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ORIGINAL: wild_Willie2

Madurodam is a large miniature city named for a war hero,amazing to see

Not named after a war hero, but stil nice if you are into that stuff (miniatures).

Actually NEVER been there, to corny for my taste [>:]...........

Actually,it IS named for a war hero,a Dutch pilot named George Maduras..He was a hero to them and the park (as I recall) was funded by his family..I believe he was tortured to death by the Gestapo..
It's o.k. if you did not know that,I know a lot of Americans who don't know what Mount Vernon is..

Imperial War Museum is a MUST see in my book. It can indeed take days to see that one though and most "normal" women would not be up for more than a day or two at most [:D]

Rick

Only 15 days and so much to see[8|]!

I should certainly go to Paris. Anything good that ever came out of Europe always came out of France - democracy, art, culture etc - the most fantastic and one of the most accessible of Europes' capitals. Just eat and stay off the main thoroughfares and you won't get too badly get ripped off. Also go to Spain. Love Barcelona, Madrid and Grenada. Barcelona has the nightlife and the food, Madrid the culture, and Grenada has the Alhambra palace, which EVERYBODY should see before they die. Most amazing place I've ever been (and yes I've seen the Grand Canyon!).

As for Uk, by all means see the sights in London, but the Lake District and North Wales has fantastic countryside.

Have loads of fun!

ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker

ORIGINAL: Wolfpack

My wife and I are going to Europe in May for a belated honeymoon. We will have about 15 days on the continent and 7 days in the UK. Definitely going to the DDay beaches,Arnhem/Nijmegan and Dachau/Berchtesgarten. My wife only wants to see a few castles so I have lots of flexibility.

This will be our first time in Europe so I am looking for other ideas.

Thanks in advance... [&o]

If it's your honeymoon it had better be romantic restaurants and your hotel bed headboard.[:D] If it wasn't I'd say take a tour of the Moselle River and get goofy on wine. German beer halls are fun.[;)]

Ron has the right idea here, pick two wine regions (I sugest Moselle and Bordeaux) and go for it!

I was in Belgium with my Air Guard unit in 1988 (Reforger). A freind and I rented a car for the weekend. Plan was to go to the two American cemeteries close to where our unit was flying out of then to Bastogne. When the caretaker of the Ardennes American Cemetery got wind of our plans he wouldn't let us leave until he gave us a map and itinary he made. It took us from the gate of his cemetery to Bastognes town square mostly on back roads and told what happened during the battle. If you want a copy let me know and I'll get it to you.

Steve

A few thoughts.

First of all this is a honeymoon, if you screw this one up by going to too many military sites you will suffer a personal defeat greater than any defeat sustained on any of the battlefields you will visit. I don't care how understanding your wife says she is, seek balance in all things.

In London start at the London Eye then take a boat down the Thames to the Tower then take the boat the rest of the way to the Naval Museum at Greenwich. You get a great view of the city, then a nice boat ride, then some serious history at the Tower, then another nice boat ride and a first class Maritime museum and on the weekend there is a good open air market in the town maybe 10 minutes walk away or less. The boat trips do 3 things, get you where your going, get you off your feet and give you a rest and they are also guided tours. London grew up around the Thames and much of the cities most interesting architecture is visible from the river including the Houses of Parliment, St. Pauls, The Tower, Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast. Do this trip first your first day because it will help you get oriented.

My wife had a connecting flight through Paris last year and got stuck because the terminal collapesed 3 days before she got there and all the flights were screwed up. So she got a free day in Paris thanks to Air France. She took a boat tour on the Siene and enjoyed it a lot. I have not been to Paris since 1983 I really enjoyed the Louvre and just wandering around but I can't give the kind of advice I gave for London.

I was in Barcelona in November. Great city I can even reccomend a good cheap hotel if you want it (on the road today info at home). Lots to see very walkable and there are tappas bars everywhere so you can stop, eat, drink, be merry and then go. We used Rick Steve's guide for Spain and it was very helpful. If you go to Spain get on their schedule or you will be wandering unhappliy past closed shops at Siesta time and then going to sleep just as the Spanish get rolling. Better to go out and tour, Siesta and then go back out and have fun. I also suggest having something to do in the early part of the night, we saw a Flamenco show one night and listened to a very talented classical guitarist in a 14th century church another night just to give two examples.

If you like Medieval and Renaissance towns go to Toledo in Spain or York in England. Both are very cool with much of the old walls, streets and castles intact.

