Ideas for a WW II trip

Chris, for itinerary ideas, check out the WWII tours offered by the National World War II museum in New Orleans and other organizations like beyondbandofbrothers.

In just one week you will have barely time for Normandy and Ardennes. If you had more time I would suggest to visit one battlefield on the east front little known in the west. It is Dukla Pass in Carpathian mountains on the border of Poland and Slovakia. You can read about it here: http://www.euro-t-guide.com/See_Coun/Slovakia/E/SK_See_Valley_of_Death_Dukla_1-1.htm
to read more just google Battle of Dukla Pass and Dukla battlefield.

I have seen tours advertised that focus on WWII battles. I think it was in Belgium.

I suggest you do the three days in Normandy, but also go to see the wonderful Bayeux Tapestry, which is 900 years old and chronicles the Norman invasion of England.

Belgium has most of the Battle of the Bulge Battlefields but you might also go to Verdun for the WWI museum, battlefield and burial grounds. You can still see were the trenched were located.

I have been to Arnheim in Holland and the British Airborne museum in that city. It is still worth a visit, also you can see the Bridge too Far.

Go to Amsterdam to see the Anne Frank House. Auschwitz in southern Poland is worth a visit as are Krakow and Warsaw.

There is a lot of history of the war spread over Germany, like the site of the Nuremberg War Trials as well as the site where the NAZI rallies were held. Also, Dachau near Munich.

Berlin has some history of the war but it is not front and center.
The Churchill War Rooms in London are good.

It really depends on what kinds of WWII things you want to see.

Both the Imperial War Museum, and The Churchill Rooms in London are quite fine. The code breakers were headquartered in Bletchley Park, and an easy daytrip from London. During WWII the tunnels under Dover Castle were by the British Admiralty as headquarters. The retreat from Dunkirk was run from there. Dover too is a possible London daytrip.

The Military Museum in Paris has fine WWII exhibits too.

Berlin is a treasure trove of WWII museums. http://www.oh-berlin.com/en/oh-berlin/5689/culture/museums/wwii-in-berlin/ If you are interested in Natzis and facism consider Nuremberg and Munich.

For the holocast there are numerous concentration camps to visit.
Amsterdam has The Anne Frank House and a fine Resistance museum.

Given a week, I'd split my time between London and Berlin, or if battle sites are a priority London and Normandy. But you could spend months in Europe exploring WWII.

I would put Normandy number one. Since you only have a week, I would plan the rest of the trip to minimize transportation time. London works well - the Churchill war rooms are (is?) fantastic. Or you could head to Bastogne. Since your grandfather fought there, that's what I would do. There is a nice museum in Bastogne, and outside of town you can see the Easy Company fox holes (Band of Brothets). There is an even better Battle of the Bulge museum in Diekirch (not sure I'm spelling that correctly). It's really great.

You would need a car to see the sites in Belgium. The area is not covered by trains, and there don't seem to be many tours there. In Normandy you would need need a car or you could take a tour. There are many excellent guides. They are pricey but worth it.

p.s. You have a great wife!

Trying to wrap my brain around the statement that Berlin has a bit of war history but it wasn't front and center?
In Germany, you will probably find more war related stuff in Berlin than anywhere else.

What I meant about not front and center is that for WWII sights in Germany you there is not the automatic splash of tours for visitors in the Allied countries. For example, the last time I visited Berlin was in 1991 and I don't remember any of the tourist literature published and distributed that included the museums in Berlin relevant to the war. Also, this was before the Holocaust Memorial was constructed. In Nuremberg, I remember asking many of the local Germans were to find the sight for the NAZI rallies and none would tell me or didn't know. City maps did not have that sight shown.

Since you will be in Normandy I suggest a few hours at the Peace Museum in Caen.

When one says s/he wants to see WW2 sites in particular, I distinguish that by seeing only or mainly American sites vs German, Russian, French, British, Polish sites.

There are numerous sites on WW1 and 2 in the Greater Berlin area, such as museums, cemeteries, memorial plaques, battlefield museums/memorial sites (Gedenkstätten). I've been to several of them. Of course, if you're placing the focus on American sites, forget going to Berlin for that.

In 1991 there had been at least two museums in Berlin that dealt with aspects on the war. One existed in the Reichstag building prior to the Federal government moving to Berlin from Bonn. That museum exhibition was called "Fragen an die deutsche Geschichte." A thick, heavy paperback was published on that exhibit, both in German and in English. I first saw that exhibit in 1971, went back to it in 1984 and '87 to see if it had been updated and/or additional realia had been added. The other museum existing in 1991 was opened in 1989, the Resistance Museum. I saw it in August 1989, all in German, very esoteric. Of course, now it contains much more.

I have heard of tourists having difficulty locating the Nazi rally grounds. That site I've been to only once, in 1973, when I was staying at the HI hostel in Nuremberg. Seeing that site was one of the reasons my going to the city in the first place. I went to it.

