D-Day Key Locations in Normandy: Maps, Memorials & History

✔ Calm La Manche base · ✔ Major D-Day sites as realistic day trips
✔ Space to reflect, not rush · ✔ History without crowds dictating your mood
✔ Evenings spent quietly decomposing events — not fighting for parking

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First published: October 2025

Last updated: January 2026

Normandy holds some of the most powerful WWII sites in Europe — not polished theme parks, but real places where lives were lost, decisions were made, and history pivoted hard. Whether you’re planning family holidays in Normandy, a self-catering break in Manche, or a focused WWII history itinerary, this guide covers the D-Day locations that genuinely matter — and how to do them from our gîte without turning your holiday into a military endurance test.

The D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 marked the start of Operation Overlord — the Allied invasion of occupied Europe. What often gets lost in the headlines is the scale: airborne drops in the dark, amphibious assaults at dawn, and weeks of intense inland fighting afterwards. Normandy isn’t one story — it’s hundreds of overlapping ones, scattered across beaches, fields, villages, and hedgerows.

A quick local note before we begin: La Manche is a brilliant base for D-Day exploring because it gives you breathing room. You can do the major sites as day trips, then come back to quiet lanes, proper darkness at night, and a sofa that doesn’t ask you to buy a fridge magnet on the way out. History deserves better than a rushed checklist.

It also deserves context. Seeing one site in isolation can feel abstract; staying locally allows patterns to emerge. Roads you’ve driven suddenly make sense. Distances matter. Terrain stops being theoretical. This is one of the quiet advantages of staying in La Manche rather than hopping hotels or chasing the most Instagrammed viewpoint.

🕊️ Pegasus Bridge – Heroism in the Night

Pegasus Bridge is one of the defining moments of D-Day. In the early hours of 6 June 1944, British airborne troops landed by glider just metres from the bridge at Bénouville, securing a vital crossing over the Caen Canal before the Germans could react. Quiet, precise, and terrifying — the sort of operation best appreciated with a strong coffee afterwards and a moment to stare into the middle distance.

If you’ve ever typed where is Pegasus Bridge into Google, it’s in Calvados, around 15 minutes from Ouistreham and Sword Beach. The museum on site adds helpful context with artefacts, personal stories, and a full-size Horsa glider that makes you wonder how anyone walked away from landing one of those in the dark (answer: grit, luck, and absolutely no room for error).

Practical note from the “we’ve-driven-this-route-too-many-times” department: Pegasus Bridge pairs well with Ranville, then a slower afternoon — it’s not a place to speed-walk while checking your phone. If you want the emotion to land, you have to give it time to land too.

📍 Bénouville (Pegasus Bridge) – approx. 1 hr 20 from our gîte

🇺🇸 Pointe du Hoc – Courage Against the Cliffs

Pointe du Hoc sits between Omaha and Utah Beach, and it looks exactly as it should — scarred, cratered, and uncompromising. Here, US Army Rangers scaled roughly 30-metre cliffs under direct fire to neutralise German gun positions. Many didn’t make it. The fact that any did is frankly astonishing.

This site has been deliberately left raw. You walk among bomb craters, shattered bunkers, and sheer drops to the sea. It’s exposed, windy, and emotionally heavy — which feels appropriate. Even teenagers tend to go quiet here (which, in 2026, should probably qualify as a minor miracle).

A small but important detail often missed: Pointe du Hoc was not a clean success. The guns had been moved. Rangers still held the position for days under constant counterattack. It’s a reminder that bravery and clarity do not guarantee tidy outcomes — something Normandy teaches repeatedly.

📍 Near Cricqueville-en-Bessin – approx. 1 hr from our gîte

🇫🇷 Sainte-Mère-Église – First to Land, First to Fight

Sainte-Mère-Église is inseparable from the American airborne landings. In the early hours of D-Day, paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne dropped directly into the town — some into trees, some onto rooftops, and one memorably onto the church tower. A mannequin still hangs there today, quietly reminding visitors that history is sometimes stranger than fiction (and that gravity is remarkably consistent).

