

• From Bayeux – 45 minutes
• From Caen – 60 minutes

To Omaha Beach

• From Bayeux- 20 minutes
• From Caen- 40 minutes

To Mont St Michel

• From Bayeux- 90 minutes
• From Caen- 90 minutes

A Detailed Description Of The WW2 Sites We Visited In Normandy

Utah Beach

Although it is apparently one of the least visited of the D-Day beaches because it is a bit farther away from the other landing beaches, Utah Beach was our favorite one we visited.

The very interesting D-Day Museum at Utah Beach is partially housed in a former German bunker and has gorgeous views of the beach as well as actual amphibious assault vehicles, a B26 plane, and several good movies to watch.

*Pro Tip- Each landing beach and almost every town has its own D- Day Museum (or Musee du Debarquement). Some are fantastic and some are barely more than an old tank and a gift shop. Do not try to see them all but read reviews and pick a few of the better ones.

We really enjoyed ourselves at the Utah Beach Musee du Debarquement. The kids were pretty engaged with all of the exhibits so we spent more time than I thought we would (about 2.5 hours and I had budgeted about 90 minutes from looking at just the website).

Even if you choose not to go into the museum, there were plenty of things outside to look at that would make it a worthwhile visit, plus the beach itself.

Be forewarned that a looping video in one of the first exhibits in the museum shows a resistance fighter executed with a gunshot to the head. It is a pretty quick scene in the 10 or so minute long video but it took us by surprise. Our kids weren’t upset by it but you might want to skip it with younger kids. This video and the whole exhibit features interviews with French locals who lived through the German occupation and what life was like for them at the time so it was very interesting, just be prepared.

After the museum, we let the kids get their wiggles out on a stroll down the beach, while stopping at the various monuments and memorials along the way. Walk the short path atop the dunes first to see some of the memorials, monuments, plaques, etc, then explore the beach.

Utah Beach is super long- you could walk nearly 14 miles to get to the north end of the beach, especially if the tide is low. But many people just walk the beach near the museum as that is where most of the sculptures and memorials are located.

If you want to walk a little (but not 14 miles), there is an old German blockhaus (bunker) about 2 km north of the museum. It is more easily seen from the road than the beach though so you’ll have to keep checking out each beach access to make sure you don’t miss it.

If you want to see better remnants of the German defenses, drive or walk 4 km up the road from the museum until you see the large monument on your right. This is dedicated to the French 2nd Armored Division, who landed after D-Day but helped the joint army work their way out of Normandy to eventually liberate Paris. The paths along the dunes here lead to gun placements and a few bunkers near the monument.

On the way to Utah Beach, you will pass a small statue of Dick Winters, from Band of Brothers fame. It is right beside the road and marks the spot near where the Brecourt Manor attack happened. I loved the miniseries and the book so we definitely stopped. It only took a minute.

If you are looking for things to watch before your visit, I highly recommend Band of Brothers. Not something I would watch with younger kids but for high schoolers yes. There is a lot of violence but nothing is gratuitous I feel and it is such a powerful depiction of this episode of history. I will discuss other books and movies we read and watched before our trip at the end of this blog.

Sainte Mere Eglise

This town is a mere 15 minute drive from Utah Beach and makes a great stop for lunch after your morning there.

The first village liberated by the Allies in WW2, Ste Mere Eglise is also a big tourist attraction because it is where John Steele, a paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne, got caught on the town’s church spire during the drops the night before D-Day. He hung there for 2 hours playing dead until the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped and went on to continue fighting.

This amazing story is a true one, made famous in the classic movie, The Longest Day. The town made Steele an honorary citizen after the war and there is a pub named after him on the main square. Look for the mannequin hanging from a parachute on the church today. The kids loved this tale and seeing the fake parachutist.

The cafe across the street from the church, Au Domino, was an inexpensive place for a lunch break. Simple baguettes with cheese and ham and good coffee were perfect for our crew. Plus, you will easily have enough money left over for a Nutella crepe for dessert.The cafe gets bad reviews on TripAdvisor but we were quite happy with our service– maybe because it was not busy at all in March.

If you are into airplanes, Ste. Mere Eglise has a fantastic museum of the aircraft used in WWII. The Airborne Museum has a C47 (used to drop the 101st Airborne in to France the night before D-Day), a Piper Grasshopper (a reconnaissance plane), and a Waco Glider (used to carry men and munitions into France). The entrance is located on the big square adjacent to the church.

Omaha Beach

We skipped the D-Day museum at Omaha Beach and just walked along the beach while stopping to read the informational plaques. We also hiked up to the top of the hills surrounding the beach. Much more than Utah Beach, the soldiers landing at Omaha had a daunting task to take this beach because of the high ground the Germans had.

