Visiting Normandy

Are there any trips to the battlefields of World War II, starting or ending at Normandy?

–Herbert, Eustis, Fla.

There are a number of companies that offer these types of tours, so it's really a matter of choosing the one that sounds right for you.

One option is D-Day Tours. This company offers a couple of options, but it mostly focuses on short tours in the Normandy area. The shortest and cheapest, the simple “D-Day Tour,” lasts just a day—about nine hours, but the company also includes a wide range of D-Day-related spots for an extra 85 euros (or about $130).

Another option is the Coastal Normandy Hiking tour from Pure Adventure, which lasts five days and four nights starting at 897 euros (or about $1,387) and starts in Caen. This isn't an extremely tough tour in terms of hiking, but you should be in good shape and able to hike up to 10 miles in one day without difficulty.

The most top-notch of these tours, though, is probably the one sponsored by the National World War II Museum. On their seven-day, $5,000 Normandy tour (with an optional 3-day “pre-tour” of London) you'll visit a huge variety of historical sites, from Britain's Imperial War Museum to Brécourt Manor. Perhaps you remember that this is the site where the paratroopers of Easy Company knocked out four German howitzers, an act famously recreated in the HBO series “Band of Brothers.” You'll be accompanied throughout by historians, logistical escorts, guest speakers, and veterans—there to provide a richer historical perspective.