Battlebus - Tours of the D-Day beaches and battlefields of Normandy

This is a simple question to answer. You should spend as long in Normandy as your timetable and budget will allow! Though many people do take a single tour and enjoy it, the comment we hear again and again is “I wish I’d done two tours, not just one” . Like-wise if people book two, they wish they’d done three.

In our opinion either the American Highlights Tour or British Highlights Tour is the minimum you should consider, and if you are fans, perhaps the Band of Brothers Tour as well. If you have longer then please consider the two-day American Experience Tour , which frankly is our flag-ship tour, and was in 2008 and 2009 our most popular tour. We believe the range of places visited over the two days make this tour not twice as good as our single day tour but THREE TIMES better. For American history buffs and visitors with more time in the region the American Experience and Band of Brothers Tours taken together will prove a tempting package. For Commonwealth visitors you could take both the Canadian Juno Tour and the British Highlights Tour or one or the other.

If you haven’t already, please see our Normandy Facts page. As you will see Normandy is a vast region with simply hundreds of memorials, battle-sites and places of interest, enough to keep the average visitor entertained for a month, let alone a day or two.

Physical Requirements

During the 8-9 hours of one of our standard tours there is a lot of standing and listening, and a fair amount of walking. You will need to have a level of fitness sufficient for this type of tour. These are not drive-by bus tours, where you sit onboard all day taking photos. We walk the actual beaches and battlefields, and the days can be quite tiring. If you have mobility problems, or are worried about the walking, please enquire about a Private tour, so we can tailor the day to your abilities and needs. Please also see our FAQ page.

Normandy in half a day

Don’t believe the people who say you can easily see and explore the D-Day beaches in a single afternoon. Of course you will see 5 or 6 well-known sites, have your photo taken in front of a stretch of sand and a memorial, but you won’t have had the sort of in-depth tour that allowing a full day or more will provide.

With the continuing interest in D-Day and the Battle of Normandy since Saving Private Ryan , Band of Brothers and TV documentaries like Ken Burns - The War , people have a hunger for history and exploring their heritage like never before. Of course there will always be a market for brief sightseeing tours, but for many people a trip to Normandy is a pilgrimage of importance, do it justice , make your trip here worthwhile and see the beaches and battlefields in detail.

Other Tours

We have a page on our website about other touring services should we not offer what you are looking for, please view the page here.

What our Clients say
As usual we let our previous clients have the final word on the choice of tours. These are all extracts from genuine client comments and can be read in full on our testimonials page. For many more comments from previous clients please also visit our forum.

Many thanks for the great tours last week. Really enjoyed the American Experience Tour , and will be coming back next year for the British Highlights tour .

We were on two trips, the Canadian Juno Tour and the American Highlights and absolutely loved them both. The guides were outstanding and the attention to detail and the amount of information given us, etc. was great! We will definitely tell our friends visiting your area.

We thoroughly enjoyed the American Highlights tour we took. We had a wonderful guide - very informative, kind and patient, and great at keeping us all together. I wish that we had had more time to take another one of your tours but perhaps we'll make it back to Bayeux another trip.

This is a letter of high praise for your fine tour company : Our American Experience Tour with you were unforgettable. The military knowledge, research, and excellent delivery created the most unique tour. I appreciate your company's philosophy and marvellous attention to detail. The anecdotes and the itinerary for the two days were exceptional.

One of the many things we chose to do was take a Battlebus American Highlights Tour. My uncle asked if we would like to take the 9 hour tour, or the two day tour; I figured 9 hours was plenty for 3 teenage girls. I lived to regret this decision however. The tour was incredible. Looking back it truly was my favourite part of our 2 week vacation, and I really wish we had gone for the two day tour. Our tour guide, was wonderful. He was not only extremely knowledgeable, but also highly entertaining. The Battlebus Tour was an amazing experience, one I will never forget, and would recommend to everyone.

Any Americans with limited time to see Normandy should, no make that MUST, take at least one of the Battlebus Tours. They are the absolute best.”

The American Experience Tour was so much better than we expected. We were truly impressed with the small size groups and the knowledge and skill in presentation of the guides.

Hi, I've been remiss in not writing earlier to say how much my children and I enjoyed our two day American Experience Tour in your company. We were not ready to leave and plan on returning with my husband so that he can see why we still get excited six months later when we talk about our tour of Normandy with both of you. We came home and promptly ordered any and all books that both of you carried and recommended. My twelve year old has devoured them. We were in Europe for a month and the days that we spent with you stand out as two of the best.

My daughter and I consider our American Highlights tour as one of the top experiences of our entire vacation. Many thanks to you. If/when we're again in the Normandy area we will most certainly sign up for another tour!