Trip Planning, WWII and More

Need a little more information before we can offer help. Where and what in Italy? Because you fly into Frakfurt, do you want to see any of the WWII sites on the way to the Normandy beaches (Metz, Eparnay, for example)? Come up with a general flow of how you want to work this trip, and then perhaps we can help you fill in the details.

Have you already booked the flight into and out of FRA? If not, any chance you can change to open jaw, into CDG and home from FRA or Munich? Flying into CDG you can be in Bayeux for Normandy tours within 3 hours of arriving in Paris. I know FRA is a cheaper city to fly into but it is also hours away from everything you mentioned wanting to see. I will be doing a trip close to your itinerary and I know FRA is about 6 hours or more by train to Normandy. Be sure and look @ Battlebus tours in Bayeux for your Normandy experience. See (www.battlebus.fr)as this is the tour that almost everyone recommends.

If you plan on D-Day tours of Normandy, book them SOON. They book well in advance. I recommend Battlebus. Their tours were UNFORGETTABLE. We spent 3 days with them. Wish we had done more.

If you have WWII interest, perhaps going to Berlin would be good? It is flatter up there and easy to get around. Lord knows, they have enough WW2 stuff to see there. You can visit Sachsenhausen concentration camp while there, which is very moving.

Yes, go for the Battlebus tours. This has been THE highpoint of my travels through Europe.

Dan,

I have to agree with the other post concerning your flights. Given the specific sights you want to see, open jaw flights would really be a good idea.

My suggestion would be to start with a flight into Paris / CDG and go from there to Normandy. You can use the RER and Metro to get from the airport to Gare St. Lazare, which is the station where the Normandy trains depart from. I'd suggest Bayeux as your "home base" in that area.

If you're interested in taking some guided tours of the beaches, as some of the others have mentioned, BattleBus Tours are highly recommended. If you're thinking of using them, it would be a good idea to reserve a spot soon as they book up very quickly! They depart from Bayeux at about 08:00.

After a few days in Normandy, return to Paris and take the TGV to Munich (travel time 6H 06M, depending on which one you choose, usually 1 change, reservations compulsory).

Spend a few days in Munich, as it's a wonderful city to tour. For a tour of Dachau, you can either make the trip yourself or use a guided tour (I recommend Radius Tours, which is listed in Rick's book - check their web site if you're interested).

After a few days in Munich, travel via rail (through the scenic Kufstein-Brennero section) into Italy. You might want to make one stop in northern Italy to reduce your travel times a bit. You didn't mention where you want to visit in Italy, so it's difficult to offer many suggestions.

At the end of the trip, get a flight home from Roma Fiumicino (or Milano Malpensa) - which airport will depend on which cities you choose to visit in Italy?

Happy travels!

Hello Dan. If you fly from the U.S.A. to Frankfurt, and you fly from Frankfurt to the U.S.A., I think 14 days is not enough time for travelling in Germany and France to Normandy, and to Italy. I suggest - exclude Italy from this trip. Travelling to Italy in the trip could be done -- if you fly from Paris to Italy. And fly from Italy to Frankfurt. But if you do that, you would be in Italy only two whole days, and you would not see much in Germany.

I would recommend some serious research on what is available. We have done a lot of WWI and WWI touring, as my husband is a military historian. If you can identify which sights you want to see, then you can plan the trip. Use a map to indicate the sights, then figure out the best way to do them.

One thought: a lot of the places are best seen with a car. While Battlebus is very good for Normandy, getting around to all the parts of various battlefields takes a car, and we saw a lot of out of the way things in Normandy with a car, like Dead Man's Corner. We spent two weeks in Verdun two years ago, and the car was priceless. We explored back roads, found trenches that were not "marked," etc. We drove to the Sgt York memorial and visited the Missouri memorial where my grandfather fought. It would not have been possible without a car.

You also might want to explore the Major and Mrs Holts battlefield books. I know they do WWI, but not sure about II. They are older, but right on as the battlefield regions don't really change that much.

Research and you will enjoy the trip a lot more!