WW I and II Tour Recommendations

[CdnGS]

Greetings

I'm looking for some advice & recommendations on the best way to tour First and Second WW sites in France and Belguim. I'm planning on flying into Paris from Canada with my son next May and touring for 7-10 days. Definite stops would include Normandy (all U.S., British and Canadian beach heads), Dieppe, The Somme and Passchendale. Will probably travel by bus or train once on ground.

Can anyone recommend a good tour company that buses groups to sites and does guided walking tours. Are there better options? Other destinations that you would include?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

We had a few days around the Somme & Ypres in February of this year. We did half a day with these guys & they were very good.

http://www.salienttours.be/

 

[Monty Stubble]

Normandy

The beach heads are pretty close to each other which makes life easy with the exception of Utah which is out on a limb.

I suggest basing yourself at Courseille which has plenty of hotels and is next to the Canadian museum on Juno.

IMHO the must visit places are...
Arromanches
American cemetery
Bayeux war cemetery with museum opposite (visit the tapestry while you are there)
Pegasus bridge and museum

There is a company just outside Arromanches that do Jeep and Quad tours of the area. I'm told these are quite good but I've no personal experience.

If you're staying in Courseilles there is a decent bus service along the coast.

Avoid the area in early June as it will be mad there.

 

[BAKERMAN]

We used QUASIMODO Tours, two young historians with a nice Merc Sprinter, very very knowledgeable

http://www.quasimodo.be/

married couple

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attrac...modo_Tours-Bruges_West_Flanders_Province.html

 

[Bumpkin]

If you can buy Major and Mrs Holt's battlefield guide to the Normandy landings. A pretty good guidebook IMHO. They also do others which probably cover your other destinations but I only have experience of the Normandy one.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Davey B]

Ypres Cloth Hall and Talbot House in Popperinge.
You can stay the night at Talbot House. It is amazing. Book well in advance but do it.
http://www.talbothouse.be/en/bb/home

 

[Timpo]

Normandy (all U.S., British and Canadian beach heads), Dieppe, The Somme and Passchendale.

WW1: I've just been to Ypres, the recently opened Passchendale museum is excellent, plus Tyne Cot cemetery is close by. I stayed at De Potyze B&B, http://www.potyze.com/ , Paul & Mimi where great hosts, Paul an elderly gent with plenty of local knowledge. The breakfast takes some eating, plus a sandwich for take-away lunch.
Verdun, the Citadel, the surrounding forts and the Ossuary are incredible.

WW2: Normandy, hmmm, you're going to be busy as there is plenty to see. I've been going for a few years now and still finding more the more I read about it.
As mentioned, Arromanche including the 360-degree cinema show. And Pegasus Bridge including a cup of tea in Cafe Gondree. Nearby is Battery Merville, a good light show of the beginning-to-the-end, it had the hair on the back of my neck standing!
Grand Camp Maisy, an unspoilt 'recent discovery' nazi gun battery.
La Cambe, german cemetery.
St Mere Eglise, go see matey boy hanging from the church, good museum there too, plus stories of offensives in the area, acts of shear bravery taking nazi strong holds. Dead Man's Corner, Carentan, etc.
Orglandes, german cemetery.
Batterie Todt, one of the largest Todt constructions in the Atlantic Wall. The coastline from Norway to Spain has AW batteries littered about the place.

Although you may be tight on time, there is a tourists route known as Voie De La Liberte starting from Utah Beach, heading towards Bastogne waymarked with posts 1km apart. On a bike it has been a good help, and I have only made it towards Verdun in all the visits I have done, but there has been loads to see. The future trips will be from Verdun/Metz and up in to Bastogne, Foy and Malmedy. From there I want to see the Market Garden bridges, it will take a couple more years for me to get to Berlin, but I'm in now rush.

A tip, print as much info from google as possible, maps, stories, etc as they will help you trip.
And as daft as some may think, but I found the war movies made covering stories of the above areas a great help, town names and the chronological order they were liberated.

Timpo.

 

[Rasher]

Look at the Major and Mrs Holts guides.

We have visited the Somme area, and spent a lot of time around Verdun, there is a good Canadian visitor centre in the Somme area, and make sure you check out Vimy Ridge as well, Verdun has lots to see and do and a number of Forts you can poke around.

Probably a good weeks worth if stuff around Normandy, adding Verdun / Somme / Vimy would easily add another week.

We also enjoyed La Coupole (WW2 V2 Bunker) which makes for a good 1/2 - 1 day visit and is likely to be on your route.

You may find you can see a lot more if hiring a car as you may find some places you only want to stop a short while, and others maybe longer whereas the tour companies will have a set time at each location and some of them you could probably get around in the time it takes them to unload / load the coach back up!

 

[Wapping]

Hire a car, it will be a lot easier than busses or trains. Trust me.

Whilst France is not as large as Canada (and they do speak French) it's not a small place. The Normandy beaches alone are about 100 miles, end to end and Caen is a long way from Verdun or Ypres. If you want to train a bit, head for the TGV stations, into the main hubs and out again. Then hire a car when you get reasonably close to where you want to go.

 

[Posh Pete]

You're covering a lot of ground and a lot of history. Re WW1 the must do sites for Canucks are ...

1. Newfoundland Park on the Somme. You can book a tour online with the Canadian students who take tour groups around the site. I suggest you do this before you go and once you have an itinerary.

2. Vimy Ridge. About half way between the Somme and Ypres. Again, you can book tours with the students who man the site.

3. Vancouver crossroads near Ypres. Impressive memorial to the Canucks who held the line during the second battle of Ypres. See pic below.

4. Sanctuary Wood (Hill 62) near Ypres. You may or may not wish to visit the museum there. People tend to have strong views about the owners and their attitude. The memorial at the top of the hill and the avenue of maple trees is worth the visit.

5. Paaschendaele. Leave your vehicle at the top of the hill near the Canuck memorial and walk down the road to Tyne Cot CWG cemetery. Only about a mile but it cost the Canadians over 15 000 casualties and the total for the British and Empre forces was 275 000. Spend some time wandering around Tyne Cot and am ensure you have some tissues with you. Even the toughest men weep.

6. The Menin Gate in Ypres. Stay in Ypres for the night and attend the evening ceremony. It takes place at 2000 hrs every day. Another occasion to have the tissues handy.

I would set aside 3 days for the above. One for the Somme sites. One for Vimy ridge and , say the Cloth hall museum in Ypres. One for the other sites around Ypres, including Paaschendaele and Tyne cot. I'd finish the last day in Ypres by going to the Menin gate for the ceremony.

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Travel wise, I would take the train from Paris to Normandy and hire a car. Then train to a station near the Somme (Amiens?), hire a car and drop it off in Paris, once you've done the WW1 sites. Or the other way around. Others may have better info about car hire / French rail transport.


I agree with those who suggested the Holt's guides, they are excellent.

 

[Bem]

As you are coming long haul can I suggest you just do the WW1 sites as above, then come down here for an overnight from Paris to see the home of Brock?
You know why, even if others do not!