England & France for D-Day June, 2024

[NoSpin]

So my wife and I were going to take the Queen Mary 2 in May 2025 to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. However, 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day. We attended the 75th anniversary and it was nothing short of spectacular. So we decided to do the voyage next year.

We are booked on the May 23, 2024, sailing from New York to Southampton. So far the only other booking I have made is for the hotel from May 31 to June 7 in Normandy. The plan is to then return to England and spend a week in the Cotswolds before flying back to the US.

I have a lot of other plans to make yet and a ton of questions and needs for advice. I know from years on this forum that the brain trust here is priceless, especially when it comes to England from our fearless leader Pauline

I’ve read Georgia and Zig’s thread about their 2022 trip on the QM2, very entertaining - https://www.sloweurope.com/communit...-ship-in-new-york-and-days-onboard-2022.6658/

So as plans progress I will be updating this thread shortly with questions. If anyone is intending to attend this event, it is not too late to start making plans. I had a hard time finding a suitable hotel in Normandy for May 31 to June 7. So many were booked for June 5 and 6.

I am posting this in Travel Talk since it involves both England and France.

 

[Ian Sutton]

One obvious option, is exploring the new forest, as this is right next to Southampton. It's a long established large national park, and might be a lovely contrast to a lengthy period on a boat. Other options local to your landing point include Bournemouth (a quirky seaside resort with famed beaches, and opportunity for long walks alongside the beach - also nice is its suburb Christchurch), Isle of Wight (but would you want a break from catching a boat!?). Salisbury and Winchester also in range.

From there I wonder whether the ferry might be the easiest way to get to France (but I don't know routes / timings etc.). I once took the ferry from newhaven (near brighton) to Dieppe, so that (and that area) might also be an option.

 

[NoSpin]

Thanks Ian.

My plan was to get a rental car in Southampton and then drive to Folkstone to catch the chunnel train. The QM2 docks in Southampton at 6 AM. I figured by the time we disembarked and I got a rental car, we would take a leisurely ride along the coast and stay at a hotel near Folkstone and take the chunnel on the 31st.

 

[Pauline]

Hi Paul, I don’t like this plan! First, you don’t want to take a rental car into France! You would be in a right side drive car in a left side drive country. Plus I don’t think the rental companies will let you do this.

Second, that drive from Southampton to Folkestone will not be as nice as you imagine. We’ve done part of that drive and I remember it as very busy roads that mostly bypass the towns.

Third, you can only use the tunnel in a car. Well not exactly as trains go thru it but you get the Eurostar train from London, not in Folkestone.

You arrive in Southampton where ferries take you to France. I would get a car, spend a few days on the southern coast of England, return it in Southampton, then take a Brittany Ferry as a pedestrian to France. Then get a rental car there.

You could start the WWII theme in England. We have lots of sites here. In Dorset we have the area off Studland where they trained for the Normandy Invasion. What about Bletchley Park? I don’t know where it is but friends of mine visited and liked it. Or go into London (then you could get the Eurostar through the tunnel). There are some good military museums.

When you return from France you could take a ferry or take a train to Oxford or Bath, get a car, and then have your time in the Cotswolds.

What do you think?

 

[Pauline]

I am posting this in Travel Talk since it involves both England and France.

I am going to move this to the UK forum. You can start a new thread for the France portion.

 

[Ian Sutton]

Yes, although I didn't specifically mention it, I was thinking the same as Pauline, that the drive across to a South-east England port is unlikely to be idyllic, not least as the standards of driving / driving etiquette in the UK drops every year (mostly due to ever increasing volume of traffic).

Driving in France? We've done it on two holidays, one a little further up the coast around Pas de Calais region, which had lovely quiet roads, so right hand driver seat not much of a problem. On the other trip, it was mostly on well-maintained and not overly busy toll autoroute roads, and if the front seat passenger handles toll payments, and also checks the traffic when pulling onto a main road / autoroutes, then it's not a major issue (and FWIW we like to avoid stress when driving, so think of us as challenge-averse). It is also worth checking that the hire company allows travel to France, and that your insurance covers that.

Personally, I'd lean towards Pauline's suggestion, of hire a car for the UK, take the ferry to France, and then hire a car there.

Another suggestion for Pauline's WW2 theme - Martello towers. They were a seemingly little stone turret, like you might see on a castle. However below them was a network of underground rooms. There's a super one in Seaford (not far from Brighton), which now houses a quirky museum that focuses on more modern day (post war I suspect) items e.g. early vacuum cleaners, cigarette cards and personally amusing, one of the first video recorders, which happened to be the same model we had at home when I was growing up.

