WW2 focused 10 day Europe/France trip this May.

Are interested generally or are you following the footsteps of a relative or particular unit?

Aaron, I recommend taking one of the one-day van trips to the Normandy beaches. The driver/guide will provide a lot of background information and take you to a variety of spots, like gun emplacements, that you'd be hard-pressed to locate yourself, even with a rental car. I used Overlord Tours (departing from Bayeux). They are recommended by many, but there are other options. I know I've seen Dale Booth's tours mentioned positively, as well.

I'll leave it to others who are more interested in war materiel to make detailed suggestions. I tend to enjoy more the historical explanation found in museums and memorial sites.

While it would be cool to follow the 101st Airborne, that isn't really the focus as much as seeing major battle sights and museums, and hopefully some of the older towns and villages near them.

Thanks for the tip acraven! I'm not opposed to small tours, I did a lot of them in Scotland and England. I'd do one of the big 12-15 day tours but that is too expensive and I'd rather spend more time wandering about on my own.

We followed a relative' sWWII path with US Army through France, Belgium and Germany had letters and and an Army book detailing the locations and battles... After you visit the Normandy Beaches there is a memorial to the US Army as you enter St. Lô , site of a battle. We had trouble when we stopped at various towns and cities where battles took place. The people we encountered at tourist offices did not know about the battles or even that US armed forces had liberated their towns from the Nazis. They did, almost all, have a Place de Gaulle even though he was in the U.K. during the war.
Good luck with this trip. Hope you find resources in advance that are helpful.

Also you could look into the key points of the 1940 German invasion, the Ardennes forest ( a key barrier that German panzer divisions crossed much quicker than the allies expected), the Meuse river crossing points, the Belgian fortress Eben Emael, and the Coast towns that saw fighting such as Calais, Boulougne and of course Dunkirk. You could retrace the path of a German Panzer division such as Rommel's 7th, or De Gaulles last ditch French tank offensive of May 20th. Would be interesting to see how much of the 1940 battlefield areas are commemorated.

Suki, there is a Place de Gaulle in almost every city or town in France. I think it is a bit rude to insinuate he was not the hero the French consider him. He was also the President of France after the war, too. As for the town tourist offices, we found them very helpful and knowledgeable, even supplying maps. Our interest was British and Canadian, not American, but I doubt that would make a difference. As politely as possible. I would like to mention that a lot of towns and villages were liberated by Canadians and British soldiers, not Americans, which may be why some town tourist office employees were not as informative as you expected them to be about US participation.

Norma, IIRC there were combined as many Canadian and British troops in the '44 campaign in France as there were US troops.

You may be right, rob, I don’t really know. Something to ponder also, is that about 50,000 dead Germans, boys and young men, were left behind by the German army. I read that some time ago but can’t remember where.

There may not be as much to see as you are imagining. Much of the war in Europe was fought on the run, so few fortifications, and I am not surprised that many towns failed to build a museum or memorial to their "Liberators", their focus was on getting their lives back to normal. In general, the war left little physical effect that has not been rebuilt or healed with time.

You mentioned Normandy. There are also a number of cemeteries throughout western Europe. Bastogne does have sights centered on that battle, but other battlefield sights are minimal.

Paris itself has little for fortifications or battle sights, since other than the resistance, no battle was fought there and it was not fortified. There is a Resistance museum, and the Musee de l'Armee has a section on the war. There are also memorials to the deported and Jewish communities, plus you should be able to find some walking tours that would add some local history.

Further to the East would be parts of the Maginot line, it did not see much action, but as a fortification it is fascinating. Across the border, near Irrel, is the West Wall museum, part of the German defense fortifications.

Brussels has the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History, a top notch military museum.

Overall, do some searches, you should be able to piece together an itinerary.

I agree with acraven, above. Paying for a one day guided tour of Normandy is money WELL spent. You will not regret it. We used Alan Bryson of First Normandy Battlefield tours and he was great. There are other good ones as well.

