Your Ultimate Guide to Visiting the D-Day Beaches in Normandy
Visiting the D-Day beaches in Normandy is one of the most powerful and sobering experiences you can have in France.
Scattered along the coast are remnants of the largest amphibious invasion in history—quiet stretches of sand, cliffside bunkers, crumbling batteries, and cemeteries filled with rows of white crosses. It’s a region that still bears the weight of what happened here on June 6, 1944.
D-Day was the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France during World War II—the beginning of the campaign to liberate Western Europe.
Officially called Operation Overlord, it was a massive coordinated effort involving American, British, and Canadian forces, along with support from French resistance fighters and troops from several other Allied nations.
It marked a turning point in the war, both strategically and symbolically.
Exploring the D-Day Beaches of Normandy
In this guide, I’m breaking down everything you need to know to plan a visit to the D-Day sites, covering the most significant museums, memorials, and cemeteries along all 5 landing beaches.
Whether you have one day or several, this post will help you figure out what not to miss, and will bring the events and bravery of that day to life.
A little orientation: There are 5 landing beaches, and, going from west to east, they were code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Here’s a handy map of the locations in this guide:
A. Utah Beach
Utah Beach served as the westernmost landing site, and one of two American beaches. This landing is most well-known as the main area of action for the American airborne troops, and today is the most natural and quietest of the beaches.
Thousands of paratroopers worked to secure villages, road junctions, and bridges as well as to take out gun emplacements to aid the push off the beach.
However, the Germans had flooded much of this area, and between that and the enormous hedges found in this region, their work and the subsequent push from the beach was anything but easy.
1. D-Day Landing Memorial and Beach at Utah Beach
We’ll begin our journey at a memorial dedicated to the French soldiers who returned to fight as part of Free France—the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle from London. These troops played a key role in the Allied effort to liberate their homeland.
There was a small division that came in on D-Day, but the main body of soldiers and the armored divisions arrived in force on August 1 and pushed towards Strasbourg and Paris.
There is a memorial for the French soldiers prominently featuring the Free France flag/symbol, which is the double cross of Lorraine. There are also three really cool museum-quality tanks set up around the memorial.
You should then head away from the memorial and walk out past the dunes to the beach. It’s really lovely and in a much less developed area, though we did see some cool horse harness racers enjoying the sand and surf in the early morning.
As you walk up and down, you can see a few of the sunk landing piers that are still out in the water. Along the shore to the north, in the dunes, are different gun casements in various levels of ruin. We really enjoyed climbing on and exploring the casements, some of which you can even crawl into.
2. Utah Beach Landing Museum
As the name suggests, this museum focuses on the landing at Utah Beach. But before going in, it’s worth walking around the several memorials outside the museum.
The Statues
These include pillars dedicated to infantry divisions and the navy, as well as equipment like a tank and flak gun. Two especially stood out:
The first was a statue of a sailor, representing the Frogmen—the predecessors of today’s Navy SEALs—who were among the first to land on the beach. Their mission was to clear obstacles under fire, and they faced staggering losses, with a casualty rate of nearly 50%.
The other was a poignant recreation of a landing craft with soldiers running out into the waves. With the beach and dunes stretching out behind, and the option to step inside the landing craft positioned just behind the soldiers, it’s easy to picture what it might have felt like to approach the shore on that June morning.
The Museum
In the museum, there are all sorts of interesting exhibits. There is an informative display about the German strategy and efforts to fortify the area. There are also some interesting exhibits and a few dozen models of the ships used in the landing.
The entire museum was built around an abandoned tank found on the beach, and there’s also a hangar that is home to an airplane used to bomb the shoreline.
All sorts of models, vignettes, and exhibits explain the objectives, casualties, and timing of events on D-Day on Utah Beach.
Finally, don’t miss the 12-minute film that very much brings to life the whole landing and operation on Utah Beach.
3. Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mere-Eglise
Specifically dedicated to the paratrooper efforts associated with Utah Beach, the Airborne Museum has absolutely incredible immersive and interactive exhibits, with a huge emphasis on life-size models and vignettes.
