[Closed] World War sites

Id be spending a long while here:
http://www.terroir-france.com/wine/wines_alsace.htm

😀

I'll be checking out the Gewurtztraminer faw shoooooer 😎

Slight detour to Ypres?

Not sure if it counts as a WW site but Waterloo is pretty good.

I went here a couple of years ago:

[url= http://www.mnhm.lu/pageshtml/bulgetrails.php ]battle of the bulge trails[/url]

It helps if you read up the events on forehand.

As for a lot of the World War one sites in Belgium. There aren't that many (that i have found). You are either looking at an insane amount of graves or standing in a field with crops while the rain is pouring down on you. I'm not saying war is fun in any shape or form. But this was really, really depressing.

Maginot line might be worth visiting too. Still a lot of bunkers around.

Thanks P - I'd heard there was underground stuff as well as the Maginot line, and just watched Band of Brothers so Bastogne would interest me.

Agreed would be nice to see poppyfields etc but not stand around for hours in them.

Was in Munster for a holiday once, it's quite close to Colmar, with the added bonus of the Issenheim Altarpeiece (my favorite altarpiece).

Went to look at the WW1 museums up on the hill, you can wander about in the trenches too. (The german ones were all neat and tidy, and had towels laid down in them - sorry couldn't resist)

All very moving. And Munster has some awesome smelly cheese if you like that kind of thing.

Last post at the Menin Gate in Ypres is a very sobering experience.

hels Munster is in Ireland ❓ 😉 etc

Aye, am looking for something that will have an emotional impact - ideally to compare with the Holocaust section of the Imperial War Museum.

Look at the concrete monstrosity that is Coventry. For them, the misery of the war is an everyday occurence.

A few more suggestions. Going through some of my old documentation =)

This is not really an route. But since tunnel warfare was used all over the lines in WW I it's still intresting (imho):

[url= http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/hill60.html ]hill 60[/url]
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines ]Battle of Messines[/url]

There is also a pretty decent movie about this event:

[url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1418646/ ]Beneath Hill 60[/url]

It's not the best movie ever made. But it paints a pretty good picture of what went on. Esp the thundering cannons above ground and the eerie silence in which these tunnelers had to work is fascinating.

And be sure to pick up this book:

[url= http://www.amazon.com/Postcards-Trenches-Images-Bodleian-Library/dp/1851243917 ]Postcards from the Trenches[/url]

Totally insane postcards that the soldiers of WW I send home. And the picuture on the front makes me giggle... 'Look Ma! I'm the dude in the middle! Yes indeed! The one wearing the gasmask!'.

Also worth watching, or reading, is this:

[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piece_of_Cake_(TV_series) ]Piece of Cake[/url]

Pretty old, so the production values aren't as high as something as Band of Brothers, but still makes for a good series. Esp how the Phoney War was fought (or not). And with some digging you should be able to visit the places this squadron was stationed.

There is also a very good docu about the wargraves themselves. But i saw it on Dutch television. So far unable to find the english version. Will look further and let you know if i find it.

For WW1 I would recommend this place if you can get there

[url] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont-Hamel_Newfoundland_Memorial [/url]

and here too

[url] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiepval_Memorial [/url]

Also +1 for the Menin Gate experience

Normandy is prob the best bet for WW2 in France as it was a much more mobile war and that was the area where it was most concentrated

If you fancy a day hunting for foxholes the Ardennes def should be visited. Why not start at Cherbourg and work your way north.

Thanks all, start and end points are fixed.