Going to visit Juno Beach Centre

bushwhacker

bushwhacker

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Will be in France from May 21 to June 1. Planning to go to Juno Beach Centre and do afternoon tour, stopping by the Beny-sur-mer cemetery. My son's father-in-law will drive from Paris. With total up to 6 Hrs. driving round trip, won't be a lot of extra time. Any recommendations for routes/sites to include? Realize that it would be better to have more time, but this was my request to fit in among the other things family has planned.
 
bushwhacker said:
Will be in France from May 21 to June 1. Planning to go to Juno Beach Centre and do afternoon tour, stopping by the Beny-sur-mer cemetery. My son's father-in-law will drive from Paris. With total up to 6 Hrs. driving round trip, won't be a lot of extra time. Any recommendations for routes/sites to include? Realize that it would be better to have more time, but this was my request to fit in among the other things family has planned.
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i wont lie, the center wasnt that great imo. there are way more interesting private museums in the area. while seeing the beach is very cool, i suggest you try convincing the family to visit Bayeux. it is a gorgeous town, and has a museum dedicated to the bayeux tapestry and one dedicated to d-day
 
^ Agreed, I skipped the Juno Beach Centre and do not feel I missed anything, visit BSM, see the beach, hit a couple museums (Bayeux for sure) you just do not have any time to even begin to skim the surface of all the stuff to see and do.
 
I enjoyed our time at the JBC, we just kept it very brief. Thought it was an excellent way to start off at the beaches. Good choice to stop at Bény-sur-Mer Cemetery. This was actually one of the more memorable and meaningful stops of the day for us, very humbling experience to see all the young Canadian lives lost. Very quiet and peaceful location with a view of the coast in the distance.

We only had the day also so just made our way down the coast from JBC stopping at the major sites. Plan to head back in the future to take in the area in more detail, so much to see. Don't miss out on moules frites, some good spots in Arromanches-les-Bains. Neat to see the remnants of the artificial harbour.
 
The 2 places I mentionned are not museums but actual artillery battery (several bunkers linked by trenches etc), you'll love it
 
I found the artificial harbor (le port artificiel) at Arromanches fascinating. I liked JBC as well. We also did Point du Hoc and the Beny-sur-mer cemetery. All excellent in their own way. Bayeux was also very much worth the effort.
 
I too was less then blown away by the Juno beach center. Its neat to roam the beach though. There are several bunkers that aren't controlled and you can explore.

Longues sur Mer is awesome. Highly recommend, and its only like 15 mins past Juno.
You can go in all the casements, touch the guns etc. Really cool. Observation bunker on a cliff.








About 90 mins away is this beast.......


 
Juno Beach Centre,,,,well,, GO, just to say you where there.

Yes, as everyone else above has pointed out, it could be a little more inviting.

There have been some great ideas posted above on what to see.

If this is a one and only trip, try and catch as much as you can.

Again, only if this is a one trip adventure!

I will say the opposite of going to see the museums.

If your time is short, skip the museums and cover as much ground as possible.

The museums will suck up the day real quick, yes they are fantastic, but you are there to follow the footsteps.

You can see a lot in one day.

The American Cemetery is also a must see.

If you have time, La Cambe German war cemetery.

I have toured the battlefields in these areas extensively for many years, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, etc, etc.

Research well in advance and draw a line of route for yourself, everything is pretty close together.

Bayeux, France is one of my most favourite cities in the world.

Last, but not least, don't forget to snag your self a bottle or two of local Calvados.
 
When you're at Juno, check out the "Maison des Canadiens" . . . you'll see it. Also, take the time to go visit a cemetery or two. There are a couple in the area. They are well worth the visit. I preferred the Canadian cemeteries . . . they felt more peaceful then the American ones. To see all the names and hear the birds chirp is a feeling I can't describe. You have to be there. All that being said, if you have the time, take a day and drive on the coast (as coastal as you can be) up to Fecamp. The drive is amazing and you'll see a lot of less touristic site (but still very historical). It was both educational and pleasant . . . a lot of sites where the allies landed that I had never heard off.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, making notes. Would people suggest missing the tour and spending the time on other beaches? Where is the tiger tank? Will hopefully have future year chances to tour, as son & family live outside Paris. Have been to Vimy, but would like to go back some time as it was over Christmas & everything was closed. Would like to go to Amiens as my uncle was killed there.
 