The museum guides you through several buildings, the first of which is a large hangar showcasing the training and preparation of the paratroopers. There’s a full-size airplane hanging from the ceiling, full-model paratroopers with parachutes opened up coming down from the “sky”, and a spot where you get to try on the harness.
Another section of the museum focuses on the D-Day parachute drop, with a large hall featuring a full-sized plane you can walk through. Inside, soldiers are gearing up for the jump, and the sights and sounds recreate the intensity of that moment.
As you move through the exhibit, you’re surrounded by parachutes and bursts of gunfire, giving you a real sense of what it might’ve felt like to be a paratrooper dropping into Normandy. It’s a very immersive experience—and genuinely cool.
There are also histopods that everyone gets, and many spots in the rooms have interactive games and displays, videos, scenes, and comparisons between 1944 and 2024. If you are traveling with children, this museum is a must-visit, but it’s fascinating for adults as well.
The museum is located in Sainte-Mère-Eglise, the first village liberated during D-Day. The museum does a good job of showing just how tough that night was for the paratroopers, as the hedges, flooding, and weather separated groups and made communication extremely difficult.
Overall, this is a top museum to visit in Normandy.
4. Neighboring Memorials/Statues
The Utah Beach area has a high concentration of smaller memorials and statues scattered throughout the area. While you don’t need to visit them all, it’s worth checking out a few as you drive around the area.
The top memorial we saw was the Richard Winters Memorial—a statue and plaque on the side of the road. The plaque doesn’t go into much detail, but the story is covered more fully at the Airborne Museum.
Winters led a small group of paratroopers in an assault on a German gun battery firing on the beaches. Though badly outnumbered, they used clever tactics to take out all three guns. The memorial stands at the actual site of the attack.
One other note: Many museums highlight how difficult the hedgerows made movement during the invasion, and once we started driving around, it was easy to see why. The hedges are incredibly tall and dense, and it became clear why they posed a major challenge for the advancing troops.
B. Omaha Beach
One of the first things you notice about Omaha Beach is how long it is. Over 4 miles (6 km) long, this wide, golden beach is still quite undeveloped and natural, with the famous bluffs, which so constricted troop movements off the beach, rising quickly from the shore.
The second of the two American beaches, Omaha was the bloodiest beach of the invasion, by far, with over 4000 casualties here (for context, the next highest had closer to 1000 casualties).
The most well-known memorial for the Normandy beaches, Les Braves, is on this beach. There are a few leftover casing from the war on the sand, but today it’s mostly a beach for leisure, walking, and contemplation.
There is a long sidewalk running along the beach, with some homes along the main road, but overall the beach is not super touristy.
1. Pointe du Hoc
To the west of the landing area and situated on a small cliff/peninsula is Pointe du Hoc. Securing Pointe du Hoc was an important objective in the invasion, as the German gun emplacements could reach both Utah and Omaha beaches and could fire on the approaching boats.
In the days before June 6, the area was bombed, but Army Rangers were tasked with scaling the cliffs and taking control of the gun emplacement.
They faced heavy fire and terrible conditions, but when they finally got to the top, the gun emplacements were empty; the Germans had sequestered them farther back in the woods. The Rangers pressed inland, found the guns, and ultimately secured the area.
It is one of the best examples in the Normandy region of the scars left from the war on the land. Deep craters from bombs riddle the field—literally every few feet you walk past another bomb crater. Barbed wire is still strewn about.
There are many remnants of gun casements and bunkers; some of them still intact, many in ruins. You can walk on top of and among the casements and look over the field. It’s a moving site that drives home the scars of war.
2. American Cemetery Omaha Beach
One of the most iconic landmarks of the D-Day beaches, the American Cemetery sits on a bluff above Omaha Beach, memorializing its great cost.
You’ll begin at a small, free visitors center run by the United States. Most people just walk by, but it’s a really nice museum with interesting maps, diagrams, and a solid video.