Do climb up the hills if you can. You can get there from behind the German bunker at the eastern end of the beach. Just drive down the beachfront road with the water on your left and you will come to a parking area and the bunker at the very end of the road. The ground cover had been clear cut in a large swathe when we there, making it fairly obvious how to climb to the top.

Arromanches les Bains

Arromanches is a charming coastal town that is definitely touristy but lovely anyway. You’ll find lots of cafes and shops to explore just outside the D- Day Museum, which is located right on the waterfront.

The D-Day Museum in Arromanches focuses on the building of Mulberry Harbours becasue one of the best preserved one can still be seen in the town today. A Mulberry harbour was a huge, temporary, and portable harbour constructed in the UK, then towed across to France on the days immediately following D- Day.

The harbours were a marvel of engineering and the remnants can still be seen in the waters around Arromanches. You can see them in the background of my pictures below and on satellite images on Google maps. Being able to see the models in the museum and then look out the windows to see the actual remnants still encircling the town was what made this museum so cool.

We chose this museum to show the kids that there is more that goes into winning a war than just the fighting– you must also feed, clothe, and transport your soldiers too. For that you need supplies, engineers, builders, drivers, boats, etc. War on this level is absolutely a total effort.

If D- Day was successful, the troops were going to need massive amounts of ammunition, tanks, weapons, clothes, food, etc to keep advancing inland. 12,000 tons of supplies per day was the estimate as well as 2,500 vehicles.

Because the waters around Normandy are quite shallow, the ships bringing all these supplies would need to anchor far out and piers/ bridges built out to them. Basically, the Allies needed to build several ports on the Normandy coast capable of moving tons of equipment and build them in a matter of days. These Mulberry harbours were an amazing engineering feat.

If you have the time after touring the museum, climb up to the tank memorial overlooking the town for an even better view.

Past the tank memorial, you can keep going up the road by the tank to Arromanches 360, a specialized cinema that shows 20 minute films on a 360 degree screen. The film seems expensive for what you get but the views from the cliffs just outside are absolutely worth the walk up.

* The D- Day Museum in Arromanches has been completely renovated, reopening in March 2023. The images from the website look super cool with a holographic projection of the harbour. I really hope to go back and explore the new museum soon!

Longues sur Mer

Walking among the German gun batteries perched here atop the Normandy cliffs gives you an idea of the bombardment that the Allied forces faced trying to invade Normandy.

Longues sur Mer has several fairly intact bunkers and large guns to explore and is located halfway between Arromanches and Port en Bessin. The historic site is a little bit out in the country but the bunkers are marked on Google Maps plus there are road signs so you can find it pretty easily. Head to the small parking area and tourism office/ restroom building to start.

It was a beautiful day when we visited and the setting on the cliffs overlooking the ocean is stunning so you will want to spend some time here. There are several bunkers set back from the cliffs and one perched right on the edge that you should definitely walk out to see.

You can actually walk or bike a new 4.7 mile greenway (or voie verte) from Longues sur Mer to Arromanches (about 8km). There is an old coastal path that goes right along the cliffs but the erosion is bad in some places and you are a little too close to the edge.

The new greenway is set farther back than the old path. It is new since we were there and AllTrails seems to have the best map and info. The route appears to be well signed when I checked on recent Street View Images on GoogleMaps.

American Cemetery

The American Cemetery is a somber and peaceful place in a memorable setting above Omaha Beach. There are 9,380 Americans buried here and another 1,557 names inscribed on the Wall of the Missing.

Take some time to walk amongst the graves and read the inscriptions which list the name and home state of each soldier if it is known. The kids studied many of these stones looking for fellow Tennesseans.

We were there at 4 pm and watched the flag lowered while Taps was played. The timing was unplanned but if I ever get a chance to return, I will try to be here at for that again. The ceremony was short but touching and the kids were enthralled. The time of the flag lowering ceremony changes throughout the year but is one hour before closing.

Do be sure to walk right up to the Memorial at one end of the cemetery as it has a great map of Normandy and Europe, showing battles and troop movements.

Pointe du Hoc

Another stunning example of the gorgeous Normandy coastline, Pointe du Hoc is a monument to the Rangers who scaled the sheer cliffs of this promontory to take out a German gun placement.

The crater holes show just how severe the American aerial bombardment was and it is amazing to think anyone survived any of it– the bombardment, scaling the cliffs, and the fight over this piece of land itself.

This was a place where we had actually had to emphasize the death and destruction a little more as they missed the grim implications of the bomb craters at first and wanted to play hide and go seek in all of the nooks and crannies.

Non D-Day Places To Visit That Were Also Spectacular

Mont Saint Michel

A perfect place to change gears after a day of WW2 battles, this rock outcropping has been home to an abbey for 1300 years. While not technically in Normandy, it was close enough that we wanted to add the famous site to our visit.

