I'm going to be in Brugges and planning on taking a road trip to Dunkirk to see ay WWII sites. Is it worth the trip? Is there much to see/explore/experience?
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2226 posts
There is a little museum and a monument about Operation Dynamo near the beach. With low tide the remains of a few shipwrecks are still visible. There are battle field tours, but I didn’t join one, so can’t tell you if it’s worth following.
https://www.dunkirk-tourism.com/things-to-do/dunkirk-1940-operation-dynamo/
There are still bunkers of the Atlantikwall spread around. Especially near “Fort des Dunes” at the outskirts of Dunkirk. No idea a visit is included in the tour.
The best preserved part of the Atlantikwall is to find near Ostend.
If it's worth going to Dunkirk depends how much interested you are in Operation Dynamo. Certainly not to miss are the former V2 launch bases La Coupole and Le Blockhaus near Saint-Omer. The huge gun batteries near Cap Griz-Nez too.
Posted by
Somewhere out there
172 posts
I went to Dunkirk back in March for a weekend. I’ve read the history, saw the movie, walked the beach and ate dinner in a boat that was part of the evacuation. For me it was checking off more on a bucket list of battlefields.
If it has to be a tactile experience and see/touch, there’s not much. You’ve missed the very large 85th Anniversary commemoration.
Absent all that go to Dunkirk and swing down to Dieppe. Two major battlefields that are quite moving and little noticed. Along the way you can see the closest that Reichs Marshal Goering got to England at Cap Gris Nez or a Canadian Cemetery with Americans who died in service to Canada. So yes go and experience these places! Plus the coast is pretty nice!