Upcoming Trip to Europe

echack

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I'm going to be on a trip with friends to Europe this fall. We will be in Prague, Vienna, Venice, and Florence. Any good military museums or battlefields I ought to visit? (I was completely bummed out to miss the Imperial War Museum in London when I was there a couple of years ago - it was closed for renovations for the centenary of WWI.)
 

Cpl Uhl

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The Army museum in Prague is gok. A bit dusty and old fashioned. For me the best part was the stuff on the interwar conflicts btwn Czechoslakia and ALL of its neighbors. A reminder that wars rarely have clean starts and stops.
 

von Marwitz

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I'm going to be on a trip with friends to Europe this fall. We will be in Prague, Vienna, Venice, and Florence. Any good military museums or battlefields I ought to visit? (I was completely bummed out to miss the Imperial War Museum in London when I was there a couple of years ago - it was closed for renovations for the centenary of WWI.)
With all due respect, but if you travel to Europe to visit these fantastic cities, please take the the time to visit and view some of the most beautiful things and places Europe has to offer. Honestly, I believe it is worth to pass up military museums or battlefields for that.

von Marwitz
 

Michael Dorosh

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With all due respect, but if you travel to Europe to visit these fantastic cities, please take the the time to visit and view some of the most beautiful things and places Europe has to offer. Honestly, I believe it is worth to pass up military museums or battlefields for that.
I'd rather see a military museum than an art museum. Been to Europe three times and focused my attention on military history without feeling I missed anything. As always, these are individual choices we make.

To the original poster - the Army Museum and the HMS Belfast are both in London, and I found them more interesting than the Imperial War Museum. If you're going back in that direction, you may wish to include them.

The Army Museum in Paris is quite good also, and Napoleon's Tomb is right there.
 

Martin Mayers

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I'd rather see a military museum than an art museum. Been to Europe three times and focused my attention on military history without feeling I missed anything. As always, these are individual choices we make.

To the original poster - the Army Museum and the HMS Belfast are both in London, and I found them more interesting than the Imperial War Museum. If you're going back in that direction, you may wish to include them.

The Army Museum in Paris is quite good also, and Napoleon's Tomb is right there.
Uhhh?????????

They aren't going anywhere near Paris.
 

Paul M. Weir

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OK, here are the only ones I visited and would dare to comment on. Note that much has likely changed since I was last at those places. (X) means I have been there X times.

England:
Bovington, SW coast, absolutely essential for any treadheads. (3-4?)
Duxford, Midlands, more tracked toys but more aircraft (1)
RAF Mus. Hendon, NW London (1)
HMS Belfast, central London (1)
Imperial War Mus., central London (2-3?)

The first three are suitable for a long day visit to get your effort's worth. With the IWM, you might be best to do a quick visit to check it out then pick one or two themes and later do a full visit. HMS Belfast while well worth a bit longer, could be done in 2-3 hours. There is just so much to see, a couple of hours simply won't be enough for most people, Belfast excepted. The IWM just covers so much stuff, you need many visits (and Duxford has a lot of IWM hardware).

Germany:
The Munster armour museum, about an hour south of Hamburg. (1)
The various antiquities museums on Museum Island, Berlin. (1)
For Munster you should set aside 3-4 hours, more if you're a treadhead or modeller. Not quite as much as Bovington, but enough for me to flag by then end. Museum Island could last you a week. With a Greek temple hijacked from Pergamon, Ishtar Gate from Babylon and the Nefertiti bust, the Germans made the British antiquities looting look amateurish.

I can recommend all the above without hesitation and I'm not a museum visitor. Museum Island particularly impressed me.
 

witchbottles

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I'd rather see a military museum than an art museum. Been to Europe three times and focused my attention on military history without feeling I missed anything. As always, these are individual choices we make.

To the original poster - the Army Museum and the HMS Belfast are both in London, and I found them more interesting than the Imperial War Museum. If you're going back in that direction, you may wish to include them.

The Army Museum in Paris is quite good also, and Napoleon's Tomb is right there.
Seems to me one could easily take in both and the Louvre, in the same day's excursions, if one desired. I'd consider and early morning jaunt to old Nappie's resting place, the rest of the morning until lunch at the Army Museum, a lunch at a civilised hour ( 1-1:30pmish local time), then the Louvre for the afternoon and some really great masterpieces. Top it off with supper with a nice view of the Tower, seems to hit be a well spent day and takes in far more than just two attractions in a major city.

I do agree, to each their own. If seeking out more arcane historical places in Paris is on one's "to do "list, then by all means, the idea of tourism is to enjoy the trip and the memories it creates.

:)
 

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Going to the D Day landing sites in November with my friend Indy Lagu and a friend from work in my motor home.

Wednesday, arrive at Intensive Fire in Bournemouth. Gaming till Sunday.

Sunday evening, Ferry from Portsmouth to Caen.

Then one week driving along the coast and visiting all the beaches and sites of interest.

Hoping to play some scenarios in keeping with the camping locations time permitting :)
 

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The wife and I are going to Europe this Spring. We are going from futbol game to futbol game. Starting in Munich, ending in London. Along the way we will be taking in games in Italy, France, and Spain (including the Barca - Real Madrid in Madrid). :) We will also spend a lot of time in and out of museums and such. I am looking forward to it. -- jim
 
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