American Tour 2026
American Tour Itinerary (April)
April 24th to 29th - arrival day and first evening together - April 23rd
We are still tweaking the details, but here are the proposed days. It's not intended to be a comprehensive Battle of Normandy tour, in that we won't be visiting all of the D-Day beaches or covering all of the inland fighting. Think of it as a Paul and Mag's Favourites tour. We'll cover the areas we love in some detail, offering our guests an on-the-ground experience we don't think is offered elsewhere.
Day 1 - Omaha and the Beach Landings. This day will feature an extended tour of Omaha Beach sector and walks along parts of the 5 miles of beach. We will also include an extended exploration of the WN60 and F1 Draw area. We will cover how Widerstandsnests work, what the Atlantic Wall was supposed to achieve and how the landings fared. We will finish the day at the American cemetery overlooking Omaha beach.
Day 2 - Utah Beach and the advance on Cherbourg. The focus of today's route is to explore the push north from Utah Beach towards the vital deep-water harbour at Cherbourg. Although we won't visit Cherbourg itself, we will discuss the 4th Division's difficulties taking the Quineville ridge and visit the gun battery at Azeville. There will also be some time to look at the role of the 101st Airborne.
Day 3 - Terrain Day. Arguably the most important day of the week. The aim of this day will be to get across how the terrain in Normandy influenced the battles and campaign. In the morning we will look at some of the engagements between the Americans moving inland from Omaha, including the flood plains near Monfreville and the "carrefour" action of the 115th Infantry Regiment. After lunch the highlight will be a walk/hike through some beautiful and imposing hedgerows in the area north of Saint Lo. So many tours just point out hedgerows while driving past. With us, you will walk through them, spending a couple of hours really getting to grips with this feature - so peculiar to the region.
Day 4 - 82nd Airborne and cutting off the Cherbourg Peninsula. We will cover perennial favourites like La Fiere Bridge and the Cauquigny Causeway as well as examining the VII Corps push across the peninsula - taking in the fighting near La Haye du Puits and Hill 95 near Saint-Catherine. The battle for this area will be the subject of my next book. We will then head back via Periers to explain the origins of Operation Cobra.
Day 5 - Cobra, Avranches and Mortain. Today is all about the American breakout and Operation Cobra, including visiting the Periers to Saint Lo road, and the area of the massive bombardment ahead of Bradley's advance south. We then follow Middleton's VIII Corps thrust south to Avranches - where we will have lunch. Then it's off to Saint Barthelemy and Mortain to cover the ensuing German Counter-attack (Operation Lüttich) including a visit to the amazing Hill 314.
Day 6 - The Falaise Pocket. This day will conclude our understanding of the bloody campaign. We will walk through Major Currie VCs' battlefield in Saint-Lambert-sur-Dive, stop and explore the legendary Moissy Ford area and consider the columns of German men and vehicles that attempted to escape to freedom across the shallow stream. We then move off through the Corridor of Death to the wonderful visitors centre memorial at Montormel.
Price per person (not including accommodation) - 1630 Euros
Contact us
April 24th to 29th - arrival day and first evening together - April 23rd
We are still tweaking the details, but here are the proposed days. It's not intended to be a comprehensive Battle of Normandy tour, in that we won't be visiting all of the D-Day beaches or covering all of the inland fighting. Think of it as a Paul and Mag's Favourites tour. We'll cover the areas we love in some detail, offering our guests an on-the-ground experience we don't think is offered elsewhere.
Day 1 - Omaha and the Beach Landings. This day will feature an extended tour of Omaha Beach sector and walks along parts of the 5 miles of beach. We will also include an extended exploration of the WN60 and F1 Draw area. We will cover how Widerstandsnests work, what the Atlantic Wall was supposed to achieve and how the landings fared. We will finish the day at the American cemetery overlooking Omaha beach.
Day 2 - Utah Beach and the advance on Cherbourg. The focus of today's route is to explore the push north from Utah Beach towards the vital deep-water harbour at Cherbourg. Although we won't visit Cherbourg itself, we will discuss the 4th Division's difficulties taking the Quineville ridge and visit the gun battery at Azeville. There will also be some time to look at the role of the 101st Airborne.
Day 3 - Terrain Day. Arguably the most important day of the week. The aim of this day will be to get across how the terrain in Normandy influenced the battles and campaign. In the morning we will look at some of the engagements between the Americans moving inland from Omaha, including the flood plains near Monfreville and the "carrefour" action of the 115th Infantry Regiment. After lunch the highlight will be a walk/hike through some beautiful and imposing hedgerows in the area north of Saint Lo. So many tours just point out hedgerows while driving past. With us, you will walk through them, spending a couple of hours really getting to grips with this feature - so peculiar to the region.
Day 4 - 82nd Airborne and cutting off the Cherbourg Peninsula. We will cover perennial favourites like La Fiere Bridge and the Cauquigny Causeway as well as examining the VII Corps push across the peninsula - taking in the fighting near La Haye du Puits and Hill 95 near Saint-Catherine. The battle for this area will be the subject of my next book. We will then head back via Periers to explain the origins of Operation Cobra.
Day 5 - Cobra, Avranches and Mortain. Today is all about the American breakout and Operation Cobra, including visiting the Periers to Saint Lo road, and the area of the massive bombardment ahead of Bradley's advance south. We then follow Middleton's VIII Corps thrust south to Avranches - where we will have lunch. Then it's off to Saint Barthelemy and Mortain to cover the ensuing German Counter-attack (Operation Lüttich) including a visit to the amazing Hill 314.
Day 6 - The Falaise Pocket. This day will conclude our understanding of the bloody campaign. We will walk through Major Currie VCs' battlefield in Saint-Lambert-sur-Dive, stop and explore the legendary Moissy Ford area and consider the columns of German men and vehicles that attempted to escape to freedom across the shallow stream. We then move off through the Corridor of Death to the wonderful visitors centre memorial at Montormel.
Price per person (not including accommodation) - 1630 Euros
Contact us