D Day Landings

Highlights: Ride in Normandy, France - 3 Star Hotels - Battlefield Tour brought to life - on evening meal and  entry to all museums included

Tour Leader: Toby Barnes-Taylor

Distance: 535 miles

Ride Difficulty: 2/10

Countries: France

Tour Start Point: Portsmouth, UK

Tour End Point: Portsmouth, UK

Summary: A fully guided, round-trip tour following the D Day Landings Operation OVERLORD in Normandy, June 1944

Basing ourselves on the Normandy coast, each day we ride out to visit the locations and museums of Pegasus Bridge, the UK, Canadian and US Beaches and the beautiful little village of Sainte-Mere-Eglise that makes up Operation OVERLORD. Our final day we visit the UK, US and German war graves to pay our respects before heading home.

 

The Tour starts and finishes in Portsmouth in the UK. 

 

On all 3 nights away we will be staying in a 3 Star boutique hotel.

 

Our group sizes range from 10 to 14 motorcycles. 

 

The roads are all well maintained with little complexity and are considered EASY to MODERATE, so may be within capabilities of less-experienced riders. 

Description

Some of our tours have been designed to be shorter, so that people with limited time availability can still find time to ride in Europe for what is little more than a long weekend away.  This is one of those tours, where in just 4 days, you can cross the channel with us and ride fabulous roads set in wonderful scenery and explore the Normandy coast whilst visiting the D Day Landings.

 

This tour is all about relaxed riding whilst we visit the historic areas of the Normandy Landings. Whilst much of the day will be off the bikes as we visit the beaches, bridges and villages in Normandy, each day we have specifically chosen roads that we are sure you will love to ride – twisty and scenic!  Many riders do not get to experience these types of roads and with little traffic, they are a joy to ride.

 

The tour has 2 goals – riding the wonderful roads in Normandy and of course visiting the sites that make up Operation OVERLORD.

 

The hotel we chose is 3 star, with safe parking and good food.

This is a round-trip tour and the price includes the ferry to and from France.

Itinerary

DAY ONE (Thursday, 04 June)

 

The Tours starts early on Thursday morning as we meet to catch an early ferry  from Portsmouth to Ouistreham/ Caen. Once disembarked we have a short ride to our hotel via a look around the German Defences which make up part of their Atlantic Wall. We aim to be at the hotel for 6 pm. 

 

This evening we all dine together, the meal being paid by HD-Tours.

 

DAY TWO (Friday, 05 June)

 

We start the day at Pegasus Bridge, this bridge crossing the Caen canal, vital to be held to stop any German counter offensive to the main force landings. We shall be stopping here for a coffee in Café Gondrée, the first building to be liberated by the Allies. 

 

Continuing on, we ride west to the UK and Canadian landing beaches of Gold, Juno, and Sword. We'll be stopping for lunch at Sword Beach, having stood on the beach itself to see the view faced by the Allies 82 years ago. We'll also stop for lunch here. Riding onwards to Juno Beach where we will stop of a coffee before taking the opportunity to see the remains of the Mulberry Harbour on rest on the sands at Gold Beach. 

 

We finish the day by visiting the the British Military Cemetery at Bayeux before heading back to our hotel. 

 

DAY THREE (Saturday, 06 June)

 

Today we study the American landings both by air and sea.

 

Key to ensure the protection of the beach landings from counter-offensive, American paratroopers dropped onto key objectives of road and rail junctions, bridges and villages nearby. Sainte-Mere-Eglise is one such village, famous for the US paratrooper John Steele whose parachute was caught in the spire of the church. The parachute landings at Sainte-Mere-Eglise feature both in "The Longest Day" and "Band of Brothers".

 

From here we to move to Utah Beach to stand on the beach, look around the museum and stop for lunch. Mid afternoon we move to Omaha Beach, the location of the bloodiest fighting of all the beaches. 

 

DAY FOUR (Sunday, 07 June)

 

Today  we will be visiting 2 cemeteries from the Normandy campaign and the Overlord Museum before heading back to the ferry at Ouistreham and home. 

 

First we visit the American Cemetery on the cliffs overlooking Omaha Beach, before riding on to visit the outstanding Overlord Museum, spending time here including lunch. We then ride on to visit the German cemetery before mounting up to ride for the ferry. 

 

The tour ends as we ride off the ferry at Portsmouth. 

Map

What's included

  • Outbound and return channel tunnel crossing
  • Three and four star accommodation in terrific locations
  • Breakfast every day
  • 1 evening meal on our journey
  • Entry to all museums
  • Well researched routes to provide you with fantastic roads to ride
  • Experienced tour guide to lead the tour
  • A back marker / sweep
  • HD-Tours T-Shirt
  • Comprehensive tour itinerary
  • GPS routes for your sat nav (if you want them)
  • Tips for riding in Europe guide

What’s not included….

  • Accommodation before the tour starts, or after it ends
  • Petrol (gas) you use
  • Road tolls where payment is made at the time
  • All other meals and drinks
  • Motorcycle rental, should you need it.

Information

  • Our group sizes normally range from 10 to 14 motorcycles.
  • Each day, we normally start riding at 8.30am sharp and cover in the region of 150 to 200 miles.  We try to avoid motorways wherever possible and only use these when there is no real alternative or where making progress gets us to better roads. 
  • We take mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks and of course find somewhere for lunch
  • We use good quality hotels – not super luxury and not bottom end, but mid-range – normally 3 and 4-star.
  • We ride at a pace to suit all of the riders.  We stick to all speed limits in towns, but in rural areas we ride at, let’s call them ‘more appropriate’ speeds.  We generally ride in staggered convoy on straighter roads.
  • As we have pre-booked hotels and a schedule to stick to, we ride in all weathers.  During any exceptionally inclement weather, we will pull over for short periods.  We could experience a range of different types of weather, so bring waterproofs, just in case.
  • We like these tours to be about having a real adventure, riding on great roads with like-minded people. For that reason, we do not use a support van, but we always have a back-marker.
  • Payments – we require a £400 deposit to be paid when you book a tour, with the balance to be paid in three equal payments, 7, 5 and 3 months before the tour starts. If you prefer, you can pay the balance of the cost of the tour earlier than this.
  • *Ride Difficulty Rating. All our tours are rated for skill/difficulty, 
  • This tour is rated EASY to MODERATE. Riders with less experience may be able to participate in this tour. 
  • Day One and Day Four are long riding days with single rides of approximately 2 hours. Days Two and Three are EASY.
  • That means this tour is recommended for riders with a minimum of one years of riding large motorcycles.  It is beneficial to have experience riding/ driving on the right-hand side of the road before. You should be comfortable with travelling in a group of riders and be able to keep a good pace within that group.  We do not ride very fast, but at the same time, it is better if riders do not go too slowly.
  • While there is not much motorway riding on the tour, as a guide, the group will be riding at speeds of 75mph on motorways.  You must be confident of riding in rain and on wet roads.
  • If you are at all unsure if your riding ability is good enough for this tour, please contact us by telephone or email to discuss.

Prices

Prices For:                                                                         2026 Prices

Two riders sharing a room, price each                             £980

Single Rider in their own room                                        £1,140

Rider and pillion sharing a room                                    £1,480

Prices include the travel to and from France, all hotel accommodation (3 and 4 Star), all breakfasts, one evening meal, entry to all museums.

Thursday 04 June to Sunday 07 June 2026

 

4-Day Fully Guided Tour To France

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