WWII Roadtrip in europe
 

Im going on a roadtrip with 2 friends next year and we are planning it now.

I could use some help in locating important stuff not to miss.

So far we have this on our map:

Submarine in Kiel
Omaha Beach
Caen
Saite-Mere-Eglise

What im looking for is a submarine pen in northen europe.
I cant see that theres anything left in Willhelmshaven and La Rochelle is too far south.

Im also looking for any other important things to see ;)

Please give precise reference, so I can find it in google maps

Little help please :)

The Pen in Bergen, Norway is still there, but it is used by a private company now. So you may want to check before showing up there. The pens near Hamburg (Bunker Elbe 2, with a couple of XXI in side) are as far as I know still sealed.

EDIT: What about the U2540, Type XXI in Bremerhaven? Last I heard it was closed for some time.

Sounds fun:salute:. How much do you think your trip will cost?

From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorient

Don't know if that's too far out of the way, but If your visiting Normandy, I can't imagine Lorient being out of the way for you.

http://www.uboat.net/flotillas/photo...oman_today.jpg
http://www.vanderweel.info/atlantikw...ient_ubb_2.jpg

We are driving down from Denmark, through germany to france.

No uboat pens on the way?
The drive from Omaha beach to the uboat pens in La Rochelle etc takes app 5 hrs (And im the only guy in the group who is a BIG fan of subs, so its a strech to ask them for a full day to see that)

I'd have to put Bastogne and Arnhem on my list. I believe there are several sites around these two towns which still show evidence of the battles in the surrounding areas.

Hurtgen Forest in Germany would be worth a look too.

Arnhem is well worth it, as is Bastogne although it's been 10 years or so since I visited.

Another one would be Pegasus Bridge, and Arhnem would be one not to miss.

some infos
 

Well, there's some stuff to see when you head through northern Germany.

Hamburg: doesn't look good. The bunker Elbe 2 which Thomen mentioned is still planned to be demolished - despite the wrecks of the XXI's inside :wah:.
I don't have much information on it, when I was in Hamburg, the Hamburgers said it's not possible to visit it. If you can read some german, here's some infos on it and other bunkers (from 2008): http://www.geschichtsspuren.de/artik...r-hamburg.html

Bremerhaven: U2540 is definitely worth a visit, as it is the only type XXI to visit. Afiak it is still open to the public. The Wilhelm Bauer is part of a marine exhibition of the technikmuseum, so if you and your friends are interested in marine history it is worth a visit. Here's a link in german - the english page has little content: http://www.dsm.museum/

Bremen: You want to see a sub pen? You're lucky! There is the bunker Valentin in which XXI's were being built. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_submarine_pens
The bunker is used by the Bundeswehr at the moment, so public access is limited. However the good news is that they leaves the pen by the end of the year and it will be turned into a memorial site. Here are some pics of the exhibition: http://www.bunkervalentin.de/denkort/fotorundgang/
I can't tell you if the memorial site will be hosted by the city, but at the moment there is a society which cares about the pen and the labour camps. They also provide guided tours, so they will probably be the best guys to contact about the pen, here's the link: http://www.geschichtslehrpfad.de/kontakt.htm

Emden: Nothing to see here, all pens were demolished after the war. The Nordseewerke however have a good archive about the pens but are very anal about giving infos to the public or even historians - guess it has to do with the forced labourers they used...

I'm not sure, but I believe those bunkers have been removed a few years ago.

Normandy has a number of sites worth a visit, Pegasus Bridge is a must do. St Lo, Carentan, Pointe du Hoc, Falaise, Merville, This tour might give a good overview if your time is short. http://www.ddayhistorian.com/

You should also check out some of the Bulge battlefields like StVith, Spa, Malmedy and Elsenborn. There is also a December 1944 Museum in La Glieze that has a King Tiger on display amongst other interesting exhibits. http://www.december44.com/anglais/index.html

Aye Arnhem is worth a visit. There are not many sites around here that directly show evidence of the battle (then again, only few places do), but there's a great museum at the old British headquarters in Oosterbeek (just west of Arnhem).
There's also a small but good museum (coordinates 52.03'40N, 5.53'51E) at the east side of the old Deelen Airbase (used to be an important German airbase in WW2, especially for Night Fighters). Lots of info here about the airbase, Night Fighting techniques, the so-called Y-Peilungsgerät locating system, and the huge command bunker of 3. Jagddivision which is also close by, but unfortunately cannot be visited.

Also, not so much WW2, but if you're interested in general history, how the people used to live etc., the Nederlands Openluchtmuseum (Dutch Open Air Museum) in Arnhem is recommendable:
http://www.holland.com/uk/system/Ima...503-138139.jpg
They've beautifully recreated the life of Dutchmen about a century ago. Including many original (relocated) farms, houses, bakeries, windmills etc. from all over the country (placed according to where they originate from). If you want to see the touristic highlights of several places all around the Netherlands, and don't want to travel too far, this is the place to go.

Go to agree with Tarjak, Pegasus bridge is definitely worth a look, the original bridge might not be across the river anymore but it's preserved in a nice looking museum nearby:

http://battlefieldsww2.50megs.com/ai...sus_bridge.htm

There's also Dunkirk, and Verdun and the Somme, although they're not World War Two but as we approach the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One, I'd say they'd be worth a look on the way, be sure to visit Messines as well and locate one of the water filled craters left behind by the detonation of the mines before the offensive.

Hope it all goes well, it's a trip I'd like to make myself one day.

You could make a "slight" detour and visit the Type IIA "Vesikko" in Helsinki Finland. :O:
http://www.vesikko.fi/vesikkofi/

Then you could go south to Estonia, find Antikristuseke, get drunk, photoshop your faces into google image photos and tell all your friends you were touring Europe for few weeks when in reality you were drunk in Estonia the whole time.

wow, never knew anything about that place, fascinating, right up my street lol, dereliction, abandonment and uboats!