Chris,

Ideas for WW-II trip - where to begin! Since you only have a very short one week time frame, that's going to limit the possibilities. Does that time include your two flight days? Where are you travelling from?

For your travels in Normandy, I would highly recommend using one of the exceptional guides in that area, as that will provide a more rewarding and memorable trip. You'll learn far more with a guide than by travelling on your own. If you need information on some of the guides in that area, post another note here or check the guidebooks.

For your stay in Normandy, Bayeux is very centrally located so the best location for a "home base" for that area. That's also where many of the tours depart from. While there you could also tour the WW-II Museum there, and of course see the famous Tapestry which depicts a much earlier battle.

Given the extremely short time frame, one possibility would be to spend three days touring Normandy, then our the Battle of the Bulge sites and end the trip with a few days in Paris prior to your flight home. The Invalides Museum & Napoleon's Tomb has a fairly good WW-II section, and there's also a section devoted to de Gaulle. You might want to research the areas where your grandfather was posted, so that you can have a look at those locations. I haven't taken any "Bulge" tours yet, but you could have a look at.....

• http://www.regjans.com/bastogne-2/
• https://www.viator.com/tours/Brussels/Small-Group-WWII-Battle-of-the-Bulge-Tour-from-Brussels/d458-6179BULGE_SG
• http://www.scenic-tours.be/scenictours_en2/articles.php?lng=en&pg=52
• http://www.mardasson.com/#General_Information.A

Travel to Normandy is easily done by train, as is travel to Belgium. However for accessing the "Bulge" sites, a car may be easier for that part of the trip. You'll need to allow some time for travel between locations, so be sure to include that in your planning.

If you had more time, there's an almost infinite number of WW-II historic sites to see in Europe, so the field of choices would be much larger.

OK, time to confront some inconvenient truths.

You say this is a "week-long" trip. What exactly does that mean? Do you mean, your trip - including departure from the US and return back - will be " a week"? Or do you mean you will have a full 7 days of usable time in Europe, not counting your arrival or departure days?

Other critical questions...
Have you ever been to Europe before? I'm guessing no.
Do you care about anything other than WWII sites? Unclear.

My point: Getting from the US to Europe takes about a day. Same for the return. You can not ignore this fact and simply pretend that your "trip" starts on the day you leave home for the airport (many first-time travelers engage in this fantasy and post here until someone slaps them out of it). In almost all cases, your flight from North America will take up to 24 hours of elapsed time, but you need to figure in that it will probably be an overnight redeye flight, which means you arrive in Europe sometime in the mid-day, but you will probably be a complete wreck (physically & mentally) at that point, and for a while more. Your arrival day is not a usable day (nor is your departure day). You should figure that day is going to be spent just getting to your hotel, in a jet-lagged daze, trying to adjust to the shock of flying to the other side of the world, the disorientation of being in a foreign country where you (probably) do not speak the language, having trouble getting your bearings, etc. Odds are you will get lost, will be cranky from lack of sleep, the stress of the previous days getting ready to go, airport connections, sitting in a cramped seat or three for the better part of a day, etc.

If your trip is "a week", it's critically important that you start being honest with yourself about how much usable time you really have. Start now.

Lets say for argument that your trip starts on a saturday, and has you returning a week later on a sunday. You leave saturday, then you arrive in Europe on Sunday, mid-day. Your primary focus seems to be Normandy (understandable). There are no non-stop flights from your home to Normandy, so you will probably be flying into Paris. You arrive in Paris Sunday mid-day, after being up all night (do you sleep well on planes? most of us don't), Sunday afternoon you could attempt to move on from Paris to Normandy, but if this is your first trip to Europe, things will feel pretty disorienting and alien. Normandy is best to do by rental car (IMHO, others may disagree) but believe me, you do NOT want to get off a plane, rent a car, and zoom off with your buddies into Paris traffic looking for the French countryside.

Besides, if you have never been to Paris, you owe it to yourself to spend at least a little time there. The trick is, that your trip is super short. Personally, I don't think that it's "worth it" to go all the way to Europe for just a week (and I've been many times, and I travel at crazy-fast speeds). You will enjoy your trip so much more, and you will get 100X more out of it, if you stay longer. I suggest 2 weeks as a minimum (for first-timers; 10 days for frequent visitors/europhiles).

Remember, every time you pick up and move your base, the simple logistics will consume half a day at best (maybe the whole day). Getting from point A to point B takes time.

If your trip is saturday to sunday, then you only have six full, usable days in europe (and that first day, you will not be at 10% either). With six days, I think you only have time for Normandy (allow a day to get there, a day to get back) and one other very short stop. Pick Paris or London for that. The solutions are to stay longer, and/or plan to return.