The town of Falaise was pretty much obliterated during the invasion but has a new and--I thought--quite good museum about civilian life during the war. Activities of the resistance are included. English-language signage is quite good. Falaise isn't far south of Caen.

Finding attractive, historic towns in Normandy is not particularly easy because of wartime damage. Normandy took a real beating. I'd suggest a detailed guide book covering that area. It doesn't have to be a recent one for this purpose.

Assuming you have a car for at least part of your time in Normandy, I'll also mention the very pretty old town of Fougeres, which is just over the border in Brittany. As far as I know, there's no important WW II connection. It's not too far south of Avranches and Mont-St.-Michel.

On the eastern side of Bayeux and Caen there are some cute coastal towns, including Cabourg and the more tourist-clogged Honfleur. Deauville and Trouville are handsome beach resorts with 19th and 20th century architecture. When you get your key destinations firmed up, post again with a list. I'll bet some others here can make some good suggestions about nearby stops. Since I was limited to public transportation, I didn't get around as much as I might have liked.

Not on the western front in WW2. At Falaise there were 50,000 Germans taken prisoner, 10,000 were dead in the Falaise Pocket, where the pocket had become a total "killing zone" though that term wasn't used then. Still the rest escaped, 10,000.

Anglo-American recriminations over which side was most at fault in not trapping the Germans entirely by closing the pocket has taken place ever since.

When I went to the town of Beauvais a few years ago as a day trip from Paris, the tourist office pointed out to me the German WW2 military cemetery on the map, ca one hour away from the centre ville by foot.

"...rather see tanks and fortifications...." Well, plenty to see in that regard, depending on your energy used to track down these places. For the tanks go to Saumur, west of Tours, where the Museum of Tanks is located.

Go to northern France towards Arras. The beach towns in the Pas-de-Calais (I've been to a couple of them) still have pill boxes.

For the tanks you need to see Vienna, Berlin-Karlshorst, Seelow near Frankfurt an der Oder (to see Soviet tanks of WW2) and obviously, in England the Bovington Tank Museum, which takes up all day., it you want to see British, French and the whole array of German tanks...lots of them.

Arras has plaques in the centre ville focusing on the event of 1940 and its liberation in 1944 by the Welsh Guards.

How about starting off in England? Basing yourself in or near Portsmouth you can visit Southwick House (http://www.hampshire-history.com/southwick-house-small-place-big-history/) and the nearby forts on top of Portsdown Hill.

You can then travel down into Portsmouth and visit the D-Day museum (http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk) as well as the Historic Naval Dockyard (http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk). I would also recommend taking one of the harbour tours, many of which depart from Gunwharf Quays, a 5 minute walk from the historic dockyard.

Having viewed the departure point for many of those men heading to France you can take the ferry to Cherbourg, Caen or Le Harve and explore the Normandy beaches from there.

Logistically you could fly into London and out of Paris or alternatively start in Paris, spend a few days there and either take the Eurostar to London and from there travel on to Portsmouth. Or fly from Paris to Southampton which will be a 20 minute drive to Portsmouth.

A lot of great info for me to digest, thanks one and all!

As to my related question though, how necessary is renting a car for this kind of trip?

As to my related question though, how necessary is renting a car for this kind of trip?

For the Portsmouth part of the trip it's very easy to do without renting a car. There are a number of options available. If you were travelling from London by train you can stop at Cosham train station and take the number 38 bus to Southwick village which should take no more than 20 minutes if you wanted to see Southwick first. The same bus will return you to Cosham where you have the option to continue to Portsmouth Harbour on the train or take a separate bus to the harbour.

