Arromanches D-Day Museum

The Arromanches D-Day Museum (Musée du Débarquement) sits on the seafront at Arromanches-les-Bains, in the Gold Beach sector of Calvados. It covers June 6, 1944, the Battle of Normandy and the artificial harbor the Allies built just off this beach, known as Mulberry B. The museum describes itself as the first museum on this theme created after the Second World War. It is worth planning around because the harbor it explains is still out there: walk outside and you can see its concrete remains offshore.

What you will see

The exhibition

The visit follows seven sequences spread over 1,200 m2. Archive film, original objects and animated scale models explain how the artificial harbors worked. A large projection, a projection about the five landing beaches and a 25 m2 video map then place Arromanches within the wider landings.

The exhibition covers both the British and the American artificial harbors, so it adds context if you also plan to visit the American sector further west. Groups begin with an introductory film in a 126-seat cinema.

The audioguide is included in the ticket. Visitor aids are available in 19 languages, the film in 9 and the slide show in 6. Children aged 6 to 10 have their own audioguide.

Port Winston and what remains offshore

The prefabricated harbor was nicknamed Port Winston. It was meant to last about three months but stayed in use for about five. Normandy Tourism states that 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles and four million tonnes of supplies came ashore through it.

After the exhibition, walk along the seafront. Concrete sections of the Mulberry harbor still sit in the water, and seeing them right after the scale models makes the scale of the project much easier to grasp. Arromanches has been a seaside resort since the 1870s, so the town also has a beach and a promenade to walk.

Arromanches 360 on the cliff

Arromanches 360 is a separate site on the cliff above town, at Chemin du Calvaire. It is a circular cinema showing “The 100 days of Normandy,” a 20-minute film made from archive footage and projected on nine screens. Screenings run every 30 minutes. It has its own ticket. The Cœur de Nacre tourist office lists a combined ticket for Arromanches 360 and the Mémorial de Caen, so check the operators’ sites for current prices before you go.

Planning your visit

How long to allow. The museum gives an average visit of 1 hour 30 minutes, and Normandy Tourism gives 1 hour 15 minutes. Plan on about an hour and a half inside, plus time on the seafront. Add the 20-minute film at Arromanches 360 if you want to see it.

When to go. The museum is open from February to December. It closes for the whole of January and on a few days around Christmas. Hours change from month to month, so see the Visit facts box above for the current timetable. If your trip falls in early June, read D-Day Anniversary: June 6 in Normandy before you fix your dates. For seasons in general, see Best Time to Visit Normandy.

Tickets and payment. You cannot book online. Tickets are sold only at the museum’s ticket office. You can pay by credit card, American Express, cash, check or paper holiday vouchers. Digital holiday vouchers are not accepted. For entry prices and family and veteran rates, see the Visit facts box above. The shop can be visited without a ticket.

Explore Normandy Pass. The museum is a partner of the Explore Normandy Pass, the official pass of Normandie Tourisme, the regional tourism board. The museum does not publish the amount of its discount, which is shown inside the pass’s app. My Normandy Pass is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with Normandie Tourisme or the official Explore Normandy Pass. To see which of your planned sites have published prices, try the Normandy pass calculator.

Accessibility. The museum is accessible to visitors with reduced mobility. It has two lifts, tactile floor guidance and a hearing loop. The audioguides include French sign language and easy-read content. Entry is free for disabled visitors.

With children. Pushchairs are not allowed on the exhibition route. Pushchair lockers are provided, and you can borrow a baby carrier at the ticket office. Lockers for bags and coats are also available.

Fitting it into a day. Arromanches sits between the British and Canadian beaches to the east and the American sector to the west, so it works as a midday stop on a beaches day. See One Day on the D-Day Beaches or Two Days in Bayeux and on the D-Day Beaches for ready-made routes. The D-Day beaches map shows where everything lies.

Getting there

By train

The nearest station is Bayeux. According to the museum, the train from Paris Saint-Lazare to Bayeux takes about 3 hours, and Caen to Bayeux about 15 minutes. From Bayeux station, the museum puts Arromanches about 15 minutes away. Several taxi firms are based in Bayeux. For more car-free planning, see Normandy Without a Car.

By car

The museum gives these driving times: Caen 35 minutes, Cherbourg 1 hour 20 minutes, Rennes 2 hours 15 minutes and Paris 3 hours 20 minutes. If you drive from Paris, note that the A13 Saint-Cloud tunnel near Paris is closed in the Paris-to-Normandy direction from November 16, 2026 to the end of August 2027, with signed diversions. Bicycle parking is available in town, including near the museum. Motorbikes have a dedicated space on Rue F. Jourdan de la Passardière.

On a tour

If you visit on a guided beaches tour from Bayeux or Caen, ask the operator whether a stop at Arromanches and museum entry are included. The D-Day Beaches Day Trip from Paris page explains how to plan that kind of day. More details are on the museum’s official site.

Nearby

The driving times below are OpenStreetMap estimates without traffic.

Bayeux is about 14 minutes and 10 km away. It is the nearest base with a train station, so it makes an easy overnight stop before or after Arromanches.

The Juno Beach Centre is about 17 minutes and 13 km east. It covers the Canadian landings and pairs well with Arromanches on a day along the eastern beaches.

The Normandy American Cemetery is about 29 minutes and 20 km west, so you can continue there after the museum. The American Battle Monuments Commission expects compulsory pre-registration for all cemetery visitors from summer 2027, so check before you go.

The Caen Memorial Museum is about 36 minutes and 27 km away. It gives the wider story of the war and suits a half day on its own, either before or after Arromanches.