Hi Everyone,
Has anyone been there lately who knows if you can wander through on your own or if you have to go on a tour. I'm only interested in the part that housed the German Uboats during the war. I will be in St. Malo around mid October and was hoping to drive down for a day trip to see the sub pens.
As best I can tell from several web sites, any English tours finish at the end of September., and French tours do not seem to occur in mid October (I can only speak the most rudimentary french, so on a french tour I would just be smiling and nodding at everything- it's really just a ruse to get me inside to see things).
Thanks for any help or advice people can provide.
Posted by
Belgium
512 posts
K3 tour in french tickets available 18 Oct to 1 Nov (except on mondays and saturdays).
https://billetterie.lorientlabase.fr/selection/timeslotpass?productId=10229515674636>mStepTracking=true
Go inside the massive covered docks (the sub pens) where the U-boats used to be moored and go up to the roof for the panoramic view is only possible during the guided tour (K3 bunker).
You can tour the Flore-S645 Submarine & Museum (a Cold War-era submarine) (= K2 bunker) on your own with an audio guide in English. Tickets 17 october onwards.
It is not possible to enter the K1 bunker due to the presence of local businesses.
The remains of the K4 bunker—which was never completed due to the relentless Allied bombing (two massive, thick walls)—are open to the public.
Don't forget to spot the half-sunken boats in the water between K3 and K1.
You can always do a walk around the buildings on your own and for free
https://www.lorientbretagnesudtourisme.fr/uploads/2020/09/promenade-n8-rando8_port_mars2016.pdf
To get a front-on view of the bunker structure, you can take a ferry from Lorient to Groix (40 min)
https://oceane.breizhgo.bzh/balade-en-bateau-depuis-lorient-breizhgo-oceane/
Posted by
Sioux Falls, SD, USA
3316 posts
We were there in March. No bar.to.simply entering and looking. 6.or.so massive concrete pens. Pretty cool but limited.
Posted by
Somewhere out there
225 posts
Went several years ago. It was fantasticly interesting. My wife spoke enough French to muddle through with the tour guide waiting on our back and forth translation. The engineering to build this nearly bomb proof facility is also interesting.
Remember that Lorient was the operational HQs for directing sub ops in much of the Atlantic, in a nearby mansion and underground complex. The entire sub pen complex was taken by the French Navy after the war and served as the base of operations for French submarines in the 1950s.
If you can struggle through French narrative, this is a fantastic tour.
Posted by
Surrey, UK
1084 posts
If you have the time, you can tour the first French nuclear powered submarine, now decommisioned! in Cherbourg.