Planning a trip to Europe

[mustangdriver]

I am in the early stages of planning a trip, and have the ability of picking some destinations. I would like to see Duxford, and the American Air Museum, and would like to see somw of the old bases. Do you guys have suggestions. I also have three weeks to spend there.

[mennie]

tip1: Airshows in Europe - Sorted by date
tip2: RAF Museum Hendon
tip3: UK Control Tower & Airfield Photographs of WW2

[Mudge]

Europe or just the UK? If you're going to Europe, I'd suggest the Normandy Beaches tour. We're going to do just that on June 30, July 1 & 2. We're doing 2 tours. One's called "The American Experience" and is 2 days. The other is called "Band of Brothers" and is 1 day. If you want more info on these two, go to:
www.battlebus.fr

We're then coming back to England and staying for Flying Legends at
Duxford on July 7-8.

Mennie's absolutely correct. If you're in London, Hendon is a MUST
Only about 40 minutes by tube from London and a 10 minute walk from the station to the museum. If you want GOOD pictures from Hendon, take a GOOD camera. Some of the galleries are kinda' dark. Took me 4 years to get a decent picture of Spifire PR-F.
(No matter when you go to Hendon, the Sunderland
exhibit will be closed.)

If you're planning to go later than these dates, I'll be posting pictures of some of it when we get back.

Any detailed info you might need...PM me

Mudge the tourist

Last edited by Mudge on Sun Jun 17, 2007 1:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Bill Greenwood]

Duxford by all means. Try to call or look up and you may be able to book a flight in a Tiger Moth there. There is tons to see and they have big shows on weekend, traffic can be a problem. Next perhaps Old Warden, they have some evening shows. London, Museum of Science for Supermarine racer in the back. Tower of London, of course. Imperial War Museum at Lambeth(south London) for V-2, etc.

[Trey Carroll]

If you want to go to the Flying Legends show, just get your hotel as soon as possible, the hotels book up really fast for the show. I'll be going to FL this year with my dad, after that, we are going to Wales to see the low level training routes for modern military jets, see here...

http://www.warplane.co.uk/index.htm

Hope this helps a bit, with 3 weeks, might as well go to Normandy, all of those types of things...

Trey [/url]

[Bill Greenwood]

Driving in England can be a pain, a good tour can save you time, money and stress.
We had an ex British Army lorry driver for our bus, first class.I'd love to go on the Normandy tour, maybe someday.

[mustangdriver]

Thanks guys. I have some time, as it won't be until the spring of next year. But I know little about where things are there, and want to get the most of my time.

[Mudge]

Bill wrote:

Driving in England can be a pain, a good tour can save you time, money and stress.

Well, I agree AND disagree. If you're just going from point A to point B, I don't find driving a problem at all. 99.9% of the time you're just following the other cars anyway. Careful on the "roundabouts" (traffic circles) though, they can get you in deep doggy-doo real fast.
However, if you're sightseeing, a tour is the best move. Let the driver deal with the roundabouts whilst you watch the sights.

There was, however, the tour with the guide who barely spoke English....and the time at Loch Ness ...but that's another story.

To be honest, I find the transportation system in the UK to be great. Far easier than trying to do it on your own.

Since you're not going 'til '08, I've got lots of info that I'll be glad to send you.

Mudge the tourist

[Rhinelander]

I used to spend a lot of time in europe, and of late had been hitting the battle fields.

While I have not hit everything, If have seen and done a lot. I have not been to the aircraft museums though.

I do recomend the Normandy beaches. I you have a car the French have made the self tour very easy. Just head north from Cane to Aromache(sp?) there are signs to guide you the entire way. You will hit all the beaches, bunkers and graves as well as the bell tower that Paratrooper got stuck on. The northern French are as nice as any european can get and it seems to be from the heart(or history). Also, the signs will keep you on back roads that wind through some of the most scenic land in all of europe. Keep in mind I have been all over it too.

If you can handle the hard core stuff, start loading up on battle field maps and hit the WW1 fields. Lots of history visible there, europeans really get into the WW1 stuff to. If you stay at a B&B in a local battlefield area, big chance the owners are buffs and will help you out. We stayed with one in Leapers and he took us the the best areas. We found enough stuff to supply a Army in about 2 days. Of couse we were walking in the farmers drainage ditches and such.

[Randy Haskin]

If you're interested during your trip to Dux, I'd love to buy you a beer and say hello. I live about 35 minutes north in Mildenhall.

Haven't had a chance to visit Hendon yet, but Duxford was a life-changing experience for this warbird fan (with some generous assistance from a few WIXers!!). You won't regret it.

[Trey Carroll]

[quote="Randy Haskin"]If you're interested during your trip to Dux, I'd love to buy you a beer and say hello. I live about 35 minutes north in Mildenhall.
quote]

Hey, can you buy me a Dr. Pepper?

MustangDriver, I'd also reccomend, I don't know if you can, but going to FlugWerks would be really cool.

[Randy Haskin]

Yes, Trey....of course you and your pop are welcome anytime and the beverages are on me!

Last edited by Randy Haskin on Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[mustangdriver]

If you're interested during your trip to Dux, I'd love to buy you a beer and say hello. I live about 35 minutes north in Mildenhall.

Haven't had a chance to visit Hendon yet, but Duxford was a life-changing experience for this warbird fan (with some generous assistance from a few WIXers!!). You won't regret it.

I'll drink that beer buddy, and buy the second round. Thanks to all of you for some cool info. I am sure I will have a ton of pics. It isn't for a while, but I can't wait.

[Dennis Bergstrom]

Driving a car in England can be very stressful....but driving in western Europe is much easier (and safer) for us Americans because they drive on the side of the road that we're used to and all of the driving controls are in familiar places. I really recommend renting a car when you are through with enjoying England (and there's much to enjoy there and the public transportation is excellent) and you cross over the Channel. You'll have much more flexibility in planning your trip. My wife and I have been to Europe twice within the last 7 months and drove 4,000 trouble free miles (well we did get lost several times). The WWII Battle of the Bulge sites and cemeteries are impressive to visit in Luxembourg and Belgium. The Musee de l'Air just north of Paris at Le Bourget is large and very nice, the Brussels Air Museum (Royal Museum of the Armed Forces...) has many cool aircraft and the Dutch Air Force (Militaire Luchtvaart) Museum in Soesterberg, Holland is worth a visit (though very dark like RAF Museum-Hendon). The Deutsches Museum in Munich has some very nice Luftwaffe aircraft on display including a Bf-109E and Red Bull's hangar in Salzburg, Austria is spotless and free plus having their B-25, Corsair and a number of other aircraft on display (the P-38 might be there by next spring).

Dennis

Last edited by Dennis Bergstrom on Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[mike furline]

I've been to England several times. You are going to LOVE IT!!! If you're staying in London, no need to rent a car. I found it best to rent one only when leaving the London area and staying abroad.

I would allow 2 days for Duxford, lots to see.

RAF Hendon is great. If you're staying in London you can take the Underground to Hendon, then it's about a 1/2 mile walk, no car needed.

Kent Battle of Britain Museum, http://www.kbobm.org
Awesome place, thousands of dug up wreckage, uniforms, etc.

Fleet Air Arm Museum, http://www.fleetairarm.com/
Another excellent museum.

Imperial War Museum London, http://www.iwm.org.uk/

Battle of Britain Ops Room, http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/u/uxbridge/

Cabinet War Rooms, http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/

Enjoy,