Immerse yourself in the heart of the history of the Battle of Normandy by following a 100 km circuit from the beaches of Calvados to the Pocket of Falaise-Chambois. Discover the must-see museums and memorials of the Second World War, from the Allied landings of June 6 to the last battle of August 21, 1944 marking the Liberation of Normandy.
Arromanches and the landing beaches
© Vincent Rustuel / Calvados Attractiveness
The peaceful seaside resort of Arromanches remains a major site of the Normandy landings. It was the ideal place for the Allied troops to set up a artificial harbor whose remains are still visible offshore. This work, a masterpiece of military engineering at the time, allowed the disembarked soldiers to be supplied with arms and ammunition.
Two must-visit sites are to be seen in Arromanches: the Landing Museum et circular cinema Arromanches 360° which retraces the 100 days of the Battle of Normandy.
The D-Day Museum
Facing the sea, the Arromanches Museum is the first museum built to commemorate June 6, 1944 and the Battle of Normandy. Entirely redesigned and recently reopened to the public, it also presents the history of the construction of the Mulberry B artificial harbor which it faces.
The Caen Memorial
The Caen Memorial is an essential step on the way to Memory. It helps to understand the political context before 1945 and to better understand the issues of the Second World War, total war. Whether the Landing and the Battle of Normandy remain at the center of museographic discourse, the museum also devotes considerable space to post-1945 world politics with a space dedicated to the Cold War.
Do not miss the immersive room which presents a film broadcast in 360° on 11 screens. "Europe, our history" allows you to understand in 19 minutes the European 20th century from 1900 to 1991 through the sequence of three world and European wars: the First, the Second and the Cold War.
The Falaise-Chambois Pocket and the end of the Battle of Normandy
After three months of fierce struggle following the major military operation of June 6, 1944, the Battle of Normandy ended in the hell of the fighting in the Falaise-Chambois Pocket. It is east of Falaise that between August 18 and 21, 1944 took place the last chapter of the Battle of Normandy, at the cost of numerous human (military and civilian) and material losses.
The Falaise Memorial – The Civil War
The Falaise Memorial reveals another point of view of the Battle of Normandy: that of its inhabitants with a unique museum dedicated to the daily life of civilians during WWII. Immerse yourself in the daily life of the populations of Normandy, France and Europe thanks to period objects, reconstructed decorations, archive films, photos... In the immersive room, created on the remains of a destroyed dwelling by the bombings of the summer of 1944, the projection plunges the viewer into the heart of the hell of the bombings of the Second World War.
The Battle of the Falaise-Chambois Pocket
With its exceptional view of the battlefield, Montormel Memorial retraces all of the Battle of the Falaise-Chambois Pocket in a resolutely modern museum space. This decisive battle for the Liberation of France and Europe was won in a hard struggle by the allied coalition made up of more than 12 nations.
©Loic Durand / Calvados Attractiveness
Pay homage in a military cemetery
On the road from Caen to Falaise, two cemeteries pay homage to soldiers engaged in the Battle of Normandy and who died in combat: the Canadian military cemetery of Cintheaux (2958 soldiers) and the Polish military cemetery of Urville-Langannerie (696 soldiers).
