This year marks the 79th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy. On 6 June 1944 Allied troops launched a daring assault on the German defences along the Normandy coast, leading to some of the bloodiest and fiercest fighting of the Second World War. As the anniversary approaches, many tourists will be visiting Normandy to pay their respects and learn about one of the most important and decisive campaigns of the Second World War.

But how do you get the most from your trip? With so much to see across Normandy, DFDS has gathered some of the must-see sites. From museums and memorials to beaches and batteries, there is enough to keep you coming back year after year. The ferry from Newhaven gets you to Dieppe in just four hours, putting you in the heart of Normandy and easily on your way to discovering D-Day.

D-Day Festival – 27 May to 18 June

Every year the Normandy tourist boards come together to put on a huge festival commemorating D-Day and the liberation of Normandy. This celebration of freedom is packed with more than one hundred events including vehicle parades, parachute displays and guided tours, as well as special events for children.

The streets and beaches of towns like Carentan, Arromanches and Saint-Mere-Eglise are packed with veterans and visitors, with soldiers and civilians dressed in uniform and 1940s costume providing military demonstrations, concerts and parades that immerse you in the 1940s and breathe life into the events that many of us have only read about or seen on screen.

The full program of events can be found on the Normandy Tourism website, so make sure you don't miss out on some of the unique events happening, including a chance to tour the beaches by helicopter, a giant beach picnic at Omaha and an American football game at Saint-Mere-Eglise.

Cemeteries

Between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers from both the Allied and Axis forces died during the D-Day landings, with the entire Battle of Normandy causing the loss of more than 75,000 men.

To commemorate and honour those lost in the fighting, organisations from different countries, including the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, were created to properly maintain and look after the Normandy cemeteries.

Perhaps the most famous is the Normandy American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach, which featured in the film Saving Private Ryan. 9,386 American soldiers are buried here, with the Wall of the Missing commemorating 1,557 more (those whose bodies have since been recovered are marked with a rosette). A visitor centre, opened in 2007, tells the stories of the men commemorated here.

Bayeux War Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth cemetery from the Second World War, with 4,144 Commonwealth burials, of whom 338 are unidentified. There are also some 500 graves of other nationalities, including Germans. Just opposite the cemetery is the Bayeux Memorial, which lists the names of more than 1,800 men who died during the campaign but whose bodies were never recovered. The nearby Museum of the Battle of Normandy provides further details about the campaign and displays everyday items likely belonging to some of the men buried at Bayeux.

At La Cambe, the largest of the six German cemeteries in Normandy, more than a quarter of the 80,000 Germans who lost their lives in the campaign are buried. The stones and plaques here are in dark greys and blacks, in deliberate contrast to the white Allied graves. A large central mound with a dark cross flanked by two statues marks the resting place of almost 300 unknown German soldiers.

The recently opened British Normandy Memorial overlooks Gold Beach, one of two stretches where British forces landed on D-Day. The memorial records the names of 22,442 servicemen and women from 38 different countries who fell during the Battle of Normandy. The Royal British Legion's Service of Remembrance takes place on 6th June, as does the International Ceremony, which hosts representatives from the nine principal Allied nations and Germany. Both events are open to the public.

Museums and Monuments

The D-Day Experience at Carentan is a truly unique museum, offering a more interactive experience than most other D-Day museums. Here visitors can learn about D-Day in an immersive 3D movie theatre. which provides a cinematic experience of the D-Day landings using recreated and archive footage. There are also two museums, one of which is in the former headquarters of the German paratroopers known as Dead Man's Corner. Visitors can also experience the dangerous Channel crossing undertaken by American troops in an authentic C-47 aircraft, converted into a high-tech flight simulator.

After undergoing a sizeable renovation with a new building opened in April 2023, the D-Day Museum at Arromanches is one of the best D-Day museums in Normandy. It was the first museum built to commemorate the events, opening in 1954 and it overlooks Gold Beach. The new building, designed to look like the nearby Mulberry harbours, explains the history of the harbours and their role in the Battle of Normandy through a set of immersive sequences.

The Caen Memorial Museum not only commemorates D-Day, but also the events of World War II and the history of conflicts in the twentieth century. There are three memorial gardens, for the British, American, and Canadian troops involved in the liberation, as well as exhibits and artifacts from D-Day and the Battle of Caen. Visitors who might be planning a tour of D-Day sites can buy a Bataille de Normandie ticket which grants access to three sites; the Caen Memorial Museum, the Falaise Memorial Museum dedicated to civilians, and the Arromanches 360 cinema.

One of the most comprehensive museums in Normandy detailing the events and aftermath of D-Day is the Overlord Museum, located right by Omaha Beach. The museum has a collection built over 50 years, with exhibits of weapons, vehicles, and artefacts from D-Day in June through to the Liberation of Paris in August, inviting visitors to experience the sights and sounds of the time for a thought-provoking and sobering exhibition.

Situated on a promontory between Omaha Beach and Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc formed a key part of the German defences along the Normandy coast, with solid concrete batteries and artillery placements capable of decimating any would-be invaders. Following a daring raid by American forces, the area was taken from the Germans. The ruins of the bunkers and machine gun posts have been kept as they were at the end of the war, right down to the bomb craters. The area is open and free to visitors, and information panels give detailed information about the history of the site.

Normandy is a four-hour ferry trip away via DFDS' Newhaven to Dieppe route, which offers up to three sailings per day. Fares start from £49 each way for a car and two people. Facilities onboard the ship include a bar, restaurant, and a duty-free shop, plus a quiet lounge with reclining seats. For extra privacy customers can book a cabin from £24 each way.

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For further press information, please contact: 

Michelle Ulyatt / Adam Toombs / Karen Bayfield

Roch PR Ltd

T: +44 1304 272509

E: dfdsteam@rochpr.com   

About DFDS:

DFDS provides ferry and transport services in and around Europe, generating annual revenues of EUR 2.3 bn.  

To over 10,000 freight customers we deliver high performance and superior reliability through ferry & port terminal services, and transport and logistics solutions. DFDS delivers high reliability to more than 10,000 freight customers through ferry and port terminal services and transport and logistics solutions.  

For more than five million passengers, it provides safe overnight and short sea ferry services.  

Our 8,000 employees are located on ships and in in offices across 20 countries. DFDS was founded in 1866, is headquartered in Copenhagen, and listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen.  
 
In the UK, DFDS operates passenger ferry services on routes from Dover to Calais, Dover to Dunkirk, Newcastle to Amsterdam and Newhaven to Dieppe. 
 
DFDS has been named 'Europe's Leading Ferry Operator' for 11 years running (2012-2022), as well as the 'World's Leading Ferry Operator' for the last 12 years (2011-22). 
 
DFDS currently operates up to 54 sailings a day between Dover and Calais and Dunkirk.  DFDS also offers two daily sailings between Newcastle and Amsterdam. In addition, the UK network includes a passenger and freight service between Newhaven and Dieppe, which has four daily sailings and is owned by Transmanche Ferries. 
 
For further information about DFDS, or to find out about the latest sailing times, fares and offers across all routes from the UK, visit www.dfds.com.