Mulberry Harbours Caissons

D-Day Beaches


The harbour established at Omaha was completely destroyed by a ferocious gale (the worst storm to lash the Normandy coast in four decades) just two weeks after D-Day, but the impressive remains of three dozen caissons belonging to the second, Port Winston (named after Churchill), can still be seen off Arromanches-les-Bains, 10km northeast of Bayeux. At low tide you can even walk out to one of the caissons from the beach, but they are being gradually eroded by the sea.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby D-Day Beaches attractions

1. Musée du Débarquement

0.14 MILES

Down in Arromanches itself and right on the beach, the Musée du Débarquement makes for a very informative stop before visiting the beaches. Dioramas,…

2. Arromanches 360° Circular Cinema

0.31 MILES

The best view of Port Winston and nearby Gold Beach is from the hill east of town, site of the popular Arromanches 360° Circular Cinema, which screens…

3. Longues-sur-Mer Battery

3.19 MILES

These mammoth German artillery pieces remain in their colossal concrete emplacements – the only in-situ large-calibre weapons in Normandy. The first…

4. Bayeux Tapestry

5.83 MILES

The world’s most celebrated embroidery depicts the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 from an unashamedly Norman perspective…

6. Conservatoire de la Dentelle

5.85 MILES

Lacemaking (dentellerie), brought to Bayeux by nuns in 1678, once employed 5000 people. The industry is sadly long gone, but at the Conservatoire you can…

7. Cathédrale Notre Dame

5.85 MILES

Most of Bayeux’ spectacular Norman Gothic cathedral dates from the 13th century, though the crypt (take the stairs on the north side of the choir), the…

8. Mémorial des Reporters

6.2 MILES

This landscaped promenade, a joint project of the City of Bayeux and Reporters Without Borders (www.en.rsf.org), lists the names of over 2000 journalists…