D-Day events: Residents and visitors warned to check driving and parking rules
Many towns holding major remembrance events are set to close roads and ban parking next weekend
Many towns in Normandy (such as Arromanches-les-Bains, shown here) hold major remembrance events for D-Day, closing roads and banning parking
Schager/Shutterstock
A commune in Normandy is once again to ban driving and parking in the centre of town during all of its forthcoming D-Day remembrance events this year, in a move taken by many neighbouring towns too.
Carentan-les-Marais (Manche, Normandy) has taken the action in a bid to enable the ceremonies to go ahead smoothly. The rules have been outlined in several decrees issued by the local authorities.
For example, parking will be banned almost all day (from 08:00 to 21:00) depending on the area, with some parts of the town inaccessible from Wednesday June 4 to Sunday June 8.
D-Day events
D-Day remembrance events are set to take place across France next week, particularly on the weekend days of Friday June 6 to Sunday 8.
Every year, the D-Day Festival Normandy takes place along the entire coastline of the D-Day sites, including the Battle of Normandy beaches, from Pegasus Bridge to Sainte-Mère-Eglise. This includes the towns of:
Ouistreham
Arromanches
Pointe du Hoc
Plus:
Utah Beach
Omaha Beach
Gold Beach
Juno Beach
Sword Beach
A full list of events taking place as part of the D-Day Festival Normandy 2025 can be seen on the Normandie Tourisme website here, and a downloadable PDF of the full schedule is here.
Events are taking place in some places until June 15.
Carentan-les-Marais is especially well-known for its major parade, the ‘Carentan Liberty March’, an official ceremony that is this year set to take place on Sunday, June 8. This is one of the reasons that it imposes particularly strict parking and access restrictions.
Other nearby towns that regularly impose parking and driving restrictions every year also include Bayeux, which hosts annual D-Day events that tend to attract crowds. Roads around Sainte-Mère-Église will also be among those that are closed, with designated parking areas for visitors depending on the direction they come from.
Others include:
Saint-Côme-du-Mont: Sunday June 8, restricted circulation and parking
Angoville-au-Plain: Thursday, June 5-Saturday June 7, restricted circulation and parking and some parking bans in place near central areas
Exceptions are generally issued for vehicles that are involved in the events in some way; for example, in Bayeux, vehicles from the UK Royal British Legion - which is taking part in the events - will be able to access some areas with a vehicle sticker and prior identification.
If you are planning to visit a D-Day event or visit any areas that are hosting them over next weekend, you are advised to check the driving and parking situation before travelling.
Transport options
The Normandy tourism office Normandie Tourisme advises visitors to the area during the events to avoid travelling by individual car.
Instead, it recommends that visitors take the train to one of the region’s 101 stations, including TGV lines connecting the area with Paris, Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Marseille.
When in Normandy, it advises people to use bikes, buses, and the public transport app Atoumod. Public transport tickets for Normandy can also be purchased through the Atoumod M-Ticket app.
If a car is really needed, it advises people to use a car-sharing app to reduce the number of individual vehicles on the roads.