The D-Day museum is a 40 minute walk along the seafront from Portsmouth Harbour Station/Historic Naval Dockyard or else you could take the number 16 bus from the harbour station (referred to as The Hard) or take a taxi however it's a pleasant, easy walk and there's a commemorative war memorial on Southsea Common that you will pass that may be of interest. I would also recommend taking a short diversion into Old Portsmouth and down to Spice Island. This is the historic old harbour entrance to Portsmouth and was the point at which convicts departed on their journey to Botany Bay. It used to be full of unsavoury characters and prostitutes, particularly in Broad Street which is where (I'm reliably informed) the American colloquialism of "broads" originated from. There are a couple of pubs situated right on the harbour walls where you can have a pint and a decent lunch whilst watching the ships pass in and out (very closely).

Also a stones throw from the D=Day museum is Southsea Castle (http://www.southseacastle.co.uk), Henry VIII's castle from where he watched the Mary Rose sink in battle and well worth a visit.

Further up from the D-Day museum is the Royal Marines Museum which may be of interest from a military point of view.

Portsmouth is an island so it's impossible to get lost and leave without knowing and it has a very good bus network as well as good taxi and Uber coverage. It can even be covered entirely on foot but that would involve wandering through some of the less attractive parts of the city and I'd rather you visit this fine city without having to witness places such as Fratton, Buckland or Landport.

As for the French aspect of the trip it's not something I've done so I'll let others weigh in with experience however if it was me I would rent a car. France, outside of the major cities, is a easy and great place to drive (at least in Northern France) and they drive on the same side as you!

If you are considering Belgium, I recommend going to Bastogne. They've recently opened a museum about the Battle of the Bulge--the Bastogne War Museum-- and it is excellent. I would devote at least two hours minimum. Also, there are still remnants of the battle in the countryside, including a foxhole dug by members of Easy Company--made famous by Band of Brothers. If you're going to Bastogne, I would consider renting a car and perhaps hiring a guide. Public transportation is spotty at best.

Lots of great suggestions already. I will supplement what has been provided.

Normandy is a great place to start. Don't miss Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery as well as some of other British/Canadian cites in Normandy. Also, suggest stopping in Bayeux to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry that is 900 years old telling the story of the Norman invasion of England.

Before you proceed to Belgium and Netherlands, suggest stopping in Verdun to see the WWI sites.

After doing the Battle of the Bulge sites in Belgium, suggest going to Netherlands to Arnheim to "the Bridge to Far." Also, the British museum there is good.

In Germany, Berlin would be recommended as well as Dachau Concentration Camp near Munich.

Paul's post is very much to the point concerning Paris as a WWII site. There is far more to see in and around London. Churchill's war rooms, near the Parliament, make an interesting stop of an hour or two. With half a day, you can ride a suburban train to Bletchley Park to see the new(ish) museum for the codebreakers, including a giant working replica of the decoding machine which is regarded by some as the grandfather of the modern computer. https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/

Tours devoted to either of the World Wars often are anchored on graveyards. They tend to be in rural areas requiring motor transport. A major London cemetery, at Streatham south of the city, can be reached by train and has a section devoted to casualties of war. https://ca.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrJ7JLQR2JawkAAlwvrFAx.;_ylu=X3oDMTEyOG9rZGlyBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjQ5NjdfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=STREATHAM+PARK+CEMETERY&fr=crmas

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission does an admirable job of maintaining cemeteries, including indexes that locate every body interred. Its website lists and illustrates every war graveyard, which might help your explorations. https://www.cwgc.org/about-us.aspx

I don't know, but would be surprised if the US government did not have a similar operation.

May 4 and May 5 are the days the Dutch mark their liberation and the end of the European war. There are parades and celebrations annually, although the numbers of foreign veterans are dwindling. The Dutch make it a point to involve schoolchildren in all the ceremonies, especially if there is a chance that they can shake hands with the oldmen and women from other countries who set free their great-grandparents. Here is some info from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Day_(Netherlands)

With ten days for sites in southern England and northern France, you'll have to be quite selective. Without knowing which specific sites you will decide to see, I don't know how essential a car will be. Everything I mentioned (plus also Bletchley Park) was covered via public transportation plus a one-day van tour from Bayeux. You can certainly fill your time in Normandy by visiting towns and museums with rail and bus service, but to the extent that you want to get out to battlefield sites not covered on a D-Day tour, you'll need a car to make effective use of your time.

