Canada's D-Day: The Juno Beach Landing
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Port
Cherbourg (Normandy), France
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Activity Level
Moderate
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Excursion Type
All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At
$219.95
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
8½ Hours
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Meals Included
Meals included
Set out by motorcoach to Courseulles-sur-Mer in the Calvados region of Normany to focus on Canada's amazing contribution to the D-Day Invasion of German-occupied France. You will visit the Canadian Juno Beach Centre and Juno Beach itself.
The Canadian Juno Beach Centre is a Canadian World War II memorial and education facility built to honor the 14,000 Canadian troops who landed in Normandy, those who fought and died on French soil, and the veterans who helped to build the facility.
En route to Bény-sur-Mer, you'll also stop at Maison des Canadiens (Canadians' House) -- one of the first properties liberated on June 6, 1944. On D-Day alone, Canada suffered almost a thousand casualties, of whom 340 were killed or died of wounds. The list lengthened during the following days as the Germans sought desperately to drive the invaders out. The men who fell on the beaches and in the bitter bridgehead battles are buried in the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery near the village of Reviers. The cemetery contains 2,049 headstones surrounded by pines and maples. Take some time here for quiet contemplation.
Lunch is served in Arromanches and, after, you will have some free time to view the remnants of the Mulberry Harbours. Two portable harbors were developed by the British to facilitate the rapid cargo transfer onto the Allied beaches; they were towed in prefabricated pieces across the English Channel and installed within hours of the D-Day landings.
With some marvelous insights into a pivotal moment in history, you will make your way back to Cherbourg.
Notes: Travel time from the pier to Courseulles-sur-Mer is approximately two hours each way. Wear comfortable walking shoes