One of the most recent museums to open in Normandy, the D-Day Wings Museum to the western outskirts of the city of Caen is a must visit.
Located inside a giant hangar on the edge of the Carpiquet airfield, the family friendly museum pays tribute to and tells the story of the D-Day air operations through static aircraft, remains of famous planes, and thousands of fascinating objects.
It’s one of the most hands-on museums in Normandy too with visitors able to access the cockpits of a replica Spitfire and Focke Wulf 190, look inside a Beechcraft C45 and get up close with a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun – which one can sit in and traverse the gun platform around the inside of the hangar.
There are too many incredible exhibits to list here, but particular highlights include an original barrage balloon, Me109 parts, Hawker Typhoon fuselage section and engine, B17 cockpit, rear gunner turrets, a B17 ball turret, V2 rocket sections, army and navy weapons, and an extensive collection of scale models.
Each exhibit is well annotated with information boards and there are multi-lingual guide books you can take around the museum with you.
It’s a museum which can visit on multiple occasions and still not take it all in and the team are regularly adding to the collection, so you’ll need to visit more than once.