Hi,

I know that this is not exactly what you asked specifically or mentioned, but should you be interested in WW 1 sites, it is best logistically and time wise to have a rental car to tour the sites between the Somme and Arras, the Gen HQ for the British, their cemeteries as well as that of the Germans, one in particular.

"Actual battlefields and the like are what I'm really interested in visiting." This applies to the Somme to Ypres. From Arras to Ypres is an area dotted with Commonwealth and German cemeteries, more and more to be seen the closer you get to Ypres. The immediate area of Arras and with the city itself has numerous sites connected with WW1. I've tracked down a number of these sites but over a few trips there.

As to tracing actual battle routes as suggested by rob in cal, ie Rommel's 7th Panzer route or that of De Gaulle's disastrous counter-stroke in 1940, there is also Guderian's XIX Panzer Corps through towns like Frevent and St Pol, towns close to Arras, or the route of the Welsh Guards in the city's liberation in 1944.

One last comment....if you decide to trace the route undertaken by Rommel and his 7th Panzer Div. after Dinant, be sure to look at the book, "The Rommel Papers" edited by BH Liddell Hart, in particular the maps.

"...a lot of towns and villages were liberated by Canadians and British soldiers, not American...." How true. They faced the bulk of the skilled German armor with their tenacity in defence.

Aside from Arras (referred to above) liberation by the Welsh Guards, there is Caen (after it was literally plastered by the British, the Germans having pulled out of it), Beauvais, and Amiens, not to mention Brussels.

Thanks for all the great info! Going back to England would be very iffy, especially if I went to Belgium and Luxembourg. I've been to London and its expensive. Would gladly go back with time, having a proper pint of ale in an English pup is like a trip to heaven for me. But I think this would be my last Europe trip for a while so seeing other nations would be a good idea.

I need to start getting serious and seeing how much this will cost now, I've got the miles for the flight to be free but time to figure out the rest and if it all works.

Ok, things changed and my desire to see Ireland overwhelmed my desire to see more of France or Belgium.

So I'm flying into Dublin on 5/14 and staying for 3 days. No car rentals, see the town and enjoy a pint...or two and see the city, maybe a day tour. Visit some of the historic locals.

Then I fly to France, 3 days in Normandy area probably stay in Caen for 2 days, them maybe move to Bayeaux. My initial idea is to drive to Saumur and stay one night and see the tank museum. Then at least two nights in Paris, maybe three.

Renting a car for the part between Dublin and Paris.

Thanks again for all the good info. Just got my copy of RS France 2018 to help.

I wouldn't switch hotels and stay in both Caen and Bayeux unless you're going to take one of the (very good) D-Day tours that originate in Bayeux. The two towns are about 15 minutes apart by train, so it's not worth the hassle of checking in and out of a second hotel. You can easily day-trip from one to the other. It does take a bit of time to walk from the Bayeux train station to the historic area, or to the WW II museum from either of those directions.

Are you familiar with the WWII Museum in New Orleans? Well worth a visit prior to going. Second the museum also offers a number of guided tours from the US. You might look to see where some of their tours go.

If you had to stay in one Caen or Bayeaux which would you pick?

If it is either or, then I would pick Bayeux. Caen is all right if you have more leisurely time. If not, then Bayeux.

The museum in Caen covers not only Normandy 1944 but also the inter-war years and WW2. Spend the afternoon there if you want history overkill, be swamped with heavy duty history. If your time is limited, then just see the Bayeux museum, more concise, focused on Normandy 1944.

I second the suggestion of seeing the National WW2 Museum in New Orleans, went back twice. Very comprehensive focusing on the US role. I saw specific items on the German side ( the anti-tank weapons, the Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust) there which I never saw in any war history museum in England, Germany, Vienna, Budapest, Paris, Caen, Bayeux.

