Why this ride
A 270 km round trip from Le Havre - roughly 3 h 49 in the saddle. On the way it passes Sword Beach, Gold Beach and back through Sword Beach.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Le Havre and Gold Beach
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 270 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 49
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Le Havre
Le Havre was flattened. Allied bombing in September 1944 destroyed the old centre, and the French state hired the architect Auguste Perret to rebuild it, which he did in reinforced concrete, with straight boulevards, uniform apartment blocks and a grid of open squares. At first the town seemed grim. Today UNESCO calls it a masterpiece of postwar reconstruction, listed in 2005, and in the right light the concrete takes on a warm, pale-gold tone. The tower of the church of Saint-Joseph, over a hundred metres high, is the landmark, and inside, the light through its coloured glass is dazzling, a thing worth ten minutes of anyone's time.
Read the complete Le Havre write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Le Havre is where the day begins. Next is Sword Beach.
2. Sword Beach
On the morning of 6 June 1944 this long, flat stretch of sand between Ouistreham and Lion-sur-Mer was the easternmost of the five Allied landing beaches in Normandy. British troops of the 3rd Infantry Division came ashore here, supported by commandos, including a small unit of French commandos under Philippe Kieffer, who fought their way into Ouistreham. The beach linked up with the airborne forces who had taken the bridges over the Orne and the Caen canal during the night, among them the famous Pegasus Bridge at Bénouville, a few kilometres inland. Lord Lovat's commandos marched to relieve the paratroopers there, led, according to the well-known story, by piper Bill Millin playing on the beach under fire.
Read the complete Sword Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sword Beach comes up about 107 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gold Beach.
3. Gold Beach
On the morning of 6 June 1944 the British 50th Northumbrian Division came ashore along this low, sandy coast between La Rivière and Arromanches, and almost everything you see from the dunes at Ver-sur-Mer is shaped by that day. Gold Beach was the middle of the five Allied landing zones, with Juno to the east and Omaha to the west, and it is the quietest of them to ride today: a string of small seaside villages, wide flat sands at low tide and a coast road that ambles rather than races.
Read the complete Gold Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 134 km into the recorded legs you reach Gold Beach. Next is back through Sword Beach.
4. back through Sword Beach
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sword Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sword Beach, late in the day. Next is Le Havre.
5. Le Havre
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Le Havre write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Le Havre. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Le Havre to Sword Beach
Le Havre → Sword Beach is 107 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sword Beach to Gold Beach
Sword Beach → Gold Beach is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gold Beach to back through Sword Beach
Gold Beach → back through Sword Beach is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sword Beach to Le Havre
back through Sword Beach → Le Havre is 109 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.