Sorry to be the skunk at the picnic, somebody had to say it, hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi,

When you are flying over, are you landing in Paris CDG? In the morning or around noon? Even better. Say, you land in the morning, get through Immigration, etc, and get to the hotel by 1330 and you are allowed to check by 1400. Bravo!

Your first day is not shot. There are hotels which allow you to leave your luggage, provided you reserved, then return later to check in. Should that be the case, even better. You can be at the Invalides to the French Army Museum by 1400 hrs or so. You have three hours to devote to the museum. It is feasible. I've done it on the day of landing after the 11 hour flight. By 1400 hrs I got to the Museum by the Metro, only focused on the history from the 18th century on. At the Les Invalides there is naturally a restaurant, not just a sandwich shop but hot food cafeteria style.

What David said plus ... in order to have 3 full days in a place, you usually need to spend 4 nights there. According to Rome2rio, it's about 2 hours by train between Paris and Bayeux. By car it's about 2.5 hours. So if your week is from your home and back again, your time on the ground is very limited.

I've been to Normandy twice. The first was by car with a friend. The second was by train with my husband. That second time we took a one day, very small group tour. We saw and learned a lot more on that tour than I did on my first visit, even though the first visit was longer. If you decide to go on your own, the 3 of you need to do a lot of research on what you want to see and do and on the best ways to get where you want to go.

The Overlord Tour is one of the major ones for the area. You can find many more by doing a simple Google search for normandy tours.

If you end up with extra time and are so inclined you could go to Reims to see the Museé de la Reddition, the place where the WWII surrender was actually signed. It's a short train trip from Paris and the museum is right behind the train station. In fact, you might enjoy the whole WWII blog that the link is from and it might help you with some of your itinerary decisions.

"According to Rome2rio, it's about 2 hours by train between Paris and Bayeux."

It's actually considerably longer than that if travelling from CDG to Bayeux, about four hours. One first has to get from the airport to Gare St. Lazare, and that will take some time.

You could follow the German itinerary, starting in Austria, before moving on to ...
Czechoslovakia
Poland
Denmark
Norway
Belgium
Netherlands
France
Yugoslavia
Greece
Soviet Union
Italy
Probably a little too much for one week. After all, it did take the Germans 5 years.

Most countries in Europe have interesting WWII sites, but it sounds like you already have a pretty good itinerary. Spend several days in Normandy and drive to the Bastogne area.

Please come back to the forum and let us know what you decide to do!

If you do make it to the Netherlands from France, I highly recommend the National Liberation Museum in Groesbeek, near Nijmegen. In Paris, you should definitely visit the Musée de l'Armée (Army Museum), the national military museum of France located at Les Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. You can also pay a visit to Napoleon's tomb.

I just want to add a few details about Bastogne, since I was there in September. The museum is brand-new and excellent. I particularly liked the attention to the lives of everyday Belgians during the battle and the siege. On the visit, you follow the experiences of four fictional characters as they experience the battle (an American, a German, and two Belgians). Several of the rooms are mini-theaters where you live through key moments in the battle, such as being in a foxhole during the German attack (and it's COLD in there!). You will need a car because Bastogne is off the main train lines and the museum is on the outskirts of the town.

I would NOT go to Malmedy, where more than 80 American POWs were massacred by the Nazis. The museum is very old fashioned (dioramas) and the village memorial is underwhelming. The actual field where it happened is still being used as a farm.

Do as much research as you can on where your grandfather was stationed during the battle, and try to go there if at all possible. There are guides based in Bastogne who can help you pinpoint where his unit was located. But remember that the Ardennes is a large area and that he may have been several hours away from the Bastogne sites.

My father was stationed at an airfield near Leuven during the battle and I was fortunate to contact the museum attached to this airfield before my visit to let them know I was coming. Even though the museum is normally closed during the week, they opened the doors for me and gave me a personal, two-hour tour. The commander of the air base greeted me at the gates and escorted me to the museum. Everyone thanked me for the sacrifices made by Americans to liberate their country. It was a very moving experience--and I'm certain you will have the same type of encounter if you go.

Others are correct about the shortness of the time available, at least until the details are confirmed, but if you do get to the Battle of the Bulge area it is worth a detour into Luxembourg to the most excellent museum in Diekirch which tells the battle from the point of view of American soldiers, German soldiers and civilians in Luxembourg.

Don't forget the Eastern Front... visiting the Great Patriotic War Museum in Kiev was one of the finest museums I have visited on the subject of WW II.

To be honest, with a week I'd do the D-Day beaches, the American Cemetery, and one other site important to you that's no more than a half-day drive. From there, just enjoy your time in France. You will likely want some time to absorb the different things you are seeing. I highly recommend hiring one of the tour guides that Rick recommends in his guidebook. Staying in a B&B nearby can also enhance the experience as so many people in that area have relatives who were in the war.