All the D-Day landing beaches by bike: from Utah Beach and Ste Mère-Église to Caen
6 days / 4 days riding / ref. NM4 / Difficulty Moderate / Linear tripper person
Your bike ride along the D-Day beaches:
Enjoy the unique experience of the Routes of Liberty! This tour will enable you to explore all the D-Day landing beaches from Utah Beach and Ste Mère-Église, where the first parachutists dropped, continuing all the way to the Caen Memorial, symbol of the peace which returned to Normandy.
A beautiful bike route which travels through history, passing through charming little fishing ports and visiting meaningful and moving museums. A route where the beautiful sandy beaches of today still carry the echo of warfare from previous times and which is eloquently reflected by the American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.
Tour highlights
- Discover the most emblematic places of the Allied invasion
- The itineraries of the Vélomaritime as a guideline for your journey
- Omaha Beach & Utah Beach
Day 1Arrival in Carentan
Visit the centre of the medieval city of Carentan with its galleried covered arcades [unique in Normandy], its beautiful townhouses and the 11th – 15thC church of Notre Dame. Of course don’t forget to take the time to stroll round the beautiful marina whose origins date back to the Gallic period.
Day 2Excursion to Ste Mère Église and Utah Beach | 58 km
Leave the town and take the green way crossing the Cotentin marshes regional nature park [Marais de Cotentin]. The head towards St Mere-Eglise the ideal starting point to relive the very first hours of D-Day. Have a look at the famous church clock tower from which dangles a souvenir recalling the adventures of one of those first American parachutists who dropped onto French soil. Bike to Utah Beach with its beautiful white sands so evocative of D-Day and its D-Day Landings museum. Return to Carentan at the end of the day.
Airborne-Museum
Get it the museum and take an HistoPad to take part to the striking events of the History. The museum, facing the bell tower where the parachutist John Steele kept hooked, will help you to understand how the D-Day landings took place from the preparation in England to France’s Freedom. The scenography, the sets, the animations make you leave these events, like transported in time.
Day 3Carentan – Omaha Beach – Port en Bessin | 59 km
Head for Isigny-sur-Mer, a small fishing village renowned for its butter and cheeses as well as its caramels. Carry on to La Pointe du Hoc and explore the fields still pitted and pockmarked by D-Day shells fired from allied ships in the Channel. Striking! Bike on towards Omaha Beach, dominated by the American Cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer. The serried ranks of the 9,387 headstones set in immaculate green grass with, in the background, the ever present sea, project a feeling of serenity and peace. Continue on along the coast to the pretty fishing port of Port-en-Bessin.
musée overloard
The museum presents a unique collection of reconnaissance aircrafts, flying bombs, tanks, vehicles and canons, hundreds of personal belongings, posters and documents combats’ witnesses. The 6 armies who took parts into the Normandy battles are represented through full-size scenes, recreated with a breathtaking realism.
Day 4Port en Bessin – Courseulles sur Mer | 39 km
Ride towards the impressive German defensive battery of Longues-sur-Mer then continue on towards Gold Beach and, of course, Arromanches, Here you’ll be able to see the remains of the enormous artificial port constructed on the orders of Winston Churchill. Don’t forget to visit Arromanches 360°, a circular cinema which graphically illustrates the complete history of the Battle for Normandy. Continue your ride through the Normandy countryside, biking down little lanes between the pretty hedged fields – the “bocage”- until you reach Courseulles-sur-Mer. Take time to stroll round the picturesque fishing harbour.
arromanches360
The Arromanches 360 circular cinema presents a movie showing, in High Definition on 9 screens, amazing images from the archives, of the ‘100 days of the Normandie battle’. This movie honors the soldiers from different countries who took part into the Liberation and the thousands of civils killed during this battle. It gathers several unreleased images.
Day 5Courseulles sur Mer – Caen | 48 km
Head along to Juno Beach and then Sword Beach biking all the way to the port of Ouistreham. Visit the No. 4 Commando museum [linked to the Franco-British landings] or continue your ride taking the bike path along the Caen canal to Pegasus Bridge where the British army gained an important victory in 1944. Afterwards visit the unmissable Caen memorial, a museum dedicated to the battle for Normandy, 20th century history and peace.
Memorial Caen
The Caen Memorial Museum is a memorial for Peace! Follow 2 museography displays covering from 1939 to 1989: from the origins of WW2 to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Discover the war on a chronological way, explained, imaged, presenting numerous objects, witnesses from this period, French, but also Russians, Japanese, English, Germans, etc.
Day 6Departure during the day
The little extra with Biking France (optional):
Our “Visit package”, with entrance fees to
. Airborne museum
. Overlord Museum
. Arromanches 360 circular cinema
. Caen Memorial
Documents
> Download tour programSelect your category
Your accommodation
NB: accommodation in Carentan is the same as in the standard category.
