Sherman tank at the Overlord Museum.

© ejhgndrn/Shutterstock

Overlord Museum

D-Day Beaches


This excellent museum has an astonishing collection of restored WWII military equipment from both sides; the human dimension of the war is brought movingly to life with photos, audio clips, letters and personal stories and recollections. The museum is situated just up the hill from the Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial. You could easily spend a few hours here, so plan your visit accordingly as you will need time for both the museum and the cemetery.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby D-Day Beaches attractions

2. Pointe du Hoc Ranger Memorial

6.9 MILES

At 7.10am on 6 June 1944, 225 US Army Rangers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder scaled the impossibly steep, 30m-high cliffs of…

3. Longues-sur-Mer Battery

7.36 MILES

These mammoth German artillery pieces remain in their colossal concrete emplacements – the only in-situ large-calibre weapons in Normandy. The first…

4. Mémorial des Reporters

8.16 MILES

This landscaped promenade, a joint project of the City of Bayeux and Reporters Without Borders (www.en.rsf.org), lists the names of over 2000 journalists…

5. Bayeux War Cemetery

8.19 MILES

The largest of the 18 Commonwealth military cemeteries in Normandy, this peaceful cemetery contains 4848 graves of soldiers from the UK and 10 other…

7. Conservatoire de la Dentelle

8.48 MILES

Lacemaking (dentellerie), brought to Bayeux by nuns in 1678, once employed 5000 people. The industry is sadly long gone, but at the Conservatoire you can…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "france/omaha-beach/attractions/overlord-museum/a/poi-sig/1491831/1320172",
      "destination": "D-Day-Beaches",
      "continent": "Europe",
      "country": "France",
      "region": "D-Day-Beaches",
      "position": "superzone"
    }