I.ve been looking at biker friendly places to stay. Normandy beach B&B,www.nomandybeach.co uk LA Tringale.www normandyvacations.com. LA Gouderie Manor house.www.ddayangoville.com. This is just a couple i looked at.Some other sites might be worth looking at.bikerclubfrance.com. dinanbandb.com. bedsforbikers.com. Hope this helps.
The only problem with the euro tunnel as i see it is when you get off the train there's about a 500 or so miles ride to caen.For a few quid extra it seems better to get a ferry from portsmouth.Not heard back from euro tunnel yet on group prices.
Just heard back from euro tunnel the price has gone up to £76.00 return plus they don't seem to do group bookings.No help at all, better of with ferry from portsmouth.
There is a festival every year in june.In 2016 it will be the 72nd anniversary of the normandy landings.This site has info about it i didn't go on the site but found it by entering normandy festival 2016. There's a lot to do on according to the site.If your interested it's worth a look at. The site to look for is www.ot.baieducotentin.fr.
i would have been really interested in this trip but if it's planned for the anniversary of the d-day landings it will clash with the TT which i'm planning on attending next year.
i did a couple of trips to france with a few friends in 93 and 94. on the last day before we caught the ferry we visited one of the cemeteries (very moving) and point du hoc also we had a brief look at omaha beach then visited one of the d-day museums which if my memory serves me correctly was in carentan. one strange sight on the journey from point du hoc to the museum was an ordinary farm yard filled with about 20+ rusty military vehicle's from the invasion. as others have said, to get a full understanding of the scale and a feel for the dire struggles of the troops (and civilians) and what was happening at that time i don't think a whistle stop tour would be enough.
p.s i think a ferry crossing would be better than the eurostar because you go direct to where you want to be and you would also be able to get a slight feel for the apprehension, fear, expectation and so many other emotions the troops may have felt as they were taken across the channel. probably feeling like they were on a ride that they couldn't get off.
I did a 5 day tour of Normandy I was hoping to see both American and British landing sites But only got to see a fraction of the American sites and did not have time to see any British landing sites. So I would recommend at least a 2 week trip or plan a couple of trips of at least a week each. Of the places I visited I suggest Saint-Mere-Eglise. Omaha and Utah beaches. and the cemetry at Colleville Sur Mere. There are countless other places to visit. I don't think you will be dissapointed wherever you go in Normandy.
It seems like the best way to go is make a plan of places you want to see then go from there.From what i can make out from one site there are about 12 british war cemeteries plenty of museums the choice is your's.It still looks like the ferry is the way to go.I don't suppose it matters when you go,the sites and museums are always open but it would be nice to go in the summer sometime.
Done the WW1 and WW2 stuff (well some of it) ! The D day beaches in Normandy are spread along a surprising length of coastline, to do it all in detail would take several visits. However it is possible to take in the major sites in around 5 days but it will leave you hungry for more! The Americian cemetry above Omaha is not to be missed, very thought provoking..the MULBERRY HARBOUR at Arromanches and asc museums worth seeing, the Pont de Hoc strongpoint is incredible, there are several gun batteries and emplacments to be seen with good museums inside, St Marie Eglise has much to see, the museum at Bayeux is good too,the Merville guns, so much....I happy to assist any planning and would go again for sure.
There is also a ferry service from Newhaven to Dieppe. I think the festival starts on 6th June, but it doesn't mean you have to be there for the festival, you could go before or after.Would be good to get dates to suit most who would like to go. There are places to stay that cater for groups of bikers with secure over night parking.
Just a matter of finding the right one.It saves taking a lot of camping gear.