War related trips

[brislereg]

I have two teenage ds who are super interested in both world wars. So far we have done the following trips with them which they have loved:

Bletchley Park
Eden Camp in Yorkshire
Cabinet War rooms in Westminster
Museum of flight in East Lothian
Ypres/somme/flanders fields

We have Normandy beaches on the list, and possibly Berlin.

Any other suggestions?

Second Dachua.

The Normandy beaches are the best, but lots of suggestions above that sound great too (if you can say that about WW1/2),

If and when you go to Normandy try and get to the German cemetery in La Cambe. There are Allied cemeteries galore in the area too, all of which are very sad places. The German cemetery is beautifully maintained also, and the vast majority of burials are of those aged 18, cannon fodder. Americans were buried there alongside, but they were moved to their own cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. Another interesting site is Pointe du Hoc where the Americans scaled the cliffs on D Day to rout the Germans. So much to see there, it is so interesting, and sad of course. Lest we forget.

If visiting Dover, take a trip to Ramsgate, the harbour from which the Little Ships departed. The volunteer run museum at the harbour has a lot of info about both WWs, and sometimes there are a couple of Little Ships moored in the harbour.

The Kent coast is a 2,000 year history of invasion and defence.

www.fattiretours.com/berlin/tours/city-tour/

We did this in Berlin. It was really interesting. It was a long time ago but I think you can do more personalised, private tours.

York Cold War bunker

Jersey- the War Tunnels.

@ginasevern

My great uncle was shot and killed at Montecassino 😢 we went to see his grave at Arezzo cemetery a few years ago, it was unbearably sad.

Bordeaux has an amazing digital art exhibition in the old WWII submarine pens.

https://www.bassins-lumieres.com/fr

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has a fab submarine museum in Gosport, you can get a tour of a diesel powered sub from an ex submariner. You can also visit Fort Nelson nearby at Portsmouth.

Tangmere has a nice aircraft museum - if you’re lucky the Goodwood Spitfire might be flying overhead. Hayling Island has a small WWII trail.

the Western Approaches museum in Liverpool is good (and there is lots of other stuff to do generally in Liverpool to make a good weekend break!)

Might be worth taking a look at this site:
"Liberation Route Europe" https://www.liberationroute.com
It's a joint scheme between countries to track the Allied advance through Europe towards the end of WWII. Plenty of info relating to relevant sites to visit along the way. A Rough Guide was also published a few years ago to accompany it.

Budapest for the shoes by the Danube. Heartbreaking.

Munich, Dachau and Nürnberg are all close together and have a lot to offer those interested in wartime history. There is a company based in Munich called called Dark History Tours which can give you personalised tours to all these locations and make it interesting and appropriate for teenagers.

Berlin - we did a fab walking tour. War Museum at Bastogne in Belgium. Atlantic Wall museum in Ostend. Tunnels etc in Amiens/Arras. Jewish Quarter in Prague. Pegasus Bridge museum in Normandy - alongside the D-day beaches already mentioned. There is a fab museum in Dunkirk about the evacuation and also a German bunker / communications centre in Calais. My daughter loved the Jewish museum in Warsaw. The underground WWII bunkers at Dover Castle are excellent and there is a Battle of Britain memorial just outside town.

I'm so sorry BarkLife. You don't quite realise the impact until you actually go there.

https://racmp.co.uk/history-learning/loch-ewe-wartime-trail/

There's quite a bit of infrastructure on the NW coast of Scotland too.

That's a part of history that doesn't get much interest here. I highly recommend a series called Anzac girls.

When my DC were young we went to the Netherlands and visited the Overloon war museum. It's a huge place and a mix of military and social history. Quite a bit about the holocaust. Aroound the area there are also several war cemetarys.

Ypres

Menin Gates and associated museums and cemeteries:

Tyne Cot
Cloth Hall
www.hoogecrater.com/en/

I'd start with the Imperial War Museum in London. You could spend days there!

Liverpool has a hidden gem, its an underground control room from WW2

https://liverpoolwarmuseum.co.uk

https://www.donthibernate.co.uk/liverpool/

During the Nepolionic War a Local wealthy gent gave work to Ex soldiers so they could feed their families. He dug a massive underground labyrinth right under the streets of Liverpool, much of which is still filled in but quite a lot has been dug out.
https://williamsontunnels.com

A couple of others I'd like to add. One is the Vickers Machine Gun Collection and Research Association based near Swindon.

They have a number of these machine guns that were used in both world wars and they hold regular open days which usually include blank firing of the guns.

The next Open Day is on Sunday 15th December

https://vickersmg.blog/
.

The second is Duxford Aerodrome which is part of the Imperial War Museum and has lots of aircraft from both wars and more recently as well. They also have flying displays in the summer as well.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford

https://battleofbritainbunker.co.uk/

The RAF bunker in Uxbridge - can be done alone or as part of the Polish trail that's links together a number of sites in the area that commemorate the role played by Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain.

https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/article/1246/Polish-Air-Force-Heritage-Trail

One rather niche WW2 location is Imber, a remote village on the Salisbury Plain that was evacuated in 1943 so American troops could use it to drill for the Allied invasion of Europe. The villagers were given a month or so to leave, and were never allowed back - after WW2 it was used to train the Army for operations in Northern Ireland. It's opened to the public a few times a year, and is quite an eerie, empty place - depends how good your DSs' imaginations are!

Coleshill estate in Oxfordshire. Sometimes in the summer they do open days and you can go down into the bunker https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/oxfordshire-buckinghamshire-berkshire/buscot-and-coleshill-estates/history-of-the-buscot-and-coleshill-estates

Most of my ideas have already been suggested but a small but fascinating museum is The Devil's Porridge at Eastriggs in SW Scotland. You could combine with a visit to Cumbria. There's quite a few WW2 sites on the Solway Coast and Carlisle Castle also contains a military museum.

The open air museum on the plateau of Monte Piana in Italy is incredible if you are fit and up for a hike.