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WWII places to visit in Northern France

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  • 17-04-2019 6:09pm
    #1
    Ciano35
    Registered Users Posts: 1,424 ✭✭✭


    Hi all, going on a bit of a road trip to northern France next week. We have a big interest in ww2 and are wondering what places to go and see in person. We will be arriving into Cherbourg and travelling east possibly as far as Dunkirk, and then back to Cherbourg at the end of the week.

    Of course we will go to the beaches but we are also looking for places like ruined villages like Oradour-sur-Glane, old bunkers, old artillery sites etc. Also wondering which museums are the best to go to. Thanks in advance!


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    #2
    otnomart
    Registered Users Posts: 4,065 ✭✭✭otnomart


    A couple of years ago I spent 3 nights in Bayeux, which was the first liberated town after D Day. There is a very good museum in the outskirts of the town https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/memorial-museum-battle-of-normandy/ and also the Commonwealth cemetery.
    I then joined a local Overlord full day tour of Omaha and Utah. You can check the itinerary and try to follow it yourself with your car and at your own pace: https://www.overlordtour.com/product/tour-2-omaha-utah-full-day-tour/ The Airborne museum at Sainte-Mère-Eglise was part of the day tour and also very good https://www.airborne-museum.org/en/

    Dunkirk museum is also good althought it is currently close for renovation http://www.dynamo-dunkerque.com/


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    #3
    otnomart
    Registered Users Posts: 4,065 ✭✭✭otnomart


    forgot to mention: Longues-sur-Mer Battery is Normandy is certainly interesting
    However, if you want to see a much better preserved part of the Atlantic Wall, drive the approx 40 miles from Dunkirk to Ostend in Belgium and visit that section of the Wall at Raversyde https://www.raversyde.be/en/atlantikwall


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    #4
    Ciano35
    Registered Users Posts: 1,424 ✭✭✭Ciano35


    otnomart wrote: »
    forgot to mention: Longues-sur-Mer Battery is Normandy is certainly interesting
    However, if you want to see a much better preserved part of the Atlantic Wall, drive the approx 40 miles from Dunkirk to Ostend in Belgium and visit that section of the Wall at Raversyde https://www.raversyde.be/en/atlantikwall

    Exactly the kind of things we were looking for! Thanks very much otnomart.


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    #5
    BailMeOut
    Registered Users Posts: 2,961 ✭✭✭BailMeOut


    The U Boat pens in Lorient are very interesting.


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    #6
    two wheels good
    Registered Users Posts: 1,996 ✭✭✭two wheels good


    Enormous D-Day museum in Caen. Pegasus bridge nearby.

    Voie de la Liberté right through the Carentan peninsula and on as far as Belguim I think. Watch out for the distinctive road side markers.


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    #7
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Ciano35 wrote: »
    Hi all, going on a bit of a road trip to northern France next week. We have a big interest in ww2 and are wondering what places to go and see in person. We will be arriving into Cherbourg and travelling east possibly as far as Dunkirk, and then back to Cherbourg at the end of the week.

    Of course we will go to the beaches but we are also looking for places like ruined villages like Oradour-sur-Glane, old bunkers, old artillery sites etc. Also wondering which museums are the best to go to. Thanks in advance!

    If you can head south to Vimy, it is certainly worth a visit. I know it is WWI, but still worth going.

    I believe the CWGC have opend a visitor centre in Arras as well.


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    #8
    gandalf
    Registered Users Posts: 26,458 ✭✭✭✭gandalf


    The memorial in Caen is a must visit. https://www.memorial-caen.fr

    I assume you're going to the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, Omaha beach. You'll need a few hours there and you can walk down to the beaches from there. You'll find German pillboxes littered around the place. There are a few museums close by, they're ok to visit but imho not must sees. The cemetery is though, the sight of all those crosses lined up really hits home.

    If you go to Omaha you should go to La Cambe German war cemetery as well. You won't need as long there but it is a worthwhile visit.

    Pointe du Hoc has to be seen also, just to see the craters left from the allied bombardment and the damaged meeted to some of the bunkers..https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_du_Hoc


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    #9
    enricoh
    Registered Users Posts: 4,831 ✭✭✭enricoh


    The war museum in collon drogheda, is as good if not better than a few that i went to see while staying in bruges!


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    #10
    ollaetta
    Registered Users Posts: 1,640 ✭✭✭ollaetta


    Not far from Pointe du Hoc is the Maisy battery. Unlike most other sites it was buried for 60 years before an English guy bought the land and has spent recent years uncovering it all. Well worth a visit.

    On the way back to Cherbourg there are also two interesting batteries only a few miles apart, Crisbecq and Azeville close to Utah Beach.


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    #11
    Redderneck
    Registered Users Posts: 335 ✭✭Redderneck


    Not WW2 but well worth a few hours right beside ferry terminal in Cherbourg is what I'll call the submarine/bathyscaph museum/exhibition centre. Not for young kids. Includes a headset-directed/self tour onboard the Redoutable, a French Navy nuclear submarine, decommissioned and tied up.

    Really enjoyed it and perfect way to round off a holiday before hitting the ferry home.

    https://www.citedelamer.com/en/

    Didn't have time for the aquarium element, so can;t comment on it.


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