From there, you walk back on a paved path to get to the cemetery, with beautiful sea views along the way. There’s a very large memorial at the entrance to the cemetery, and then rows upon rows upon rows of stark white crosses.
Make sure you go into the little chapel in the middle of the graves, as the ceiling is particularly beautiful and symbolic.
There are 9,000 troops buried in the cemetery, and it is a very somber and moving sight, seeing the graves of all these men right above the beach where many of them gave their lives.
Last entrance for the American cemetery by Omaha is 5:45pm.
3. Overlord Museum
Overlord Museum was probably the busiest we visited on any of the beaches. This was partly because it’s a popular museum and very close to the American Cemetery, but also partly because the first section is very informationally dense (perhaps too dense), which leads to some crowding.
That said, this was a very well-done museum with some of the most detailed and dynamic dioramas that we saw.
It starts with an exploration of the prelude to the war, the start of WWII, and the fall of France. Then it transitions to the planning of D-Day, the original game-planning maps.
Finally, this museum has a huge collection of fascinating vignettes, and probably the biggest collection of military equipment: trucks, tanks, artillery pieces, etc. of any museum we visited.
Probably the most unique feature of this museum is that it actually had some German equipment, while most museums just had Allied equipment. Here you’ll see Panzer tanks, a Panther, trucks, and other German material. Truly, the vignettes here were top-notch.
4. German War Cemetery
The German Military Cemetery at La Cambe holds over 20,000 German troops (of which about 2000 were SS troops). Small, in-ground markers fill the cemetery with crosses punctuated periodically. It is a sobering place to visit.
Obviously the Germans were the enemy we needed to defeat, but you walk through and see how young most of these boys were (many were 18 and younger), and I just felt so sad about what a waste of lives war is. It is a nice way to humanize the opposing side as well.
C. Gold Beach
The central beach, Gold Beach, was one of two British landing sites. Today, it is quite populated and busy, and there are larger towns with a strong tourist economy.
You’ll see lots of people out playing and enjoying the water, flanked by cafes, restaurants, and shops.
One bunker still stands on the beach—a former German gun emplacement that played a key role in slowing the British landing at Gold Beach. Once that gun was taken out, the landing operation became significantly easier for the troops coming ashore.
1. Musée du Débarquement at Arromanches-les-Bains
This D-Day museum just opened in 2023 and focuses on the artificial harbor that was created by the Allies at this location. We loved the big windows throughout the museum that overlooked the beach and the sea as you go through the exhibits.
You start by watching a short film about the need for the port at Arromanches. The Germans had turned the coastal cities with good harbors into veritable fortresses, and Allied attempts to attack and take harbor cities were disasters.
Yet, the Allies would need a place to land additional troops and supplies once the landings succeeded. The solution: make a brand new one from scratch. Interestingly, the lack of harbors and ports is one reason the Germans didn’t better defend the Normandy region.
Arromanches was designated as the spot for the artificial harbor, which made it a hugely important area for the war.
The rest of the museum describes the effort to construct, design, bring over, and install harbors here at Arromanches, and another at Omaha Beach (which was ultimately unsuccessful). This harbor was used for months to resupply the troops.
Pictures, videos, and a lot of models of the artificial harbor and the immense engineering feat really bring the scale of the effort to life. The concept is fascinating, the engineering is frankly audacious, and the fact that it worked is amazing.
At the beach, you can see many of these barriers and devices still sunk in the sea. Most were removed, but some were left, and they are easily visible around the beach.
It is an incredible contrast, seeing the remnants of the terrible battle that happened on June 6, and then the popular beach destination with people out relaxing and playing happily.
2. British Normandy Memorial
Situated right above Gold Beach is an incredibly well-done and haunting tribute to the fallen British soldiers of the war, as well as just to the general Allied forces that fought at D-Day.
The memorial begins with stone tablets that give an overview of the D-Day landings, then leads into a large open pavilion.