Some of our group walked out to the island on the new bridge (totally worth the 1.5 mile walk to enjoy the views) while others took one of the free buses out to Mont Saint Michel from the large parking area on the mainland.

We loved exploring the narrow streets of the town and the views from the battlements that wind around the outer edges of the island. Again, this is a place I am glad we saw in the off season as we had plenty of room to stroll the picturesque cobblestone streets and quaint shops. I have heard (and see pictures of!) that the summertime crowds can be shoulder to shoulder which would have killed much of the charm for me.

Make your way to the abbey at the very top of the rock and do pay for the tour as you get to see the cathedral, the great halls, and the many, many, many passageways that are within the abbey. The kids had a fantastic time exploring all the nooks and crannies. We felt it was well worth it to pay admission to see the Abbey although you could pay nothing and just walk around the town.

Bayeux

An architecturally beautiful medieval town with a picturesque canal running through the heart of it, Bayeux is a wonderful place to explore on foot. Plus, it has a huge cathedral and the famous Bayeux Tapestry, an 800 year old woven tapestry that tells the story of William the Conqueror and the Norman conquest of England and the Saxons.

The Bayeux Tapestry Museum and its audio tour are top- notch, so much so that when the kids finished listening to the story of the tapestry, they walked back to the beginning to listen to it again. Keep in mind that the kids I am talking about are 13, 11, and twin 9 year olds that really only ever like to watch Marvel movies so this was no mean feat.

*The fact that we could just walk back to the beginning and view the entire tapestry again was another testament to the benefits of going in early spring. There was only one other small family in the tapestry room so we could stop to read the signs in depth at certain sections and really look for the things in the tapestry that were pointed out. I have visited the tapestry in summer as well when it is shoulder to shoulder crowds vying for viewing space. We got far more out of it on this visit.

What We Read and Watched Pre-Trip To Get The Kids Ready

I like for the kids to do a little research before we take a big trip as I think it helps them get more out of it while we are there. Especially if it is a history intensive trip, like this one, it helps if they are already caught up on the gist of the story so then they can really take in the details.

I am not averse to straight- up bribery to make this pre-trip research happen. I come up with a reading list and each item is worth a certain amount of “vacation bucks” which is money they can spend however they want on the trip–ice cream, keychains, plastic model Eiffel Towers, you get the idea.

(On this trip, the vacation bucks got mostly spent on crepes and various yummy treats from patisseries, which I was certainly okay with, having spent some of my money on those things myself!)

If You Have Younger Kids

The Diary of Anne Frank– A must read and watch for kids older than 10 or so. And the book has abbreviated versions out there for even younger kids. This is a classic for a reason as kids feel like they are friends with Anne by the time they finish reading the book. I still like the book more than the movie but both are worth putting on the list.

Hazardous Tales An excellent kids series about historic events. Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood (#4 in the series) is about WW1 and Raid of No Return (#7 in the series) is about WW2.

Horrible Histories Another excellent kids series about history told in a very funny way. This is a beloved British series of books that also has a TV series of the same name (rated PG) but you can buy them on Amazon. We loved the Frightful First World War and Woeful Second World War.

The Sound of Music – A family classic that introduces a little bit about the Nazis and World War 2. The kids kept calling the Nazis the “spider people” after watching this movie when they were really little, which puzzled me until I realized they thought swastikas looked like spiders. And spiders were about the scariest thing to a four year old so it was what they related the bad people to.

Magic Tree House Super Edition “World At War, 1944” You can always count on Magic Tree House to have a book about whatever subject you could possibly come up with. But there is a reason there are approximately 9 bazillion Magic Tree House books- they do a great job. Get the accompanying Fact Tracker book, World War II, to really cover your bases.

I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 Another kids series with a million titles, these were a favorite of my nephews who I think read all of them. This is #18.

If You Have Older Kids

Opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan and some of the episodes of Band of Brothers. These are among the most realistic of the war scenes you’ll find so you will want to be pretty careful with younger kids. Band of Brothers is one of my all- time favorite mini-series.

The Longest Day A black and white docu-drama about D-Day made in 1962. The movie shows the events of this epic 24 hour period through 3 perspectives- American, English, and German. It is rated G but there is mild cussing in the movie and bodies shown on the Omaha Beach although very little blood or drama about it. A very good film that holds up well even after all these years.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas A gripping and heartbreaking tale that is told wonderfully, this book has won a ton of childrens book prizes. That doesn’t mean the ending won’t leave you, as an adult, in tears. Definitely more for the middle school crowd and the movie even more so due to its scene in the gas chamber.

All Quiet On The Western Front A classic of Western literature, the book is written from the perspective of a young German soldier who comes to see war as not heroic or patriotic but an awful, unyielding, tragedy upon tragedy. Even though it was written about WW1, it is one of the most acclaimed books about war in existence so it is good reading for any trip dealing with war.