World War II battlefields tours

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Sudbury, Ont.
Has anyone taken one, and what are your thoughts?

The Stephen Ambrose tour looks neat.
It's been three years since I had a hip replacement and I'm anxious to return to Europe.

Her Ladyship and I could go to Paris and while I go on the tour, she could hit the museums and shop until she herniates the credit card.

It would be cool if a bunch of CGNers could join in.

Thoughts everyone, please.
 
Battlebus are (were) UK based guides.

Did Normandy with them; Juno, Sword and Gold with Pegasus Bridge. Took us to the DZ for 1st CPD when I mentioned one of my Sgts. jumped there.

Next day we did Omaha and Utah with St. Mere Eglise and a number of 101 and 82 stopovers.

Need to do it again if our rulers allow us to travel without so many rules...
 
I've toured quite a few European battlefields on my own time with a rental car and my own documentation. This allows you to set your own pace and build in attractions for a spouse or companion who doesn't have a military orientation/obsession. I did a WW1 tour organized by a UK firm which was very good. Administration was excellent and they had a knowledgeable ex-miltary type for a guide. Paris is always a good arrival/departure spot; you can take a train from there to a place like Caen, Lille or other destination and then pick up a rental car and go from there.
 
Several years back, we took the train from Paris to Bayeux to start a Juno Beach tour.
We arrived early and walked about 300 yards to the Bayeux Tapestry Museum and spent an hour there with the tapestry.
Then walked back to the station to meet up with our tour.
All went very smoothly.

Just a teaser.
 
Did both Normandy 70 and 75th with a group of Brits, we rented houses for the week both times (Grandcamp-Maisy 70th and Cabourg 75th) flew into Heathrow, train down to East Sussex stayed with host overnight and (best part) had his jeep to drive in France that has ruined me for driving in boring Canada. A true "guys trip" in all manners.
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Standing on Dog Green Sector of Omaha Beach (think Saving Private Ryan) on Day +75, Vierville draw is off to my right.

I honestly think one could spend a full year in Normandy and still not see everything there is to take in.
 
There is a hang of a lot to see in Normandy beyond the beaches. In 1988 I stayed in Gace, which is well inland from the beaches, and used it as a base for exploration with a rental car. This is proximate to the Falaise gap operations near St Lambert and Coudehard, etc. The Norman countryside is very attractive apart form the military history aspects. Being away from the beaches meant very few tourists, lighter traffic, more encounters with the locals etc.
 
I am very interested in getting back to travel - as I enjoyed my first 'tour' of Europe the year prior to the Wuhan Flu screwing everything up.

My wife has suggested that we would enjoy a battlefield tour.
 
My wife and I got a private guided tour of Berlin, was fantastic. Arranged the tour through Tours By Locals website.

Also used the same service to get a private guided tour of the Obersalzberg area, The Berghof, bunkers, and Berchtesgaden.
 
there are a bunch of companies running tours from the UK. They are a good deal and generally speaking a stress free way of getting around. They can be a bit frustrating as they are mostly elderly people so getting on and off the bus is slow. It usually takes a day to get there and a day to get back so a 5 day tour really gives you 3 days on the battlefields. Not a bad way to go if you have not been there before, don't want hassle and are on a budget https://www.legerbattlefields.co.uk/

You can hire a guide with a van who will cater a tour to you. This is usually more expensive but a much better experience.https://pegasusbattlefieldtours.com/

You can do it yourself by renting a car and buying battlefield guides. This is more hassle as you have to drive/navigate/park and you don't get the benefit of a guide

There are a few places that you can stay and use public transport. For example you can take a train to Ypres and then walk or use the local buses to visit sites/museums/cemetries. This is of course WW1 but I really enjoyed this as you really get a feel for the ground and only have your own agenda to deal with. A good battlefield guide and the Holts battlefied map is indispensible.
 
I did a tour with Verstraete Travel from Ontario in 2003, they specialize in battlefield tours. The tour I did was for the opening of the Juno Beach Centre, great experience and lots of vets on the tour. We did Juno, Pegasus Bridge, Mulberry Harbour, Bény-sur-Mer, Abbaye d'Ardenne. My cousin and I ditched the tour for a day when they went off to some castle and rented a car to drive out to Dieppe as his dad was a medic there. Been a while but Verstraete did a great job and appears they are still running these types of trips. I stayed on in Paris for 7 days after the tour, was suppose to take the train out to Vimy but the entire country was shut down with a public sector strike so didn't make it past Paris, that week I took another day trip up to Normandy with a Paris tour company to see Omaha and Pointe du hoc. That was good tour, only 4 in the van and back to Paris in a day.
 
we took the john heatherington tour 10 yrs back he is the history teacher from north bay ont.....had a great time and boy does he have contacts and it had all you could handle ..he is into it not just selling it ..could not recommend it higher ...folks from all over even american he will limit the group to 18 to 20 all inclusive need more let me know don
 
You beat me to it..
I was just going to suggest John Heatherington.
He used to show up at the North Bay gun show and always had time to shoot the bull.
He was usually at my table or talking to Bill at the door.
I have info on tours into the eastern bloc, so if interested in those just call me.
WW 1 tours are all over the place once you get to France and Peter Penn from the IWM has a place in France and will do tours plus he also runs a B&B
Leger are probably the best and run out of London with pickups all over the UK.
 
slug said:
Has anyone taken one, and what are your thoughts?

The Stephen Ambrose tour looks neat.
It's been three years since I had a hip replacement and I'm anxious to return to Europe.

Her Ladyship and I could go to Paris and while I go on the tour, she could hit the museums and shop until she herniates the credit card.

It would be cool if a bunch of CGNers could join in.

Thoughts everyone, please.
Click to expand...

I was born in one of those places.
Lately I've been thinking about retiring back there and just tour Europe from the same area as it's much cheaper and convenient than flying out from here.
Certainly something I'm thinking of often.
 
Yes, took one with a Canadian company, brought a WWII vet with us as well (he was an icon) who landed on D+3 and made it through the entire war. Was a phenomenal tour as we toured both WWI and WWII sites. If we had members of or family whom were vets, they researched and personalized tours. The tour definitely had a Canadian history in mind. Great accommodations, tour and food. Would highly recommend! ht tps://canadianbattlefieldtours.ca/
 
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