Panzers In Normandy
- Duration: 5 days
- Board Basis: Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Ref: D2TLEGFPN
Holiday Summary
- Travel Type: Coach
PLEASE NOTE: Price is per person and based on two people sharing a twin/double room. Single room supplements and upgrades are not included.
Itinerary
2024 Itinerary
Day 1
Local departure by coach, then to Normandy for a four-night stay.
Day 2 - Sword Beach to Bayeux
We begin our look at armoured warfare in Normandy on Sword Beach, examining the use of specialist tanks on the beaches, the run-in shoot of British gunners, and the advance to the Hillman Bunker system, where we visit this important strongpoint. We then look at the 21 Panzer Division counter-attack on D-Day and then move into the battlefield area around Caen looking at the Canadian armoured units which fought the tanks of 12 SS Panzer Division. Here we see the battlefields, the memorials and the Ardennes Abbey. After lunchtime in Bayeux, we look at the tanks on display here and then visit the German Cemetery at La Cambe to discuss Michael Wittmann who is buried here. Later we look at the armoured battles around Lingèvres and followed the Sherwood Rangers tanks on the battlefield around Tilly and Point 103.
Meals - Breakfast
Day 3 - Saumur Tank Museum
A long but rewarding day as we travel south to visit the superb French Tank Museum at Saumur. This is France's main museum of armoured fighting vehicles and covers WWI to the present day. Among the more than 200 tanks found here, many were used in Normandy and among them are a Panther tank, Tiger I and Tiger II as well as Allied Churchills and Shermans. We have plenty of time to explore this rich collection before returning to Normandy.
Meals - Breakfast
Day 4 - Operation Bluecoat to Breakout
This morning we follow the British armoured Brigades in Operation Bluecoat as they advanced through the Bocage countryside. We visit the isolated graves of two British tank commanders, see the Museum of the Piercing of the Bocage in St Martin, and examine the fighting at Hill 309 before visiting St Charles de Percy War Cemetery. After lunch, we look at the breakout from Caen following Operation Totalise, and the advance of the Canadian Worthington Force in August 1944. We walk some of the ground where Michael Wittmann’s final battle took place, visit the Bretteville Canadian War Cemetery and finish our tour at Vimoutiers to see the only Tiger tank remaining on the Normandy battlefields.
Meals - Breakfast
Day 5
Return home.
Meals - Breakfast
Accommodation
You will stay for four nights at the 2-star Carline Caen, or the 3-star Ibis Falaise - Coeur de Normandie.
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