Anyone drive from Le Harve to Normandy beaches?

[chicotam]

We were on the Sept 19th Wine Immersion Cruise and docked in Le Havre overnight. We rented a car for two days from Europcar for a very reasonable price. Our last day fell on a Sunday so we were instructed to return it to the Hotel Mercure which was easy then took a taxi back to the ship. I would recommend Europcar, just give yourself a 1/2 hour to get through the paperwork. We did reserve from the US. We also went to Bayeaux first and worked our way back. We were able to park the car near the ship overnight - made it really convenient the next day.

[pizzalady1]

Lambchops

We are on the Emerald Princess in May and looking at renting a car or taking a private tour. Do you know how much the ship's tour was so I can compare pricing.

 

Princess Ship Tour:

http://www.princess.com/find/excursion/exDetails.page?tourCode=LEH-115&t=R&exType=S

[lamchops]

Lampchops and anyone else who can answer my questions

We are also Canadians and want to go to Juno Beach. Do you know if we just go to the car rental booth at the cruiseship terminal to rent a car or do we book ahead of time and if so what rental company. We will be 6 or 8 people

I would also like to know what Princess charges for their tour. We dont go until May (Emerald Princess) so excursions are not posted yet,

We have also been inquirying about private tours and had one quote 700 euros for the day.

Thanks everybody for your help

Ontario Cruiser

 

I pre-booked the car with Europcar as it's the only company that was willing to open on Sunday but we paid a premium for "afterhours". I guess with a cruise ship in port they're going to earn alot of premiums. I would pre-book as there's no counting how many people will be renting vehicles. You must request an "automatic" or you'll get a stickshift. I feel comfortable with a gps and have printed Google maps and directions for back-up. Time to test my high school french!:)

 

Princess wanted $209 for a 10.5 hour excursion with visits to all the key D-Day sites.

Private Overlord tours were all booked up by others on our cruise so I had few options. I suggest if you go with a private tour company, commit early.

[Ontario Cruiser]

Thanks both of you for your response.

We have decide to do a private tour and are corresponding with Christophe Reault who has glowing reviews on Trip Advisor.

Ontario Cruiser

TA Emerald Princess Apr 26 2013

[SarniaLo]

We arrive in LeHavre on Sunday, November 4

Be aware that November 1st is a holiday in France and many people will take also Friday 2d off, to have a long week-end, which will end on your Sunday, so you might get a bit of traffic around Caen on your way back, as I mentioned previously. You should be early enough to avoid the worst of it but it's probably wise to take that into account in your schedule.

[lamchops]

I just got back from the TA with a stop in LeHavre. I rented a csr from Europcar and drove 1.5 hrs to Bayeaux amd spent 1.5 hrs at the Tapestry and town area. We then drove .5 hrs to Juno Beach Center and spent 2 hrs there. On the 1.5 hrs drive back we spent .5 hrs at the Canadian cemetery and another .5 hrs at Pegasus bridge. An 8+ hour day at a reasonable price.:) I think the tolls totalled 9 euros each way. A very easy drive with a gps.

Beware the speed cameras as I had a speeding ticket waiting for me at home. (There's a couple of zones that drops from 100k to 70k) I got nailed for doing 77k in a 70k zone aprox $100us fine.:mad: My wife saw the flash!