At the center is a tomb of the unknown soldier, surrounded by a pergola-like structure made up of stone pillars. Each pillar is inscribed with the names of the fallen, organized by the date they died, along with their rank and age.
It was an interesting choice to show the deaths by day, as it gives a sense of the ebb and flow of the campaign.
From there, you walk out to a sculpture of men in the middle of an amphibious landing, surrounded by the allied flags.
But the most haunting part of the whole memorial is the adjacent field. The field is covered with hundreds of silhouettes of soldiers, as far as the eye can see, headed down toward the beach.
Each silhouette represents an actual casualty of the landing, creating a particularly emotional and moving experience.
At the far end of the memorial is a small remembrance for the French who died in the Normandy invasion.
As the invasion moved toward Bayeux and Caen, hundreds of civilians were killed in the fighting, and the memorial drives home that even as the French citizens welcomed and aided the liberation, they also paid a heavy price.
3. Longues-sur-Mer Battery
The Longues-sur-Mer Battery is a set of four German gun casemates positioned just back from the sea on a bluff. It’s the only site in Normandy where the original guns are still in place, making it a particularly striking and memorable stop.
This battery was a target of British forces, as the guns were designed to protect Gold Beach. After repeated bombardment, British troops secured the area on June 7th.
Today, you can walk around the structures and even inside some of them. There are also walking paths out towards the sea with beautiful panoramic views.
4. Bayeux War Cemetery
This British Military Cemetery holds the remains of 4000 British servicemen. It is a beautiful memorial with wonderful symbolism throughout.
Rows of white stone tablets mark the graves, but they are customized with different symbols differentiating between sailors, marines, army, air force, and others. We even saw some from international forces, such as Poland.
There are two buildings with beautiful artwork, a registry, and a wreath of poppies, as well as a large cross and tomb. Overall we were impressed by the reverence of the place, which overlooks the city of Bayeux from a nearby hill.
D. Juno Beach
Somewhat embarrassingly, although I feel like I am pretty knowledgeable about WWII, I did not realize that one of the beaches on D-Day was the responsibility of the Canadian military. That beach is Juno.
Juno was a very difficult beach to take on June 6, and was the second deadliest of all the landings, with around 1000 casualties. Despite that, the Canadians actually pushed the farthest inland on D-Day itself.
The beach is impressively wide and flat, and is fairly quiet despite being adjacent to the sizable town of Courseulles-sur-Mer.
1. Juno Beach Center
Situated right on Juno Beach, the Juno Beach Center takes you through Canada’s experience throughout the 1900’s: the fallout from WWI, the 20’s and Great Depression, how it got into WWII, and then a decent bit about what happened in the country after WWII.
There actually wasn’t that much of a focus on what happened on D-Day at Juno Beach itself. Rather, the museum was a very broad overview of Canada and its history in general.
Honestly, I wish they had done more to tell the story of the war. It was mostly basic informational signs and some pictures, with a few artifacts. There weren’t a lot of interactive or dynamic displays, vignettes, or large equipment displays, with the exception of the interesting displays on the anti-U-boat campaign.
The other highlight is a video that highlights the heroism of the soldiers on Juno and shows the difficulties they faced, as they had to land with very little support.
Overall, the museum felt pretty basic—more general than expected, with limited focus on WWII and not much specifically about D-Day or Operation Overlord.
There is not a lot on Juno Beach, so this is really the only thing to do besides walking the beach. However, there is one other site where you can honor the sacrifices and efforts of the Canadian forces…
2. Canadian War Cemetery
This cemetery was amazing! It is the smallest war cemetery, holding “just” 2000 men, but it was absolutely lovely. The gravesites are decorated with flowers, bushes, and trees, and the effect is so beautiful.
As you enter, make sure you read the plaques, as there are some interesting stories about the people buried here. In particular, there are several sets of brothers, including one set of 3 brothers that all died within days of each during D-Day.
This is a bit of a hidden gem but is a lovely and very moving one to visit. The cemetery is located at the farthest point that the Canadians were able to push on D-Day.
