4
nights
129
km driving
5
challenges
1,250
XP to earn
4
nights
129
km driving
5
challenges
1,250
XP to earn
Four nights in a loop from Ouistreham and back, from the airborne landings to Omaha Beach. The first two cover Pegasus Bridge, taken by glider troops in about ten minutes, the Merville Battery and William the Conqueror's castle and abbeys in Caen, with the Mémorial de Caen north of the town. The second two reach Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery and the cliff of the Pointe du Hoc, the remains of the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches and the guns at Longues-sur-Mer. Bayeux has its cathedral, the Battle of Normandy museum and the largest Commonwealth war cemetery of the Second World War in France.
Starts and finishes at the ferry in Caen-Ouistreham
Best from April to October
129 km of driving in total, about 3 hours over 4 days
Caen: William the Conqueror's Castle, the Two Abbeys and the Mémorial
Edited by Avandra
Days 1–2 · 2 nights
Pegasus Bridge and Caen
5 km · 7 min from Ouistreham
Base camp · 2 nights
Camping Les Hautes Coutures
4.1
1,533 Google reviews
Editor's note
Two nights between Pegasus Bridge and Caen. Six Horsa gliders brought Major John Howard's 181 men down on the night of 5–6 June 1944, and they took the Caen canal and Orne bridges in about ten minutes. Cross the bridge at Bénouville and call in at the Café Gondrée, still run by the family who lived there in 1944. At Ranville, the Mémorial Pegasus keeps the original 1934 bridge. The Merville Battery has furnished casemates and a Dakota to climb aboard. In Caen, walk the walls of William the Conqueror's castle, find his tomb and Matilda's in the two abbeys he founded, and visit the Mémorial de Caen.
Pegasus Bridge and Merville: The British Airborne on D-Day
250 XPWalk across Pegasus Bridge over the Caen canal at Bénouville, the bridge taken by Major John Howard's glider troops on 6 June 1944
0.7 km from camp
About 4.5 h
Caen: William the Conqueror's Castle, the Two Abbeys and the Mémorial
250 XPWalk the full 850 m of the castle rampart round all 5.5 hectares, counting the eleven square towers Henry I added, then find the foundations of the keep he built about 1120 beside the north gate — a castle inside the castle — and go into the salle de l'Échiquier, the great hall where Henry II received the king of France in 1158 and again in 1173
9.5 km from camp
About 3.5 h
Walks from camp
Days 3–4 · 2 nights
Omaha Beach, Arromanches and Bayeux
45 km · 57 min from Pegasus Bridge and Caen
Base camp · 2 nights
Camping des Bords de l'Aure
4.5
1,021 Google reviews
Editor's note
Two nights for Omaha Beach, Arromanches and Bayeux, the last before the crossing home. Walk Omaha Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer and the Normandy American Cemetery above it, with 9,388 graves. US Army Rangers scaled the 30m cliff of the Pointe du Hoc, still pocked with bomb craters. Some Phoenix caissons of the Mulberry harbour are still visible off Arromanches; watch the film at Arromanches 360, then walk among the four gun casemates at Longues-sur-Mer. In Bayeux, go into the cathedral consecrated in 1077. The Tapestry museum is closed until autumn 2027, and the Tapestry is at the British Museum from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027.
D-Day Beaches: Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery and the Pointe du Hoc
300 XPWalk out onto Omaha Beach at Les Moulins and find Anilore Banon's three stainless-steel sculptures standing in the sand — the wings of brotherhood, rise freedom, the wings of hope — then turn to the signal monument behind them and pick out the two frescoes to the US 1st Infantry Division and the 116th Regimental Combat Team
14.3 km from camp
About 4 h
Arromanches: The Mulberry Harbour and the Longues Battery
225 XPFrom the sea wall at Arromanches, count the Phoenix caissons still lying offshore and work out what you are not seeing: the largest were 70 m long and 20 m high and weighed over 6,000 tonnes, so only their tops break the surface. Then look straight out from the village and place the quay that stood there — seven floating platforms linked into 750 m of pier, joined to the shore by two floating roadways
8.2 km from camp
About 3.5 h
Bayeux: The Cathedral, the Battle of Normandy and the Tapestry's Return
225 XPFind the Tapestry's own building, the 17th-century hôtel de Nesmond, and the cathedral treasury it hung in for centuries, then pick out Bayeux itself on the embroidery: scene 22 shows the walled town, and you can still trace the line of the Roman castrum through the streets
0.9 km from camp
About 5 h
Walks from camp
Finish the guide, earn 1,250 XP
5 challenges across 2 stops.
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