Build up to D-Day 1944
About the tour: Build up to D-Day 1944
Tour Introduction
Come to the south of England and explore sites linked to the preparations for the D-Day Normandy Landings, Operation Overlord, in 1944, as well as some iconic WW2 museums. Connecting the epic story of D-Day in Normandy with the events in southern England as the vast Allied Armies assembled for victory makes this a fascinating tour. From the preparation and planning to the unique kit developed, this tour adds a new dimension to our understanding. Ben Mayne, Battlefield Guide.
Tour Includes
- 4 nights hotel with English breakfast
- 4 evening meals
- Specialist Battlefield Guide
- Convenient local joining points
- Porterage at the hotel
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your battlefield tour either online, or by telephone (), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can -
- Use our balance payment facility online to make and track your card payments. You can pay as much as you want up until your final due date or pay it all, the choice is yours.
- Send payments via online banking.
- Send payments via cheque.
- Call us and make a card payment, either a small amount or as lump sum until your final due date.
Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.
Tour Itinerary
For customers living outside of the UK, if you want to make a booking you will need to provide a UK postcode on our online booking system. If you are not able to provide a relevant UK postcode then you can enter the postcode for London Victoria Coach Station – SW1W 9TP. You should then be able to proceed to complete your booking.
If you do encounter a problem then you can speak to one of our friendly advisors who will be happy to help.
Please Note : After completing your booking, a member of our Customer Service team will be in touch to make sure everything is okay.
Either e-mail our Reservations Department or call on 01709 830 333 and they will check to see whether you can visit a particular cemetery on any of our Battlefield Tours, if we are not able to fit it into our itinerary then you could take some time out of the tour and do this independently by taxi or public transport.
Day 1
Regional departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then travel to Southampton for a four-night stay. Alternatively, you can choose to join at the hotel.
Included meals: Dinner
Day 2 - D-Day Dorset
We begin by travelling down to Dorset and stopping at Tarrant Rushton Airfield to look at the story of the gliders, which took off from here and went on to land at Pegasus Bridge in Normandy.
We then continue to the Bovington Tank Museum (entrance included), for a full exploration of this site.
Later we visit Weymouth to see where Allied troops embarked for Normandy, visiting the memorial.
We end the day at the Castletown D-Day Centre (entrance included), a new museum focussing on the connections with Normandy and operations across the channel in 1944.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Bovington Tank Museum (3)
Key Visits
- Tarrant Rushton Airfield
- Bovington Tank Museum
- Castletown D-Day Centre
- Creech Woods Marshalling Area,
Day 3 - D-Day Portsmouth
We begin today outside Portsmouth at the Creech Woods Marshalling Area, seeing where the build-up for D-Day took place.
We then travel to Southwick to discuss the heart of the D-Day Command and then go to the new D-Day Experience Museum (entrance included) in Portsmouth. Here, we also see the original D-Day Landing Craft Tank, which was recently restored and installed at the museum.
We then visit the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and look at the stories of Royal Naval personnel who died on D-Day commemorated here.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Portsmouth Naval Memorial (4)
Key Visits
- D-Day Museum, Portsmouth
- Portsmouth Naval Memorial
- Portsmouth Naval Memorial
Day 4 - D-Day Hampshire and Sussex
Today we travel to the Gosport area to look at D-Day embarkations and then continue to Hayling Island where we look at pre-D-Day training and Langstone Harbour we see a remaining section of the Mulberry Harbour used in 1944.
Later, we look at the key role of 2nd Tactical Airforce on D-Day and visit the RAF Tangmere Museum (entrance included) near Chichester.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Surviving Mulberry Harbour (2)
Key Visits
- Tangmere Aviation Museum
- Gosport
- Hayling Island
- Surviving Mulberry Harbour
Day 5
Return home.
Included meals: Breakfast
Specialist Battlefield Guides
All of Leger’s battlefield tours are accompanied by specialist guides. Their individual in-depth knowledge of warfare will be informative, as well as enhance your overall experience, as they recreate a fascinating perception of the history and factual events of each battle. Discover the actual catalysts for war, the strategies employed and the final, inevitable outcomes, as well as experiencing the emotional human side of the front line.
Please note: On certain tours, you may get tour guides other that the ones listed below.
Hotel
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
All hotel rooms benefit from private bathroom facilities.
Some hotels have tea and coffee making facilities. Please check the tour pages for more information or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333
Most hotels have a lift, please call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 for more information.
Some hotels have ground floor rooms. Please email for information on individual hotels or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333.
Your hotels will supply towels in your room.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
Travel Options
Departure times given for each region are approximate. Please check your travel documents to confirm the actual timings.
Front row seats can be reserved for £14pp (up to 6 days duration), £22pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £25pp (9 days duration and over) on all European tours. In addition to this seats on the second row can be reserved for £7pp (up to 6 days duration), £14pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £15pp (9 days duration and over). This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on the front row and is subject to availability. Guaranteed front/second row seats cannot be reserved on feeder journeys to/from the U.K. port. Children under 15 years cannot occupy a front row seat due to French Law. Central view seats are free.
Please note: On some coaches the legroom on front seats may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled for any reason and front/second row seats are not available on your new tour you will be refunded the supplement. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
We guarantee that all passengers on the same booking will be seated together on the main tour coach. Seats on the transfer coaches to and from the U.K. port are not allocated.
Hot and cold drinks are served on the main tour coaches. Prices are approximately £1 or 1.25 Euro per drink. Prices will be confirmed by the driver. Drinks may also be served on the transfer coaches but this is not guaranteed.
Transfer vehicles are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure and will depend on where passengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 two weeks before you are due to travel.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
All main tour coaches have on-board toilets. Transfer vehicles to and from the U.K. port may not have on-board toilets. When non-British coaches are used on transfers and tours (air holidays only) an on-board toilet may not be available. However, comfort stops will be made during long journeys.
All coaches feature air-conditioning. Should the air-conditioning system break down for a period exceeding 12 hours, compensation will be awarded up to a maximum of £10 per fare-paying passenger per tour.
Depending on the location of your pickup point, you may be picked up by coach (not necessarily the on you are touring on), minibus, taxi, National Express or Megabus service. You may then be taken to another centralised pickup location or service station. We operate a passenger interchange at Stop 24 Services, where you will meet the tour coach you are holidaying on and then continue on with your outbound journey. Similarly, on the way home, you may also change transfer vehicles at another location, to take you to your final drop off point.
One medium sized suitcase per person, which should weigh no more than 20kg when full. We may refuse to carry larger or heavier cases. Hand luggage can be stored in the overhead racks aboard the coach.
It could be either - This will be confirmed in your travel documents.
When it comes to getting to the Battlefields, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you choose from.
Travel Extras
With an overnight stay or the option to meet us at the interchange, our travel extras allow you to create a travel experience to suit your needs...
Join coach at Interchange
+ Find out moreJoin your tour coach at the interchange.
On most tours if you’d prefer to join your tour coach at Stop 24 services, you can park your car in the car park which is accredited by the Park Mark safer parking scheme and is monitored 24 hours a day by CCTV. Payment for the parking is made on arrival using the self-service machines.
Excludes tours to Ireland and the U.K. and tours travelling via Brittany Ferries.
