7-8 days London, Normandy, Berlin advice?

My husband and I spent an entire day in the Imperial War Museum - good choice. I'm guessing that they would also enjoy Churchill's War Rooms - I think you could do both in a very long day - just be sure to book ahead for the War Rooms.

Then, take the EuroStar to Paris, and take a cab from Gare du Nord to Gare St. Lazare to catch a train to Bayeux. They just need to allow themselves enough time for the transfer. They can book a tour to see D-Day sites, including cemeteries. I strongly recommend using a guide instead of driving around on their own.

Then, take the train back to Paris and fly to Berlin. Can't offer any suggestions on Berlin since I haven't been there yet.

Personally, I like to use loco2.com to buy train tickets.

Those are three rather challenging places to connect on a short trip. How many nights can they spend in Europe, not counting the night on the plane?

My guess is that it will be best to fly into London and out of Berlin, or the reverse, because there isn't a significant international airport convenient to Normandy.

I assume you already know that the arrival day may not be useful for serious sightseeing because of jetlag and possible sleep deprivation.

The Imperial War Museum is very large. I spent 8+ hours there over the course of at least 4 visits, and I was not interested in the military hardware. While in London they might also want to see the Churchill War Rooms (purchase ticket in advance to avoid bad lines), which I haven't see but am expecting to take over half a day.

It seems that the best path from London to Normandy is the Eurostar train to Paris (book far in advance for cheapest tickets), followed by regular trains to Bayeux or elsewhere in the area. That travel will take the better part of a day. Personally, I think travelers who are not WWII historians are best served by including a 1-day small-group tour of the invasion sites in their itineraries, then branching out on their own (with a rental car) to see museums, etc. Most visitors don't want to go to just one museum and a cemetery, and having a professional driver/guide allows for much more comprehensive coverage in a short period of time. The invasion sites are widely scattered.

Traveling from Normandy on to Berlin may turn out to be easiest by returning to Paris then flying. You can begin exploring the various options on Rome2Rio.com, but that's only good for high-level analysis. Use skyscanner.com for airline schedules and SNCF for rail schedules. Getting from Normandy to Berlin will consume most of another day.

I spent most of my Berlin time in art museums or at Cold War sites, but I know the city has multiple sights related to WWII, beginning with the Reichstag and the very large German History Museum. We have other posters much more familiar with WWII sites in Berlin and surroundings, including Dachau. [As Mark points out, Dachau is near Munich, not Berlin. Sachsenhausen would work.]

Berlin, like London, is a spread-out city. In both of those places it can take a surprising amount of time to travel from one stop to the next.

I think trying to see the three desired areas will lead to a very rushed trip for folks with a serious interest in this subject. Remember, the arrival day may prove worthless, and essentially two more days will be spent moving from one stop to the next. It's hard to imagine that any sort of justice can be done to WWIi sites if they have fewer than two full days in London, two full days in Normandy and three full days for Berlin/Dachau. That appears to call for a minimum of 10 days, including the arrival-in-Europe day and the two relocation days but not the departure-from-US or departure-from-Europe days.

Definitely get a guide for Normandy. We had Sylvain Kant (recommended in the RS Guide). He brings the story to life.

Churchill War Rooms are about a two hour visit - you walk on a route looking into the rooms. It’s not a museum where you wander around and double back to see something again. Definitely a must see.

My advice would be to think carefully about whether you want to spend so much of your short vacation getting from place to place, versus seeing and doing cool stuff.

I am not saying you can't do this and I am not saying you shouldn't, necessarily. But if your 7-8 days include departure and arrival, then you've got at best 6 days of actual sightseeing, 2 of which are transit days, leaving 4 days.

There are tons of war sights at any one or two of those destinations. Or add Paris to London & Normandy (which would fit much better than Berlin) if you are determined to cram a lot in.

three full days for Berlin/Dachau

Agree on 3 full days for Berlin (better 4) but Dachau Memorial is near Munich. Sachsenhausen Memorial is next to Berlin. Even they are guys - if one of them is very empathic or not able to distance its mind from impressions a visit might be a hard hit for him (nothing to do with gender or age).

Normally for a deep dive on that part of history you can plan easily 5-7 full days in Berlin. After German Historic Museum to understand the time before (e.g. Versailles contract) the most important sights they can visit are the German Resistance Memorial Center and the Topography of Terror. And everywhere in town they will find the stumbling stones which mark the former living place of a Holocaust victim. Before their journey Mapping the Lives is worth a view. I did not list the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe for some reasons:

• To historically less educated people it gives by name a wrong impression. "Jew" had a different definition in Nazi logic - it was not a faith, it was a race discussion.
• The memorial is over-proportional compared to the tiny nearby memorials for homosexuals or Sinti and Roma. It opens always the strange discussion whether their victims were less worth or important.
• The ground itself is a fully artificial choice. Nothing happened there.

For wall they should visit Berlin Wall Memorial and multimedia exhibtion ninetiesBerlin.

I would pass on Berlin and save it for another trip. There is plenty to see in London and Normandy.

There are many things to see outside of London. We love the British countryside. Places like Cambridge, Canterbury, Oxford, Winchester, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Bath and more.

If you go to Normandy, don't miss going to historic Bayeux and the 900 year old Bayeux Tapestry, it tells the story of the Norman conquest of England in 1066.