• 5 nights with breakfasts (accommodation in a two-person bedroom)
•
Luggage transport during the bike stages (1 luggage 20kg per person)
•
Equipped cycle rental for 4 days
•
A personalized travel app, including all your cycling stages as well as tourist and practical information
•
City taxes
•
Hotline 7 days a week
• Dinners / Lunches / Drinks
•
Tickets to attractions, tours of attractions, tasting
•
Optional insurances (Cancellation Insurance OR Tranquility Insurance)
•
Single room supplement (5 nights included)
•
Transfer from Caen to Carentan and personal bike repatriation
• 5 nights with breakfasts (accommodation in a two-person bedroom)
•
Luggage transport during the bike stages (1 luggage 20kg per person)
•
Equipped cycle rental for 4 days
•
A personalized travel app, including all your cycling stages as well as tourist and practical information
•
City taxes
•
Hotline 7 days a week
• Dinners / Lunches / Drinks
•
Tickets to attractions, tours of attractions, tasting
•
Optional insurances (Cancellation Insurance OR Tranquility Insurance)
•
Single room supplement (5 nights included)
•
Transfer from Caen to Carentan and personal bike repatriation
from 3 to 11 years old : - 20%
from 12 to 15 years old : - 10%
(Only if the triple or quadruple rooms are occupied by 2 adults minimum )
VÉLO DE VILLE «Trekking »
OPEN or CLOSED frame
- 1 rear pannier
- 1 handlebar pannier
- 1 repair kit
- 1 lock
Helmet not provided.
VÉLO DE VILLE « E-Bikes Premium »
UNIVERSAL frame
- 1 rear pannier
- 1 handlebar pannier
- 1 repair kit
- 1 lock
Helmet not provided.
Practical details
Bikes will be delivered at the 1st hotel.
At the end of the tour, leave the rental bikes at your hotel, we will pick them up.
Your travel app
You’ll have personalized access to our travel app, which you can download onto your smartphone.
This app includes all your cycling stages, tourist and practical content, as well as your accommodation. The application will guide you along your route, like a GPS, during your cycling stages.
If you would like a printed version of the roadbook (including color maps of your stages), please let us know when you book your trip. It will be provided at your first accommodation.
Your journey
Tour description
Alternating bike paths or signposted cycling routes and small roads with little traffic.
Bike stages trip profiles
Excursion Sainte Mère Eglise and Utah Beach : 58 km / elevation gain : 179m / elevation loss : 179m
Carentan – Port en Bessin : 59 km / elevation gain : 376m / elevation loss : 372m
Port en Bessin – Courseulles sur Mer : 39 km / elevation gain : 246m / elevation loss : 249m
Courseulles sur Mer – Caen : 48 km / elevation gain : 157m / elevation loss : 147m
How to arrive in Carentan
By train
Paris Saint-Lazare train station >> Carentan train station (about 2h45 by train).
For more information, do not hesitate to visit : www.sncf.com/en
By plane
- From Roissy CDG airport:
– Taxi transfer to Paris Saint-Lazare train station >> Carentan train station (by train).
– Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport 1 or 2 >> Paris centre – stop ‘Chatelet Les Halles >> Metro line 14 >> St Lazare train station >> Carentan train station (by train).
www.parisaeroport.fr/en/passengers/access/paris-charles-de-gaulle/public-transport
www.transilien.com/en
www.ratp.fr/en/plans-lignes
- From Orly airport:
– Taxi transfer to Paris Saint-Lazare train station >> Carentan train station (by train).
– Bus shuttle (Orly Bus) : from Orly Sud or Ouest >> Paris centre – stop ‘Denfert Rochereau’ >> Metro line 6 – station ‘Bercy’ + line 14 station ‘Gare St Lazare’ >> Carentan train station (by train).
http://aeroportorly.paris/orlybus.php
– Orly Val (automatic metro): from Orly Sud or Ouest >> Paris – stop ‘Antony’ >> RER B – station ‘Denfert Rochereau’ >> Metro line 6 – station ‘Bercy’ + line 14 station ‘Gare St Lazare’ >> Carentan train station (by train).
http://aeroportorly.paris/orlyval.php
- From Beauvais airport:
– Taxi transfer to Paris Saint-Lazare train station OR Bus shuttle >> Paris – stop ‘Porte Maillot’ >> Metro line 1 – station ‘Champs Elysées-Clemenceau’ + line 13 – station ‘Gare St Lazare’ >> Carentan train station (by train).
www.aeroportparisbeauvais.com/en/acces-et-transports/navettes/
- From Caen airport:
– Taxi transfer to Caen train station >> Carentan train station (by train).
– Bus shuttle: ‘Aéroport de Caen-Carpiquet’ – Line 3 direction ‘St Clair’ >> stop ‘Gare SNCF’ >> Carentan train station (by train).
http://caen-airport.com/taxi-shuttle
www.twisto.fr
Return
If you have to come back to the start point:
- This return can be carry out by RandoVelo/Biking France: please contact us!
- A return transfer by bus + train is possible and organised on your own : www.sncf.com/en
Plan to go to the train station with your luggage.
(Personal bike return costs are on your responsibility)
– Caen train station >> Carentan train station (by train).
If you have to return to Paris (city centre) / Paris Airports :
- This return can be carry out by RandoVelo/Biking France: please contact us!
- A return transfer by bus + train is possible and organised on your own : www.sncf.com/en
Plan to go to the train station with your luggage.
(Personal bike return costs are on your responsibility)
– Caen train station >> Paris Saint-Lazare train station (by train).
Nearby Airports:
– Caen airport : http://caen-airport.com
– Rouen airport : www.rouen.aeroport.fr
