memorial of caen

A must if you are going to do the beaches, or even just near by. Being a Canadian, and a history buff, I absolutely loved this place. The bunker, tank, MIG fighter, but most importantly, the memorials. The Canadian memorial made me proud to be Canadian, and made me truly realize where I was. (Yes, I cried). A Must see.

A great overview of the D-Day beaches. Beautiful memorials except the American one. It was a disgrace..

In 2008 we visited this museum on our ay back to Paris. We could have stayed much longer. The movie about the Battle of Normandy was very good.

Ignoring the tacky "statue" on the way in, this museum is large and impressive and well worth visiting. The exhibits are well set out and there are some additional sound effects which help to recreate the build up to WW2. There is a shop and a very good self-service restaurant with friendly staff. If pressed for time leave out the bunker, you won't miss much.

We entered this Memorial at opening time. Passed the whole day. Cannot add much, go and see it you will learn.

As a French professor, I have been traveling to Normandy for more than 30 years, and to this museum pretty much since it opened 10 or 15 years ago. This was the first time I had been in five years, and quite a few of the displays had changed. The basic physical layout as well as the conceptual framework - the descent down a long spiral from the German humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles into the abyss of the Shoah - remains intact. The displays and artifacts seem to have been added to, probably for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and there's more in the way of multimedia. Some of the Holocaust displays and interviews are truly horrifying, but then the exit from the depths comes with the section of the museum dedicated to the D-Day landings and the liberation of Europe. Be sure to see the film at the end - side-by-side projection of the Nazi as well as the Allies' perspectives!

If you are in Caen, a visit to the Memorial is a MUST!!!! Block out plenty of time. Take the audio tour and pay attention. Best explanation of the reasons for the war and more clearly explained than any history book could do.

If you have to visit one museum in Normandy, this should be the one. Its exhibits are EXTENSIVE but thorough. It begins with the roots of WWII and takes you into the Cold War. Many military campaigns are shown with the emphasis on D-Day.

We began our trip with 3 days in Paris. On day 4, we took a train to Caen, arriving just before 9am. We had booked a full-day tour, including a guided tour of the D-Day beaches. We were met at the station by museum representatives, and transported by bus to the museum. Our guide, Rosine, led us through the portion of the museum devoted to WWII. There are other other portions related to WWI, but we would never have been able to see everything in the time allotted. The tour, including 2 films, took about 3 hours and was amazing-- having a guide to explain the exhibits added much to the experience. Personally, I really appreciated hearing an emphasis of the "French experience"-- isn't that why we travel to other parts of the world? I did not have much knowledge, for example, of the French Resistance, how it operated, who was involved, etc. We in the U.S. know of the sacrifices our military personnel made, and the sacrifices those at home made. But we were not occupied. We did not fear that every day would be our last. We did not fear that if we participated in the resistance, our family would be at risk. Upon leaving France, we travelled to Austria, and I found myself asking (where it wasn't inappropriate) what the experience of our hosts and their ancestors was.As part of our tour, the museum served us a lovely lunch in a private dining room; then it was off in a minivan with our driver, Fabian; and our wonderful tour guide, Rosine. We went to 4 beaches, starting at Pont du Hoc and including Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. This is where we learned what was planned for the invasion and what actually happened due to the weather, problems with communications, etc. We were able to walk through bunkers; walk Omaha Beach; etc.You will not be disappointed by this tour!

Caveat - we were here around the 70th anniversary of D-Day so crowds may have been more than usual. The museum has a fairly detailed history of the time period/events after WWI that ultimately lead up to WWII but the presentation in some areas made it nearly impossible to get through in a timely fashion. The visit starts in a corkscrew type descending walkway that lists the events after WWI that incited Germans and ultimately propelled Hitler to expand his empire. The problem is with a lot of visitors you cannot read/understand all that is on the walls because everyone was cramped in a tight space. Also, people were taking pictures of photographs on the walls? After you get out of the corkscrew, things open up a bit but it was still hard to move at a decent pace. Bottlenecks aside, the museum is definitely worth a visit and if you wind up having a lengthy visit (as we did), there is a restaurant on site that has decent food.

Allow at least 3-4 hours to see this museum and film exhibits.Even self described WWII experts will come away with new insights/information.Combine this with a visit to Omaha Beach visitors center and Cemetary to honor the fallen heroes.

Most of the presentation was in French and I was not impressed with them displaying the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbour. I expected much more of the local war event and most of the museum was in pictures and a few films (in French) We tired to eat at the restaurant but it was closed. The food at the café was disappointing and rather expensive. The memorial took ages to get to as it is tucked away in the suburbs and to find a bus was a real challenge. After waiting at 4 different bus stops we finally found the one that took us here. The other museums were closed on the day we visited (Tuesday).

This was our first stop on our D-Day beaches tour. It was a pretty good museum to get an idea of the war from the European perspective. We are American and always learn about WWII from our lens. This was refreshing.The price was slightly high for the size of the museum (average but not large). We were easily able to walk through with audio guides in about a hour and a half, and paid 18 euro each. Slightly pricey.

Fantastic museum of the world wars that pulls no punches. This is certainly no glorification of war, it promotes the reasons to work for peace.

Highly recommend the van tour. Our guide Prisca was friendly, patient and extremely knowledgeable. This is a must see dont miss!