 

[NoSpin]

Hi Paul, I don’t like this plan! First, you don’t want to take a rental car into France! You would be in a right side drive car in a left side drive country. Plus I don’t think the rental companies will let you do this.

Second, that drive from Southampton to Folkestone will not be as nice as you imagine. We’ve done part of that drive and I remember it as very busy roads that mostly bypass the towns.

Third, you can only use the tunnel in a car. Well not exactly as trains go thru it but you get the Eurostar train from London, not in Folkestone.

You arrive in Southampton where ferries take you to France. I would get a car, spend a few days on the southern coast of England, return it in Southampton, then take a Brittany Ferry as a pedestrian to France. Then get a rental car there.

You could start the WWII theme in England. We have lots of sites here. In Dorset we have the area off Studland where they trained for the Normandy Invasion. What about Bletchley Park? I don’t know where it is but friends of mine visited and liked it. Or go into London (then you could get the Eurostar through the tunnel). There are some good military museums.

When you return from France you could take a ferry or take a train to Oxford or Bath, get a car, and then have your time in the Cotswolds.

What do you think?

Hi Pauline-

I knew I'd get great info on this forum!

Well right now I am locked into the QM2 cruise and also I already paid in full a stay in Normandy from May 31 to June 7. I had to do this already because hotels/B&B's were booking up fast, especially for the 5th and 6th. So one way or another I have to get across the channel by the 31st.

I'm not concerned aboout driving a righthand drive car in France. I am on a car forum and there are drivers in the UK who regularly drive into European countries. However, I didn't know exactly about the car train. I'll post a question in that car forum and see what they say. I know when we arrived in Calais on the Orient Express, we had to get off the train and board a motor coach which was driven onto a train and we arrived in Folkstone to get on a London Pullman. What I would have to check is if the rental company does allow cars to go to France.

You do have me thinking that perhaps we should just take the ferry or train to France and pick up a rental car there. I could then return it and rent another once back in England. Probably the ferry from Southampton would be best. Any recommendations would be welcome. I'd have to land somewhere where rental cars are available.

Thanks, I have to run now as I have a busy Saturday.

 

[NoSpin]

Yes, although I didn't specifically mention it, I was thinking the same as Pauline, that the drive across to a South-east England port is unlikely to be idyllic, not least as the standards of driving / driving etiquette in the UK drops every year (mostly due to ever increasing volume of traffic).

Driving in France? We've done it on two holidays, one a little further up the coast around Pas de Calais region, which had lovely quiet roads, so right hand driver seat not much of a problem. On the other trip, it was mostly on well-maintained and not overly busy toll autoroute roads, and if the front seat passenger handles toll payments, and also checks the traffic when pulling onto a main road / autoroutes, then it's not a major issue (and FWIW we like to avoid stress when driving, so think of us as challenge-averse). It is also worth checking that the hire company allows travel to France, and that your insurance covers that.

Personally, I'd lean towards Pauline's suggestion, of hire a car for the UK, take the ferry to France, and then hire a car there.

Another suggestion for Pauline's WW2 theme - Martello towers. They were a seemingly little stone turret, like you might see on a castle. However below them was a network of underground rooms. There's a super one in Seaford (not far from Brighton), which now houses a quirky museum that focuses on more modern day (post war I suspect) items e.g. early vacuum cleaners, cigarette cards and personally amusing, one of the first video recorders, which happened to be the same model we had at home when I was growing up.

Thanks for the info Ian. I didn't even think about paying tolls in a righthand drive car! Based on Pauline's suggestions I think almost certainly I will rent the car in France and a separate one in England. We may see some of the English WWII sites before heading up to the Cotswolds.

 

[Pauline]

I can understand wanting to have the same car for the whole trip - it makes everything easier - but there is also the cost of taking the car through the tunnel. I just paid £189 one way for the two of us and a regular sized car (refundable ticket). Prices have gone up this year.

 

[Andrew]

I don't know the area, but based on your Normandy destination being around Omaha Beach I checked Rome2Rio and maps of ferries. Maybe it makes more sense to take a ferry from Portsmouth to Caen; that's what Google Maps has for Southampton-Omaha Beach driving. Southampton to Portsmouth is 30 minutes by taxi or car service. Ferries can be found at www.directferries.com . If you then rent a car in Normandy, you may run into a problem with demand for those dates.