Tour of WW2 War Graves etc (1 Viewer)

[Littlewheels]

We have for some time been considering taking a week or so to take in the Menin Gate,The War Graves and the Historical Beaches along with anything else we should consider. I’m sure people on Fun must have done a complete Tour and would be most grateful to receive recommendations on how best to do it.

We realise this is a big short cut in that I won’t have to research it, however, we just want to get it right! Where to start, where to go next,where to stay each night etc basically a complete schedule.

If you anyone has done similar and can assist we would be most grateful.Thanks.

 

[Geo]

The professional WW11 beech tours with guides are very expensive but worth every penny
without the story line the beeches are merely that, a strip of sand at the waters edge. your imagination will never paint the same picture this young man did
Our guide was a very young man who had researched his grandfathers war experience to the 9th degree.
he was truly amazing the tour lasted all day with lunch and we visited places you would never see without the guide
including routes the soldiers took inland with visits to hidden bunkers and underground structures on private land in many cases
Like I said expensive BUT!!!
That's my take on the beeches I'll leave the rest to others

 

[BwB]

This app might come in handy -

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[orridge]

These are the Memorials and Museums we did last year which we mainly WW2 in Normandy, the attached guide is very useful.

St Valery to Normandy Beaches
Overnight - Normandy Beaches (British Beaches) or Bayeux

Drive to Normandy
Merville Battery
Pegasus Bridge
Along Coast to Longues Sur Mer


Normandy Beaches
Overnight - Normandy Beaches

American Cemetery Omaha Beach
Pont de Hoc
Utah Beach Museum
D-Day Experience

American Beaches

Normandy to Honfleur
Overnight - Honfleur
Other WWII Sites/Museums and onto Honfleur

For WW1 the visitors centre in Ypres has a lot of information and like others recommend the Menin Gate nightly service, the cloth hall in Ypres and the memorial centre/gardens at Passendaele (Zonnebeke).

Closer to Calais both the Blockhaus at Eperlecques and La Coupole as also worth a visit with Eperlecques very sombering.

 

[Littlewheels]

Many Thanks that’s given lots of information to get organised.

 

[Bailey58]

Vicarious Books publish a tour of the War Graves, discount price too.

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[Chas17]

Thiepval memorial and the new (2016) museum are well worth a visit. The museum has maps/routes available and I was able to get close to where my mothers cousin was killed at Bazentin Wood. I found visiting the sites very emotional and to do them justice needed far more time than I had planned.

 

[Allanm]

A week is a very short time to get the full benefit. We have been visiting sites around Normandy for years and there are still places we need to see.
Take a tour as suggested to get the most information, or just visit the landing beaches, as we did, and use your imagination. There are a lot of museums and memorials and you can easily spend all day in each.
A “must see” is Pegasus Bridge, great museum and lots to see around the site.
The Blockhouse (Grand Bunker) museum at Ouistreham is nearby and well worth a visit too.

 

[ChrisSue]

We'd go along with Allanm. There is so much to see. It's worth doing some research especially on your own family history and taking in personal sites. For me I had a relative with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (actually one of eight in the family). He served with the Nova Scotia Rifles and is commemorated on the Memorial at Vimy. We went there 99 years to the day he died then on to Flers where he was killed and stood virtually on the spot where he died.
Some recommendations from us;
The Somme;Thiepval, The Catacombs at Albert, Newfoundland Park at Beaumont Hemel. (Try to find one of the young Canadian guides who will explain it.)
Ieper; Menin Gate, The Cloth Hall. Passchaendale Ridge Particularly from the top ie the German lines.
Normandy; St Mere Eglise especially the Airborne Museum, Bayeux Cemetery and Museum, Arromanches 360 experience.
Next year we plan to visit Arnhem as well as Waterloo and back to Ieper so any tips on Arnhem or Waterloo would be welcome

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[sdc77]

Another easy way to get a taste is to sit down and watch The Longest Day
Plan to visit all the sites in that and you will inevitably pass plenty of other sites of interest. A week is so short .

 

[Riverbankannie]

A week not long enough for such a tour. We have done twice in a car as with friends. Most recently stayed at a BnB near Albert where the house was built on the German trench line. The British couple who run it are experts and both accredited guides. We ate there in evenings and could have listened to their stories all night. An interesting arsenal of dug up munition too. I would thoroughly reccomend a stay there to anyone.
BnB called No 56
Sorry not got campsite advice.