The westernmost of the main Invasion Beaches, Utah Beach stretches for approximately thirty kilometres south from St-Vaast. From 6.30am onwards on D-Day, 23,000 men and 1700 vehicles landed here. A minor coast road, the D241, traces the edge of the dunes and enables visitors to follow the course of the fighting, though in truth there's precious little to see these days. Ships that were deliberately sunk to create artificial breakwaters are still visible at low tide, while markers along the seafront commemorate individual fallen heroes.Two museums now tell the story: the Musée de la Liberté in QUINÉVILLE (daily: June–Sept 9.30am–7.30pm; mid-March to May & Oct to mid-Nov 10am–6pm; closed Dec to mid-March; €5), which focuses on everyday life for the people of Normandy under Nazi occupation, and the much more comprehensive Musée du Débarquement d'Utah-Beach in STE-MARIE-DU-MONT (www.utah-beach.org; May–Sept daily 9.30am–7pm; April & Oct daily 10am–12.30pm & 2–6pm; Nov–March Sat, Sun & hols 10am–12.30pm & 2–5.30pm; €4.50), which explains the operations in exhaustive detail, with huge sea-view windows to lend immediacy to the copious models, maps, films and diagrams.
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