Your Self-guided 'D-Day Tour' of Normandy

An assortment of travel companies offer World War II-oriented guided tours of the Normandy coast, site of the Allied invasion on D-Day — June 6, 1944.

See also: Trip to Normandy still tells the real D-Day story

But if you're up to renting a car and heading out on your own (the French drive on the same side of the road as we do, just faster), you can pass on the tour bus option and explore the French countryside and coastline at your own pace.

The Lay of the Land and Quick History
The Normandy region features rugged English Channel beaches beneath towering cliffs, expansive stretches of farmland dotted with small villages, and the remains of both medieval and 20th-century warfare. Although the distance from Paris or Charles de Gaulle airport is suitable for a long day trip (the drive takes about three hours each way), you should spend at least a night or two at one of the area's many historic inns and small hotels.

From Paris, you approach the Normandy coastline from the east through the city of Caen or town of Bayeux. They lie just south of the 50-mile stretch of D-Day landing sites that Allied forces dubbed — from east to west — Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah beaches. (Note: On the map above, north is at the bottom.)

By the spring of 1944, Nazi Germany had controlled France and its northern coast for four years. As supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower planned and supervised the invasion, called Operation Overlord. British and Canadian airborne and infantry forces were responsible for the eastern portion of the invasion, hitting Sword (British), Juno (Canadian) and Gold (British) beaches. American forces handled the western half of the assault, covering the region running from Bayeux to Carentan.

Most American visitors gravitate toward Omaha and Utah beaches, behind which paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne landed in support of the seaborne assaults by U.S. infantry divisions. Omaha, considered the bloodiest of the invasion beaches with more than 2,000 casualties, was a fearsome place to come ashore; the Germans had fortified the beach with barricades and obstacles to ward off invaders, and high cliffs provided a perch for them to fire down upon arriving Allied forces.

Things to See and Places to Go
Caen: An 11th-century city that was almost entirely destroyed during the war, Caen is home to a visitor center and museum, the Caen War Memorial, which is used by many as a starting point for touring the Normandy beaches. The Pegasus Bridge across the Caen Canal, in nearby Ranville-Benouville, was the first bridge to be liberated by the Allies after the invasion. (The original bridge is on display at the Pegasus Memorial Museum.)

Bayeux: The first town liberated by the Allies, Bayeux Medieval Downtown, attracts tourists with its shops, restaurants, hotels and famous Bayeux Tapestry, a 230-foot-long wall hanging that depicts the history of William the Conqueror's Norman invasion of England in 1066.