Day 1 — Saturday, May 31

Depart the U.S. on individual flights for London.

Day 2 — Sunday, June 1 | London

Arrive in London and transfer to your hotel. Gather as a group in the early afternoon for a guided visit to Winston Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms and the adjoining Museum. It is from this underground “safe place” that Churchill directed the British war effort and where today one can still see maps, telephones and bunks preserved since 1945. This evening, enjoy a private reception and dinner. (R,D)

Day 3 — Monday, June 2 | London/Bletchley Park

Travel to Bletchley Park and discover the real story behind the Enigma code breakers, credited with shortening the war by successfully deciphering the encryption used by the Wehrmacht to safeguard its messages. Enjoy an explanation of the decoder, as seen in the movie The Imitation Game.

After lunch at leisure, pay a visit to the HMS Belfast, a Royal Navy destroyer that played an important role in the D-Day landings. This evening, gather for a lecture from your Smithsonian Journeys Expert. (B)

Day 4 — Tuesday, June 3 | London / Portsmouth / Normandy

This morning, travel south to Portsmouth. Just outside Portsmouth, visit the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force by special arrangement (subject to confirmation). Enjoy a pre-opening visit to The Golden Lion Pub, which was converted into an officer’s mess during World War II. Surrounded by photographs and memorabilia, stand in the very same spot where Eisenhower would drink a ‘pint of beer’. At the D-Day Story, examine the Overlord Embroidery—a stunning handcrafted depiction of the D-Day events that stretches some 270 feet— and see a replica of the map General Eisenhower used to plot Allied positions. This museum aims to focus on the personal stories of those who landed on the beaches of Normandy.

This afternoon, cross the English Channel by ferry and arrive in Normandy in the late evening. (B,L,D)

Day 5 — Wednesday, June 4 | Sainte Mère-Église / Utah Beach / La Cambe

Explore the village of Sainte-Mère-Église, where the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division paratroopers dropped from the sky in a hail of gunfire on the night of June 5. View the church steeple upon which one unlucky paratrooper was entangled for hours, and visit the village’s remarkable museum.

Continue to Utah Beach, the site of one of the two American amphibious landings in the early hours of D-Day. Stop for lunch at Le Roosevelt, a restaurant built around a former German bunker just steps from the historic beach. This afternoon, pay a visit to the German war cemetery at La Cambe. (B,L,D)

Day 6 — Thursday, June 5 | Pointe Du Hoc / Arromanches / Bayeux

One of the most dramatic sites along the Normandy coastline is Pointe du Hoc, where U.S. Rangers used hooks and ropes to scale cliffs some 100 feet high in order to destroy key German gun positions. Walk along cliff-top pathways still cratered by mortar blasts, and venture into the concrete bunkers from which German forces unleashed a barrage of artillery fire.

Travel to Arromanches, one of the few remnants of the prefabricated concrete harbors (i.e. mulberries) that assisted in landing Allied supplies, and visit the Arromanches Landing Museum. After a lunch at leisure, travel to Bayeux, where you will have time to explore the town before a guided visit to the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. Then visit the Pegasus Memorial Bridge and Museum—dedicated to the men of the 6th British Airborne Division. Explore this museum on a guided tour, the exhibits recounting the battle for this strategic location in 1944. (B)

Day 7 — Friday, June 6 | Colleville-sur-Mer / Omaha Beach

This morning, visit the Overlord Museum, then walk along Omaha Beach, site of the bloodiest fighting of the invasion day. At the Omaha Beach Memorial, lay flowers in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. After a picnic lunch, commemorate the D-Day anniversary at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer to honor those who sacrificed so much. This evening, celebrate your journey with a farewell reception and dinner. (B,L,R,D)

Day 8 — Saturday, June 7 | Depart Paris

Depart as a group from Normandy to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for individual flights home or onward. (B)