D-Day Landings

The group will assemble outside the Euro Tunnel main building in Folkestone to meet your tour guide and then make your way to the train. A briefing will take place during the 35 minute crossing. Once off the train we head straight to the coast road heading south riding along the White Cliffs with views of the White Cliffs of Dover on a clear day.

Our first coffee stop is in Boulogne-Sur-Mer on our way down the coast to Normandy. We will be lunching in Le Treport and then heading down via Dieppe where during 6 hours after the failed beach landing on 19th August 1942, the British and Canadian Army's suffered over 3500 casualties. Following on from here our next coffee stop is beach side in Fecamp and finally down to Le Havre and our city centre hotel.

After a fun night out in Le Havre we start the day riding along twisty rural roads surrounded by fantastic scenery. We stop to visit the Museum at the Merville Battery. The Pegasus Bridge is next, with one of the Horsa gliders. We will be having lunch here. On route to the 360 degree cinema at Arromanches, which also overlooks Mulberry Harbour, we will stop off at the British Normandy Memorial.

We finish the day with a beautiful 30 mile cross country ride to our hotel in the centre of Caen surround by bars and restaurants.

After a great night out in Caen we head out to the coast next to visit the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. The cemetery contains the graves of our 9000 US Combatants who died in the Normandy Campaign. Signals Monument and Sculpture are also on the list. After lunch we spend time at the Utah Beach Museum. On D-Day (6 June 1944), Utah Beach was the westernmost of the 5 Allied landing beaches in Normandy and was one of the most successful assaults of the invasion.

Refreshed from our stay, we head East to Saint-Cambert-Sur-Dive where thousands of Germans were attempting to escape the Falaise Pocket, through the village which became a focus point for the Allied attack driving the Germans out of Normandy. Major David Currie was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action of closing the Falaise Gap. The rest of the day is bike riding time on superb French country roads, great views and very little traffic as we make our way up to Amiens for the last night together.

First port of call today is to the Crater Lochnagar just South of La Boisselle in the Somme Department. 19 wings were dug under the German lines on the British Section of the Somme Front, to assist the infantry advance at the start of the battle. The mine was sprung at 7.25am on 1st July 1916 and left a crater 21m deep and 100m wide which was captured and held by the British Troops. From here we head North to Arras and then make our way to Calais for an early afternoon train back to England