Omaha Beach is conjured up in the minds of many by the superb opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan: it was here that some of the Allies’ greatest D-Day losses took place. The German gun batteries along the Longues-sur-Mer cliffs (just to the west of Arromanches) are some of the most complete, and the most impressive, along the entire coast. With cliffs behind the beaches to the west and emptier landscape, this is much better walking. This was a vast temporary harbour constructed in England then dragged over behind boats early on D-Day. Out to sea, the remains of the Mulberry harbour can still be seen. Perhaps the most iconic building here is La Maison Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, with its black and white timber frame featuring frequently in media coverage of the invasion.Īrromanches, the town taken by the British with their landing on Gold beach (5 miles wide, from La Rivière to Port-en-Bessin, is well worth taking some time to explore: not only is it home to one of the largest memorials – a vast statue of the Virgin Mary. ‘Centre Juno Beach’ provides a wealth of fascinating information on Canada’s role in the landings, and in the Second World War more generally, and is certainly worth a visit. The five miles of Juno Beach (between St Aubin-sur-Mer and Courseulles-sur-Mer) are relatively undeveloped, and include an array of pretty seaside villages. The capture of Pegasus Bridge was one of the major achievements of the first day here: the original bridge is now a memorial situated in Ranville, a few kilometres south of Ouistreham. It is flat and built up, so you won’t be here for the remote beauty. Sword Beach, between Ouistreham and Luc-sur-Mer, was the most easterly landing. The main areas are defined largely by the five landing beaches: Sword and Gold, where British troops landed Juno, which the Canadians took, and Omaha and Utah, the US landing beaches. This allows for considerable time exploring each area of importance in the invasion, although provides less of an opportunity to explore the surrounding countryside. Most visitors choose to do day walks, either as part of a guided tour, or by using private or public transport to get to the main sights. Sentiers de France do a self-guided walk along these lines, hiking from Merville to Saint Mere L’Eglise (interspersed with several taxi trips, taking in the American Cemetery at Colleville and the labyrinth of old German trenches in Grandcamp-Maisy). Walking the whole way is likely to require relatively long stretches of walking on each day, and you may want to use private or public transport at some points to ensure you get to see all the main sights. It is possible to walk all the way along the 50 mile stretch of coast, staying in towns along the way and exploring the beaches as you go, although it has to be said that the eastern beaches at least are pretty dull in walking terms: you would not be here but for D-Day. You can walk the Normandy beaches in several ways. Thousands of French civilians were killed in the allied bombing attacks and the hand to hand fighting which followed. Slightly further inland are vast cemeteries, with their row upon row of orderly white gravestones, built in the countryside around the towns and villages which were fought over so fiercely. On the more isolated shorelines the cool wind blows across wispy grasses, growing on now innocuous, shallow headlands. In summer tourists stroll along the sea front, whilst children paddle in the shallows. The same beaches which saw the deaths of tens of thousands of Allied and German soldiers are today long, tranquil stretches of sand. In bitter, hand-to-hand fighting, they captured the defences and continued inland. They braved the mines and the machine gun fire to approach, with virtually no cover, the German gun emplacements. 150,000 British, American and Canadian soldiers began landing on beaches across a 50mile stretch of the Normandy coastline from around 6.30am. The 6 th June 1944 saw the beginning of the end of WWII, and it came with one of the most impressive and audacious operations of the war.