5 Essential WWII Sites to Visit in Normandy
D-Day changed the course of the war, and you can still walk the places where it happened.
If you’re planning a trip to Normandy, these five sites give you a solid foundation.
Omaha Beach
This is the beach most people picture when they think of D-Day.
American forces landed here under heavy German fire, facing machine guns, artillery, and underwater obstacles.
The terrain was brutal – wide open sand, followed by steep bluffs.
More than 2,000 soldiers were killed or wounded here on June 6, 1944.
Today, it’s calm. You can walk the same beach and look up at the cliffs they had to climb.
The Normandy American Cemetery sits just above it, with a memorial and excellent visitor center.
Further west, near Vierville-sur-Mer, remnants of German bunkers are still visible on the hillside.
Pointe du Hoc
Perched between Omaha and Utah beaches, Pointe du Hoc was fortified with German guns that threatened both landing zones.
On D-Day, U.S. Army Rangers scaled the vertical cliffs with ropes and ladders, under fire, to capture the site.
The guns had been moved inland, but the mission continued.
What remains today is almost untouched since the battle.
The site is littered with massive bomb craters, concrete bunkers, and twisted rebar.
It’s raw and open – you’re walking directly through the battlefield.
There’s a short trail and a memorial to the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions.
Utah Beach
Utah was the westernmost landing beach and saw fewer casualties than Omaha.
American troops came ashore slightly off-target – a lucky break that helped avoid the strongest defenses.
By mid-morning, the beachhead was secure.
The Utah Beach Landing Museum is built right where the landings happened.
It’s compact but detailed, with personal accounts, uniforms, weapons, and a rare B-26 bomber inside.
It also covers the naval operations and airborne landings that supported the beach assault.
From here, it’s an easy drive to other sites connected to the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.
Normandy American Cemetery
This is the largest American cemetery in Europe.
More than 9,300 American soldiers are buried here, most of them killed in the D-Day landings and following battles.
It sits on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach, perfectly aligned with the landing zone.
The grounds are pristine – rows of white crosses and Stars of David stretch across the grass.
There’s a chapel, a reflection pool, and a semi-circular memorial with maps and narratives carved into stone.
A wall at the far end lists over 1,500 missing soldiers whose remains were never found.
It’s quiet, beautiful, and overwhelming.
Arromanches-les-Bains
After the landings, the Allies needed a way to bring in supplies.
So they built an artificial harbor, called a Mulberry, right here in Arromanches.
It was one of the most impressive engineering feats of the war.
Huge concrete blocks were towed across the Channel and assembled into piers and breakwaters.
You can still see many of them in the water today, especially at low tide.
The town’s D-Day Museum explains how it worked and what it took to build.
There’s also a 360° cinema on the cliffs that shows original footage from 1944.
This town played a different role than the beaches – it was about what came after.
Without Arromanches, the landings couldn’t have turned into a lasting foothold.
Juno Beach
This was the Canadian landing sector, and one of the toughest to secure.
Heavy resistance, mined beaches, and a rising tide made the first wave especially deadly.
But by the end of the day, Canadian troops had pushed farther inland than any other Allied force.
The town of Courseulles-sur-Mer marks the center of the landing zone.
Today it’s home to the Juno Beach Centre, a museum dedicated to Canada’s role in WWII.
Outside, remnants of bunkers and landing craft defenses are still in place on the sand.
It’s quieter here than Omaha or Utah – fewer crowds, more space to take it in.
The stories told inside the museum bring a national perspective that often gets overlooked.
Each of these places tells part of the story. Together, they form a powerful introduction to what happened in Normandy in June 1944.