E. Sword Beach
What is probably the most developed of the beaches today, Sword was the second British beach and a rather successful one.
There are not many memorials or sites on or near the beach itself. Instead, you’ll go a bit inland to see some sites related to the British Airborne operations on D-Day.
1. Merville Battery Site and Museum
This fascinating location is located a few km inland of Sword Beach and had several gun casements that were directed to fire at the sea. Like the Americans at Utah, the British developed a complex landing plan with several objectives – one of which was the Merville Battery.
Seven hundred paratroopers were sent to take control of this battery, but due to the chaos of the landing, most were scattered amongst the swamps and marshes of the area. Only 150 soldiers were able to group up to take on the battery, and without the heavy equipment that was sent in on gliders.
Despite this, and having about the same number as the defenders, Lieutenant Colonel Otway led these members of the 9th British Parachute Battalion to take the battery and disable most of the guns. Between the attack and later defense of the site, the British lost 75 of the 150 men.
The site is extremely well done and gives a very thorough and immersive experience. You can visit all 4 of the casements where the guns were sheltered, and you can see different displays about what the battle was like and what the battery was like. The biggest casement has a sound and light show where you see a reenactment of the event.
Another moving feature is that there are trees planted all around the site that are dedicated to the soldiers who fought and lived in the battle. The site does a good job commemorating the heroic effort of these soldiers.
2. Pegasus Bridge Memorial
This memorial and museum highlight one of the major objectives of the 6th British Airborne Division: the seizure and protection of the bridges leading from the beachheads to the mainland so that the Allies could break out into Normandy.
The troops for this attack landed in gliders, which was absolutely bonkers because they were mostly made of wood and cardboard! The memorial showcases examples of the gliders, as well as many artifacts and information about the landing.
A force of 181 men took control the bridge, repelled counterattacks, and set up emplacements to defend from German bombers. Ultimately hundreds of gliders landed in nearby fields to reinforce other cities and complete additional objectives.
Thanks to the gliders and the airborne troops, Sword Beach was one of the smoothest landings with the fewest casualties of all the beaches.
F. War Memorial Museum in Caen
This is the biggest WWII museum in Normandy, and provides an in-depth look at many aspects of the war around the world. Because of this, and because it is just a litle bit more removed from the beach sites, we’re giving it its own section.
It offers insight into many different facets of the war, including the lead-up, every phase and stage, equipment and weapons, the toll on civilians, and some aspects of the Holocaust.
Exhibits are a combination of photographs, videos, propaganda posters from the war, maps, artifacts, and newspaper clippings. The videos in particular were very engaging.
We really enjoyed the section on tactics used in different operations. There’s a large exhibit specifically focused on D-Day and Operation Overlord, offering fascinating insight into the scale of the invasion and the heavy toll Normandy endured—it saw some of the most intense fighting on the Western Front.
It also gave me even greater respect for how hard France fought in WWII (sometimes their surrender is made light of). The museum did a good job showcasing how long and hard the French fought, the immense losses they suffered, and the bravery of the Resistance.
I think one of the strengths of the museum was how they regularly communicated the scale of death and destruction, while also sharing more personal examples of tragedies to highlight the individual.
There were plenty of heartbreaking stories and statistics throughout the exhibits, but it’s important to learn them and remember what happened.
We thought the museum was very well-done and should be prioritized on your visit to Normandy.
The Wrap Up
While there are some other D-Day sites to visit in the area, we spent several full days doing our best to explore and discover the top locations as well as many off-the-beaten-path sites around the D-Day beaches.
You could easily fill 2-3 days visiting the spots in this guide, and we feel confident we hit the best of Normandy’s D-Day locations.
That being said, if you’re short on time, don’t feel bad about picking and choosing just a few spots to visit. At some point, the information in the museums did start to overlap, so it’s totally fine to choose a couple that have an angle you’re most interested in.
I hope you feel moved by the sites and stories of the invasion as you visit these powerful remembrances.