The Airborne Museum here is one of the strongest in Normandy: immersive without being gimmicky, and detailed enough for serious history fans. It also works well for families with older children — the exhibits are engaging, but the tone is respectful. Sainte-Mère-Église is firmly La Manche, and it feels like it: less “tour group conveyor belt”, more “real town that still lives here”.

Worth noting for anyone staying locally: Sainte-Mère-Église works particularly well first thing in the morning or late afternoon. Staying at our gîte allows you to avoid peak hours entirely — a small logistical detail that makes a surprisingly big difference.

📍 Sainte-Mère-Église (La Manche) – approx. 1 hr from our gîte

⚓ Arromanches-les-Bains – Mulberry Harbour Remains

Arromanches was the location of Mulberry B — one of the two artificial harbours constructed after D-Day to keep supplies flowing. At low tide, enormous concrete caissons still sit offshore like stranded whales, quietly minding their own business and making you realise how much of the victory depended on logistics, not Hollywood speeches.

The D-Day Museum explains the engineering achievement clearly, and the 360° cinema adds useful context if you’re newer to the subject. Nearby, the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer is worth giving time — not a quick photo-and-go, but a proper pause.

This is also a good reminder that not all D-Day sites are about combat. Some are about problem-solving under pressure — and Arromanches is one of the clearest examples of that.

📍 Arromanches-les-Bains (Calvados) – approx. 1 hr 20 from our gîte

🇩🇪 La Cambe German War Cemetery – A Necessary Perspective

La Cambe is quieter, darker, and often skipped — which is exactly why it matters. Over 21,000 German soldiers are buried here beneath flat stone markers, centred around a grassy tumulus topped with a stark memorial cross. It’s not a comfortable stop, but it’s an important one.

If you want a balanced understanding of the Normandy campaign, this helps. Visiting La Cambe alongside Allied memorials doesn’t “even things out” — it widens the lens. It’s a reminder that the battlefield was full of young men sent to die by people who wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in a hedge-lined field outside Carentan.

This is a place best visited without a timetable. Staying in La Manche makes that easier — no need to rush back across the region before dusk.

📍 La Cambe (Calvados) – approx. 1 hr 15 from our gîte

🪖 Carentan – Strategic Town Between the Beaches

Carentan mattered because it linked Utah and Omaha after D-Day — a practical objective with brutal consequences. The 101st Airborne fought hard to take and hold the area, and the town later became familiar to many through Band of Brothers. The real story is more complex, less tidy, and far more exhausting.

Today, Carentan feels like a working town that happens to carry heavy history. It has memorials, museum options, and a canal-side walk that gives you a quieter angle on the area — ideal if you want to reflect without being shoulder-to-shoulder with a coach party.

📍 Carentan (La Manche) – approx. 55 mins from our gîte

🇬🇧 Ranville – First Village Liberated

Ranville holds a special place for British visitors. Captured by the 6th Airborne Division in the early hours of D-Day, it became the first liberated village in France. The village cemetery includes the graves of paratroopers and glider pilots who landed nearby — many barely out of their teens.

It’s quiet, residential, and deeply moving. No fanfare. Just headstones, hedges, and the sort of silence that makes you lower your voice without thinking. If you want “a moment”, this is where you’ll find it.

📍 Ranville (Calvados) – approx. 1 hr 20 from our gîte

🪖 Dead Man’s Corner Museum – 101st Airborne in Focus

Dead Man’s Corner Museum, at Saint-Côme-du-Mont, focuses on the 101st Airborne and the fighting around the causeways and hedgerows. Exhibits and artefacts bring the claustrophobic nature of the battle into sharp focus — the kind of close-quarters combat where “visibility” mostly meant “you can see the hedge that’s about to shoot at you”.

It’s a strong stop between Carentan and Sainte-Mère-Église, and particularly good for visitors who want inland context rather than only beach narratives.

🪖 Utah Beach – The Quieter Landing with Enormous Impact

Utah Beach often surprises visitors — not because it lacks significance, but because it feels almost understated. This was the westernmost Allied landing beach, and while casualties here were lower than at Omaha, the success of Utah was absolutely critical to securing a foothold in Normandy.

