Arnhem?

I was only in Arnhem briefly, but I wouldn't call it ugly. If you're looking for a traditional Dutch city, with gabled stone houses and all... look elsewhere. Arnhem is mostly modern. The John Frost Bridge itself is also a post-war rebuild, although they reconstructed it in a similar style to the original. The bridge used in the movie was actually in Deventer, spanning the IJsel.

Brendon, I've also been researching a visit to the Bridge Too Far sites but haven't made it there yet. I was in the Netherlands last year, but couldn't work it into the Itinerary. The Arnhem Bridge is only one part of the visit, so that by itself probably wouldn't be worth the trip. However, there are a number of excellent Museums in that area and that's the part that would interest me more. I believe one of the places that can be visited is the elegant house that was used as a Hospital. I've been trying to find out if there are any organized tours of the Market Garden sites (similar to those offered in Normandy), however I haven't found any yet. Without a tour that provides transportation, it would be necessary to hire a car as the sites are somewhat "spread out". Will you be visiting any other WW-II locations? Happy travels!

Thanks Ken and Tom!! We will be visiting lots of WW2 sites on our trip. We will be seeing the Cementary in Luxembourg city. Bastogne in Belgium. Normandy in France.

We were in Arnhem last week (following Floriade), where we stayed in the NH Rijnhotel, based on TripAdvisor reviews. It was a satisfactory business-style hotel, with easy free parking. I would have liked to visit the modern art museum, but we didn't have time. I found Arnhem itself not worth visiting. I am not a WWII tourist, which makes a big difference in being of any use to your dad. Do you know that the current bridge is the third (more or less identical) on the site? The town has a tiny medieval square filled with modest restaurants, but all of the rest is new construction - I think you know why! On the other hand, there are several cemeteries, which we didn't visit, but the war cemeteries for both sides that we saw in Alsace were quite moving. Often the cemeteries were built on hills facing the home countries. This is particularly interesting in view of the frequent issue today of providing anyone with a loss with "remains" for "closure". I'd say the same thing about Nijmegen (also a Market Garden site), but it's a bigger place, with a better medieval square than Arnehem. Again, most of the town is all-new. In fact, Deventer (a Hanseatic League city) was the nicest-looking town as a driving daytrip destination.

As a WWII buff, if you get down near Nijmegen, make sure not to miss the National Liberation Museum in Groesbeek. It is amazing. They have great displays, including a whole-room panorama model of Nimegen and surroundings that illuminates the specific area being described by the narrator when temporally recounting the events of Operation Market Garden (OMG). The museum has one of the canvas boats used by the 82nd Airborne/504 PIR to cross the Waal River in their attack on the north end of the bridge (led by Robert Redford in 'A Bridge Too Far'). The museum also has great books for sale on OMG. One that I picked up on Amazon.com is "Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guide Operation Market Garden: Leopoldsville to Arnhem". The book has every major OMG site from Belgium to Arhhem. Lastly, check out the 'The Americans on Hell's Highway' DVD from The Living Battlefield Trilogy (http://www.livingbattlefield.org/the-americans-on-hells-highway.html). It is hosted by tour guide Ellwood von Seibold and recounts the events of OMG by filming re-enactments on site, interspersed with veterans' interviews, archival footage, and how the places look today. His Normandy and Battle of the Bulge DVDs are also highly recommended.

If you need it there is a list of U.S. military cemetaries at: http://www.abmc.gov/cemetaries/cemetaries.php. We have visited Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, Netherlands, Netherlands, and Manila, Philippines. They are sobering reminders of how terrible that period of history was. They are not, however, the only such reminders.

Since you are going to Luxembourg, you might want to check out the National Museum of Military History in Diekirch. It focuses on the Battle of the Bulge. It was highly recommended to us--we're going next moth.

When I was on a river boat cruise in 2005 we took a day trip to arnhem and I enjoyed it. There was a cemetery for the british and polish soldiers killed during Operation Market Garden. It was small compared to some but still special. There is also a small circular memorial there but I can't remember the name of it. We also went to an living outdoor museum which has the traditional buildings such as a ship wright's building, bakery, etc..which was nice. In regards to the movie A bridge too far and Deventer, where the bridge was used during filming, that's my ancestrial city which we didn't get to visit but it has a lot of history which is surprising as was mentioned about being a Helsienic city and the role it played during the 1100's. I hope to return to the netherlands and explore more. Wishing great travels,