The town of Bayeux is a gateway to the D-Day beaches, where Allied forces mounted a counter-offensive in occupied France in June 1944. In fact, Bayeux was the first town in mainland France to be liberated on June 7, 1944. Many travelers join tours to see the beaches and the British and American cemeteries. Bayeux’s Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy is an essential fixture on this tour circuit. It can also be visited independently by travelers staying in or around Bayeux and nearby Caen.
Tickets to the museum can’t be bought in advance and are only available from the museum itself.
Kids under the age of 10 get free entrance to the museum.
Admission to the museum includes the use of an audio guide, which is available in 16 languages.
The museum is accessible to wheelchair users and travelers with strollers, with internal lifts and wheelchairs available to borrow.
The museum is centrally located in Bayeux and easy to find once you’ve reached the town. Bayeux is about 18 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of Caen and 163 miles (263 kilometers) from Paris. It’s easy to reach by car, train, or bus, and many guided tours from as far afield as Paris include Bayeux.
The museum is open seven days a week, between mid-morning and early evening (with an extended lunch break), between early February and late December. It typically closes in January and operates slightly extended hours in the summer. The last admission is permitted 45 minutes before closing time, but giving yourself longer to look around is preferable.
Bayeux may be well known for its place in World War II history, but it has a much longer history that is also worth learning about while you’re in the town. The 11th-century, 23-foot (7-meter)-long, UNESCO-listed Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and is a remarkable work of textile storytelling. Visitors can see the tapestry and learn all about its history at the Bayeux Tapestry Museum.