The beach itself is wide, open, and deceptively calm. Inland, the story becomes more complex: causeways, flooded fields, and narrow routes that shaped the entire battle. Staying in La Manche allows you to explore both the shoreline and the hinterland without rushing — something many visitors miss entirely.

📍 Utah Beach sector (La Manche) – approx. 1 hr from our gîte

🪖 German Coastal Batteries at Azeville and Crisbecq

The German batteries at Azeville and Crisbecq (Saint-Marcouf) offer valuable insight into the Atlantic Wall from the opposite perspective. These sites were heavily bombed, fiercely defended, and directly engaged during the Utah landings.

What makes them particularly worthwhile is their location: firmly in La Manche, and often overlooked by visitors racing between beaches. Underground tunnels, command posts, and gun emplacements reveal how the coastal defences actually functioned — and how vulnerable they became once airborne troops were inland.

📍 Azeville & Saint-Marcouf (La Manche) – approx. 1 hr from our gîte

🌾 The Flooded Fields and Causeways of the Douve

One of the least understood aspects of the Normandy campaign is the deliberate flooding of fields around the River Douve. German forces inundated large areas, turning flat farmland into a patchwork of waterlogged obstacles.

Paratroopers landing here found themselves scattered, disoriented, and often fighting in knee-deep water. Driving these quiet back roads today, it’s hard to reconcile the peaceful scenery with the chaos that unfolded here — which is precisely why seeing it in person matters.

This is where staying locally pays off. These aren’t signposted “attractions”, but landscapes you begin to recognise once you slow down and connect the dots.

📍 Douve valley & causeway areas (La Manche) – approx. 45–60 mins from our gîte

🗺️ Mapping the Past – Plan Your Visit

If you’re looking for a map of Normandy WWII sites, you’ll find plenty — but the best plan is the one you can actually enjoy. From our gîte in La Manche, the major sites are all realistic day trips, which means you can pace the experience properly: mornings for museums, afternoons for quieter memorials, and evenings for decompression.

If you’re searching online, try phrases like map of Normandy WWII sites or tourist map of Normandy. Just remember: the internet will always suggest doing 14 sites in one day. The internet is also the reason people try to toast bread with a fork, so choose wisely.

🇫🇷 Base Yourself in La Manche

La Manche is ideal if you want history with space around it. You can do the “big names” as day trips, then come back to calm countryside, quieter roads, and a genuinely restorative base. Our gîte near Coutances is well positioned for D-Day routes, but also for the simple holiday essentials: proper sleep, a kitchen you can actually use, and evenings that aren’t spent hunting for a table at 9:30pm.

This region suits thoughtful travellers, military history enthusiasts, families with older children, and anyone who prefers reflection over rushing. If you want constant crowds and someone selling you an “authentic” helmet made last Tuesday, you’ll be happier elsewhere. If you want depth, context, and a calm base to do Normandy properly, La Manche is spot on.

🌟 Suggested Itinerary Idea

• Day 1: Sainte-Mère-Église · Utah Beach sector · Dead Man’s Corner
• Day 2: Carentan area · La Cambe · Omaha sector
• Day 3: Arromanches · Pegasus Bridge · Ranville

Mix and match depending on interest and weather. Normandy history is heavy — pacing matters, and you’ll enjoy it more if you don’t try to “win” the itinerary.

🧭 A Personal Note (Because This Is Not Just a List)

These places aren’t attractions — they’re real landscapes that still carry real weight. Every time we visit, something catches us off guard: a name on a headstone, a family standing quietly, a view that looks peaceful until you remember what happened on it. Normandy has a way of doing that.

If you’re coming to understand D-Day in a deeper way — not just to “see the beaches” — then basing yourself in La Manche gives you the time and headspace to do it respectfully. Come back to our gîte, make a cup of tea, put your feet up, and let the day settle. That’s not indulgence. That’s how you actually absorb what you’ve seen. 🙂🇫🇷

Ready to explore Normandy properly? 🇫🇷