It%26#39;s me again. We will be in the Normandy area on July 22-23. We are getting there by overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, which arrives in Caen at 6:30 a.m. on July 22. We have a D-Day Tour in Bayeux that starts at 8:30 a.m. on July 22 (we were going to do the tour on July 23, but they are booked).
We are planning to rent a car in Caen, but the car rental place in Caen doesn%26#39;t open until 8 a.m., which would not allow enough time for us to get to Bayeux for the tour, which starts at 8:30 a.m. So, we need to get from Caen to Bayeux via some kind of public transportation -- is there any, such as a bus or train? Do you have any suggestions (preferably inexpensive) for how we might get from the Caen ferry port area to Bayeux? Anyone know how much a taxi would cost? Many thanks for any recommendations.
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There is a train from Caen to Bayeux, and the trip takes about 20 minutes. Go the voyages-SNCF for the schedule.
I am assuming that you will have luggage with you, so you%26#39;ll probably need time to check into your hotel. A taxi is probably your best way to get from the Bayeux train station to your hotel. If you are staying in the town of Bayeux, you will probably be within walking distance of your tour%26#39;s meeting point.
Where are you staying?
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The D Day tour vans that depart from the parking lot directly behind the Churchill Hotel are quite strict. They allow 5 minutes past 8:30 AM and then depart, only fair to those who have arrived on time. I doubt your planning has allowed enough time to get to the tour in Bayeux by 8:35AM I didn%26#39;t see any taxis at the Quistreham ferry terminal, only the bus that takes you to the Caen RR station, about 10 miles away, and it is not known to be especially punctual. You could always just cancel the tour and go with the rental car and do it yourself. If you have a Michelin road map of Normandy (Amazon.com has them) and a GPS with Europe maps (Garmin Nuvi, Amazon again)and proceed at your own pace. Drive to Bayeux and leave your luggage at Churchill, then drive to St. Mere Eglise and start your own tour there. Travel down the coast road to Colville sur Mer where the big American Cemetery is located, then maybe on to Avranches which is only about 12 miles north of Bayeux. Don%26#39;t fret about missing the tour. There are many museums, monuments, and stopping points along the way. You can have a great time on your own, stopping to buy picnic supplies in the small French towns along the way.
oprah44
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Thanks, Troggs and Oprah44. Much appreciated. We%26#39;re staying at Hotel Churchill. I looked on the RailEurope website and it indicates that there is a train that leaves Caen at 7:13 a.m. and arrives in Bayeux at 7:29 a.m. Another train leaves Caen at 6:59 a.m. and arrives in Bayeux at 7:14 a.m. Will either of these trains work? I%26#39;m not sure how long it will take to disembark from the ferry and get to the Caen train station, or how much time it will take to get from the Bayeux train station to Hotel Churchill. Anyone know? Thanks again.
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I don%26#39;t know anything about the ferry, but a taxi to the Hotel Churchill is about five minutes. The meeting point for your tour is likely to be out the back of the hotel and across the parking lot. Perhaps someone can tell you how to make sure a taxi is waiting for you when you arrive in Bayeux.
This schedule will be tight. How reliable is the ferry landing? If you make either of these trains you should be ok. I would think your time from the Bayeux station to Churchill and the meeting point would be doable in thirty minutes or so. The unknown is how long it will take you to get from your landing point to the Caen rail station.
Be prepared to pay cash at the end of your tour. The credit card you gave for a reservation is for that purpose only. You pay for the tour in cash at the end of your trip.
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We did the full day D Day tour and found that it was OK for about half a day but then it got into tactics from the German gun emplacements and the troops on the beach%26#39;s response and, well, too much of the tactics. With just a little beforehand investigation of the assault phase and how the paratroopers were involved, you can be your own tour guide and save lots of $$. Your schedule is too tight to rent the car at Caen and get to the tour at Bayeux. Not to worry. Do it yourself and you will find that you have seen and done all or most of the D Day parts. Get the car at Caen and be your own tour guide. You will have a great time, enjoy the D Day monuments and still have lots of time to reflect on what the sacrifices on that day meant and still mean to the Americans living today.
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I get Oprah44%26#39;s comments, but our first tour (30+ years ago!) was on our own. Last year, we took a tour and enjoyed the stories and the perspective our guide gave us. Our tour was with Overlord, a French Company; Battlebus is British. Perhaps there is a difference in the tours (can%26#39;t say; both are well recommended), but we enjoyed the personalization of our tour and the sites we visited that are not as well known.
There is no right or wrong way to do this. However you choose to tour the sites, the experience will be meaningful. Perhaps a car rental, given your time constraints, should be considered, but if you think you can make the tour, I recommend that you do it. If it makes any difference, our tour was in the fall when there are not many tourists in the area. Perhaps conditions are different during the high season.
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In 2001, we took a taxi from our hotel in Bayeux to Ouistreham (the ferry port) to catch a 7 am ferry to Portsmouth. The cost was about 40 euros.
I don%26#39;t think you can catch the tour without taking a taxi directly from the ferry port to the Churchill.
-- Steve
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And it will be a LOT more than 40 euros now! If the ferry gets in at 6.30 and you are a foot passenger you don%26#39;t have a hope in hell of getting to Caen in time to catch the 7.30 train. I agree that with a bit of pre-reading and a good guide book - Major and Mrs Holt from Amazon is excellent, you can do it yourself with a hire car.
We have many, many guests who have stayed at our B%26amp;B and done their own tour, using this book, with some background knowledge gleaned from various books about D-Day (Stephen Ambrose%26#39;s books are excellent for this) and have had a great visit.
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Thanks again, all. I was told that it will probably cost around 120 euros for a taxi from Caen to Bayeux, which is just way too much money! I really want to do a tour though because I think that I and my husband (who won%26#39;t want to do much in preparation for a self-guided tour) will get a lot more out of it, and we%26#39;ll have the opportunity to hear stories and ask questions. Also, we%26#39;ve never been there before and I%26#39;d hate to waste time getting lost as we try to go here and there on our own.
There is another D-Day tour that starts in Bayeux at 9:30 a.m. If I take the bus from the ferry port to the rail station, I should be able to pick up my car at the rail station when the car rental place opens at 8 a.m. That should give us enough time to get to Bayeux for the 9:30 a.m. tour, I think. I just hope that I%26#39;ll be able to get a spot on that tour - haven%26#39;t heard back from that tour company yet(fingers crossed!). My only concern is -- how often do the buses run from the Caen ferry port to the rail station? I searched online and didn%26#39;t see anything about the buses.
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%26quot;My only concern is -- how often do the buses run from the Caen ferry port to the rail station? I searched online and didn%26#39;t see anything about the buses.%26quot;
I would e-mail the very helpful Caen tourist office. I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll get a prompt response. I would also e-mail the ferry company to ask how long it is likely to take to exit the terminal, after the ferry%26#39;s scheduled arrival. (The tourist office might know about this, as well; always best to get a second opinion.)
-- Steve
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