Just to add to Cigar Mans view of museums, there are "museums" about every 100 Metres along the 514 and you can only look at so many rusty guns and spoons dug up out of the ground before your eyes glazed over and you start drooling. Find one good one Omaha Beach Center/Bayeux or Pegasus Bridge do the walk through looking at old rusty stuff, see the beaches and stop at a couple cemeteries. I had a whole week there and only just skimmed the surface. Remember the Normandy landings/campaign dragged on for more then one day and there is also lots to see (more location stuff like battlefields/towns then venues) inland away from the coast. Its all good but you are going to have to plan your time well and be realistic in use of distance/time and thing(s) to see. And post a pics when your back.
 
The Tiger is outside Vimoutiers. On the major hwy. it has great history. Getting there you will follow the basic trail of the Canadians. The tiger is believed to have run out of fuel, and was then immobilized but the Germans before leaving it as a 68 ton road block. The Canadians Bulldozed it into the ditch. There it sat, picked over for easy scrap until the 70s or 80s when the town got ownership and towed it up onto the concrete pad. It was really cool. Rough shape and bad paint job but soooo cool.
 
A good comment on getting inland and away from the beaches. Most of the fighting in Normandy was beyond the beaches. I have a particular interest in the Cdn drive to Falaise and the role of the Cdn Army in closing/not closing the Falaise Gap. You can visit places like St. Lambert where Maj D.V. Currie of the South Alberta Regt won the VC in the fighting to block the German withdrawal. Then there are places like Verriers Ridge, Bourgebus, Villers Bocage, Hill 112, St Lo, etc. There are some nice places to stay in the quieter small towns inland which are away from the main tourist tracks. It's a good idea to have a car and take books which you can relate to when you are on the ground.

When I last visited Normandy in 1988 I was on leave from Damascus where I had a number of Polish officers working with me in the UNHQ. I visited Mt Ormel where the 1st Polish Armd Div was the cork in the bottle and did some very hard fighting to block the German withdrawal. There is an impressive monument to the Poles there incl a Sherman tank and large plaques in English and Polish. I took pics of the memorial as well as panoramic photos of the surrounding terrain from the high ground. I showed these to the Poles on return from leave and they were quite amazed to learn that Poles had fought in Normandy as part of the 1st Cdn Army. This was in the last days of the communist era which had only recognized the Poles who had fought with the Russians on the eastern front.

I'm going back to Normandy this spring and look forward to touring the pastoral countryside in addition to seeing the battlefields and beaches again. Has anyone seen the Museum in Caen? It wasn't there when I last visited. Bayeux is a nice place to spend some time. It wasn't shot up too much and you can see the Bayeux Tapestry in addition to the war museum which is very good. You can see the larger war cemeteries near the beaches, but the Bretteville Sur Laize cemetery at Cintheaux along the Caen-Falaise road is worth a visit as well. It contains the graves of some 2800 Canadians who were killed in the fighting beyond the beaches. BTW, the Tiger tank is just outside Vimoutiers.
 
CanadianAR said:
The Tiger is outside Vimoutiers. On the major hwy. it has great history. Getting there you will follow the basic trail of the Canadians. The tiger is believed to have run out of fuel, and was then immobilized but the Germans before leaving it as a 68 ton road block. The Canadians Bulldozed it into the ditch. There it sat, picked over for easy scrap until the 70s or 80s when the town got ownership and towed it up onto the concrete pad. It was really cool. Rough shape and bad paint job but soooo cool.
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towed is a bit of an over simplification, it was blown to pieces, the turret has been crudely welded back together as shown in your pic, the deck is mostly scrap metal, i think i even has engine vents off a king tiger iirc. the suspension is wrecked, the hull bottom is gone, that concrete block is holding the tank up.
 
I was there this past summer for the 70th anniversary.

The best museum in my opinion was the new 'overlord' museum that has content from every participant. It's also near Omaha and the U.S. cemetary.

Juno beach is worth visiting but the Juno Beach Centre really isn't all that exciting. It's nice, but it's mostly aimed at informing foreigners about Canada and there's very few artifacts or interesting things to look at.

I enjoyed visiting many of the various bunker sites as well. Normandy is a great place for a history buff, the things to see are almost endless.

Cheers,
-Steve
 
CanadianAR said:
I too was less then blown away by the Juno beach center. Its neat to roam the beach though. There are several bunkers that aren't controlled and you can explore.

Longues sur Mer is awesome. Highly recommend, and its only like 15 mins past Juno.
You can go in all the casements, touch the guns etc. Really cool. Observation bunker on a cliff.








About 90 mins away is this beast.......


Click to expand...

That's the Tiger at Vimoutiers. Much of the external fittings have been removed.

If you're really short of time, skip the JBC...I felt that it was a bit embarrassing to Canada. Spend more time on the other places as mentioned above.
 
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