Caen was nearly obliterated (by the Allies) during the war, so its historical architecture is quite limited. Bayeux is a more attractive place simply to walk around. Caen's advantage (in addition to the huge Peace Museum) is that it is the place to get buses and trains to the popular tourist destinations to the east; those staying in Bayeux first have to travel to Caen before heading east. But that's not a factor if you don't have time to make those excursions to Cabourg, Deauville, Honfleur, etc.

So my base for a few days of poking around Normandy will be Bayeux, staying at a hole in the wall but Rick has it in his book and it was very cheap so I'll be fine. Stayed in similar places in Europe before. 3 nights there. That leaves me with 4 days, I was thinking of taking Rick's advice and using 3 days there, but I'm not sure that will be the best use of my time so probably two. There have to be some authentic castles between the tank museum and Paris to visit as well.

Dublin is not cheap to stay in apparently.

Will have to head to N.O. this year and check out the WW2 museum. thanks for the tip!

I was fortunate enough to have Dale Booth as a guide for a group tour of Normandy. He’s an excellent guide, quite knowledgeable and paints an incredible picture of what it was like there during that period. He coauthored a book about the invasion that’s probably worth a read.

https://www.amazon.com/D-Day-June-1944-Following-Footsteps/dp/1781220042/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&qid=1519150793&sr=8-1&keywords=dale+booth&dpID=5159qs94n8L&preST=SY291BO1,204,203,200QL40&dpSrc=srch

If you are going to Saumur, I would suggest setting aside an entire day there. Compare and contrast it with the Bovington Tank Museum in Wool. For that take the train from London Waterloo station to Wool, then the taxi to the Museum's entrance.

We managed Bayeux without a car. It's a great place for walking and we spent two days with Dale Booth (the two-day American tour, he calls it). This included museums at Utah beach and the American cemetery. Fabulous experience.

Hi all, this itinerary might be helpful if you're looking to WW2 sites in France/Europe: :)

https://www.eurail.com/en/europe-train/itineraries/europe-world-war-2-sites

I am surprised no one mentioned Dover, England. You could visit Calais, it had a lot of damage from the war because it was set siege to and then the Germans took it, if I remember correctly. You could then take a ferry crossing into Dover, which I have done and it was beautiful, both coming and going. If you got to Calais and did the ferry in the morning it is about an hour and a half, I would have you head straight to Dover Castle, the walk will be long but they have some good WW2 exhibits. You can visit the underground bunkers and with a tour they will recreate an air raid. They also planned Operation Dynamo there, if you have seen the movie Dunkirk it is that rescue mission. Plus the castle itself is beautiful. Then head back to the ferry go back to Calais and on with your trip.

Be very careful about including ferries in an itinerary that is tight. I've planned five Channel Island ferries over the course of two trips to the area. Those are very large ships. Two of the five ferries were canceled, one of them for three days in a row.

Thanks all. I think I may not due much of Paris this time. that may be shocking to some but all my trips so far have been very touristy and while they were great, I think I may spend more time outside the big French cities. My other interest is medieval Europe, castles, knights, etc. Any must see authentic castles of that time in the northern/middle parts of France or around Dublin in Ireland?

If you are interested in castle construction, you might be interested in the Guedelon Castle. They are recreating a medieval castle, using medieval building techniques. I found it fascinating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%A9delon_Castle

One thing that always brings me up short are small little memorials dotted thru the Normandie area. For instance, in the Giverny churchyard where Claude Monet is buried is a poignant monument to an RAF Lancaster bomber crew that crashed near Giverny on I think DDay +1. All were killed but the monument says "Their sacrifice led to our liberty today". The monument includes the crushed propeller blade. So...keep your eyes open for all kinds of small things that continue to tell the story.

Since I'm going to be driving I will make sure to look out for stuff like that.