You can tour a WWII bunker in Berlin. https://www.berliner-unterwelten.de/en/guided-tours/public-tours/dark-worlds.html

I agree with others that if you can extend trip to say, 10 days, you’d be better off.

julie, please add your home city, or at least your state to your visible profile. It's relevant because 7-8 days is so short a trip. Also please say if this is the husband and son's first trip to Europe ever. Are YOU going on the trip? I understand that this is preliminary planning, but 7-8 days is very vague. It takes an overnight to get to Europe (more if you are on the west coast), and you usually have to be in your flight home city the night before your return flight. That takes a lot away from "time on the ground."

It is VERY LATE to be planning a trip for August, 2019. This is Europe's "vacation month" more intensely that America's "vacation three months" and hotels will be crowded, temperatures high, and museums crowded. You are going to have to take a choice of hotel way down your list in each city.

You should go to your library and find an old copy of ANY book by our host, Rick Steves. He covers general information about your first visit to Europe better than any single discussion thread here could. Make sure you learn what an "Open Jaw" air ticket is.

I agree that these three places are too widely separated for a single, 8-day visit. Even London to Normandy (... note that you mean "The D-Day Beaches", not "Normandy", which is a much bigger destination ... ) is not a quick transfer - despite what you imagine to be the "as the crow flies" distance. You also should consider that it may not be the LAST trip to Europe these two people take.

Info: In Germany the summer vacations are not all into full August - it is managed by every state differently (overview), e.g. Berlin and neighboring Brandenburg state will be back in school from Aug. 5.

If they were to postpone Berlin until their next trip, they might have time to take a side-trip from London to Bletchley Park, the WWII code-breaking centt.

Hi,

Since everyone is so determined, something has to give since you're operating under a strict time constraint. Since there are 3 of you, it might just be necessary to skip one place...either you skip London this time, or Normandy or Berlin.

I would suggest after seeing Normandy, that you go back to Paris and fly to Berlin, in spite of any possible inconveniences that could pop up.

War sites in London given this much time: see the IMW museum, take a day trip to Manchester for the IWM there, or take a day trip to Bovington, taking the train from London Waterloo to Wool, then the taxi to the entrance of the Bovington Tank Museum, or the RAF Museum in London-Colindale if your interest is planes instead of tanks. You'll see the Russian T-34 right away as you enter the IWM in London.

These are the choices, you could do at least 3 of them, ie with careful planning.

For Bovington prepare to spend all day as it closes at 5 pm.

Hi! They can definitely add a few extra days and I think they will. I am really trying to get them s private tour guide for at least one Full day or possibly two at Normsndy beaches.

They will fly from Boston. Both are very easy going. They don’t care about hotel. I’ll book it..just need clean safe and good location.

I’m thinking

Overnight from Boston to London
Day 1: Rest...couple of sites ; possibly Churchill bunkers
Day 2: Imperial War Museum (non negotiable both son and hubby)
Day 3: travel to Paris then Bordeaux
Day 4: beaches tour private
Day 5: probable day 2 Bordeaux
Day 6: Travel to Berlin
Day 7-9: Berlin and day trip to concentration camp memorial
Day 10: home

I know the guys..for this trip that’s all they can handle ! Lol

Hi,

part 2 here...If you are flying from LAX or SF or OAK, you arrive in London (LHR or Gatwick) between 10-11 am By 2 pm I'm already at the B&B ready to check-in but since you can't until 2 or 3 pm (depends on the B&B), your luggage can be stored there...no problem.

By 3 pm your husband and son can be at the IWM, if they don't dilly-dally and stay focused. That gives you ca. 2 hrs to see it, plus you you always come back since it's free...one of the singular advantages of London.

"they are guys...." Then they most definitely can track down the war sites on the 3 week upcoming trip if they are desperate enough to see them and be there. Numerous places/sites can suggested in the Greater-Berlin area.

I'm guessing that you mean "Bayeux" and not "Bordeaux".

Haha!!! Yes. Sorry...That’s what happens when one is multitasking

There is quite a bit of research left to do. For example, the train to Paris from London does not go to the same station that the train to Bayeux leaves from. Eurostar tickets get more expensive as time passes, like plane tickets. They tend to be non-changeable, non-refundable. Seeing the D-Day beaches without a car almost requires advance-booked tours with transportation included. But they tend to be very expensive. Of course, the eliminate the need to study and select sites to visit. Naturally, you need to tell them if one cemetery or another is non-negotiable for you. This will be hard to book in August.

If they are only going for 8 days, maybe they can live with underseat-bags or something that complies with the bargain (?) airline they will be using to Berlin. Or they can pay the fee for a larger bag, of course. I usually buy the rip-off package that bundles one small checked bag with an assigned seat and an advance boarding pass, for example.

Thank you everyone for all of the great advice!

After ALL that..they texted me last night and said they just want to do Germany for 7-8 days...be more relaxed.

So. It's probably the best thing.

I'll start researching in the Germany forum.

Julie

Your son/husband can drive as fast as they can without getting a ticket.

Only where there is no speed limit, only on the Autobahn, only in the absence of Stau, and if you are driving over 130 kph when something happens they will be deemed at fault. Seriously - there are serious things to learn before trying the Autobahn.

Especially good fun is the A6.

Personal pet peeve...

JFK spoke at Rathaus Schöneberg, not the Berlin Wall/Brandenburg Gate. Watch the speech, and there will be no doubt in your mind that no one in the crowd was chuckling about JFK calling himself a jelly doughnut; his statement was clearly understood and appreciated. The whole jelly doughnut thing is revisionist history.

Ronald Reagan spoke at the Berlin Wall near the Brandenburg Gate.