In addition to Neu Schwanstien Windsor Castle is huge, and I am talking Pentagon huge you might day trip too it from London. Find out if your wife is more interested in castles or in palaces. Tell her if she does not know the answer you will take her to one of each. In England a lot of the palaces are open as tourist attractions you can even stay in some of them. As an idea if you want to take her to Normandy get a room in a historic chateau.

I will quibble with the person who suggested Munich, Munich is nice but Vienna is better. Schonbrunn is one of the most beautiful palaces in the world and is full of everything from art to armor and weapons.

I have not been to as many of the war museums as some of the other posters but I did really enjoy the Imperial War Museum. I have to say that the war museum that made the biggest impression on me is the one under the Victoria statue in Kiev. You cannot understand the second world war until you see a good Eastern front museum.

Be sure to stop in Pubs, Cafes, Tappas bars or where ever the locals eat where ever you go. Plan times to stop and talk about what you just saw and to recharge your batteries to see the next thing.

Good luck!

as for Poland... [;)]
You can visit Westerplatte in Gdansk - the place where first shots in II WW were originaly fired.
Ketrzyn - Wolfschanze - Hitlers HQ for eastern Europe, the place where von Stauffenberg attempted to kill his fuhrer.
Auschwitz - you wont forget this place... never...
Krakow - a former capital of Poland. great place to visit.

If you have 7 whole days in London you should be able to accomplish quite a bit, and not just WW2 related - but do not miss the Cabinet War Rooms (just around the corner from 10 Downing Street). And as others have said, you can't go wrong with places like St. Paul's, the Tower, British Museum, etc. Make sure you climb all the way to the top of St. Paul's, weather and restorations permitting.

One out of the way spot the wife might like - have tea at the Goring Hotel. Can't remember the exact address, but the street is Beeston Place, tucked away about a block or two to the (south)west from Buckingham Palace. There are actually many small hotels like this one; this just happens to be the one I've been to. Take plenty of GBP with you if you go, though.

Jermyn Street (and the vicinity) has lots of shops (dresses, haberdashers). The "Banquet Rooms" (not sure if that's what they are properly called), where the coronation ceremonies of the Stuarts were held, is also not far from Buckingham. Hyde Park/Kensington... Trafalgar Square (just go there and "be"), Picadilly theatre shows.... between the Tube and your feet, the sky is the limit.

With all that time over there, you may want to explore out from London, of course. Edinburgh was recommended and I'll second that - Llangollen in Wales, too - but I would NOT avoid London. Especially if this is a first trip for either of you. Yeah, it's crowded and busy and all that, but so's New York. So's Crabtree Valley Mall.... [;)]

Outside London - Bath is about as far away as you can go for a day trip. Definitely worth it if you can afford to spend a whole day on it (or better still, an overnight), and I mean a whole day. There are various ways of getting there from London; I recommend the train as it allows you to go on your schedule.

There's no way to see it all, of course. Salisbury Cathedral, Oxford, Cambridge, Hampton Court, Windsor Castle, the Lake District.... just depends on your priorities. [:)]

Well I've rambled enough and England isn't your only stop. Enjoy it, though, the weather in May should be just about perfect.

In Germany, there are lots of interesting places to go. Neuschwanstein was mentioned before, it might be worth a trip, there are many other castlea and palaces around. Bavarian King Ludwig was great in building palaces (Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee etc). Americans also love Heidelberg and Rothenburg/Tauber or Regensburg. All are historical towns which hadn´t suffered too much in WW2.

http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisc ... /index.htm
http://www.derweg.org/deutschland/staedte/rothburg.html
http://www.cvb-heidelberg.de/index_eng.html
http://www.regensburg.de/tourismus/inte ... ndex.shtml

Best castles I saw were in Wales, Caernarvon Castle, Conway Castle, Beamaris Castle on Anglesey... The ones Edward Longshanks built to keep the Welsh down in 1200 AD ish. [;)] There are a lot of them in a smallish area so you could get a lot out of a couple of days in Wales.

Tintagel Castle in Cornwall is where King Arthurs mother was supposed to have been raped by Uther Pendragon, but unfortunately it's just a few boulders now and I wouldn't advise bothering to visit that. [:D]. besides its a real tourist trap with pub with names like the Guinevere Arms, ugh.

London is a hole, I'd avoid it.

If you are a war geek and like Spitfires (like me!) the RAF war museum at Duxford is a good place to go. It's about a half hour away from Cambridge, which is also quite a nice place to go if the weather is good.

go visit to the tulip fields near Amsterdam, visit Zaandam to see a “authentic” fishing village from the 18 century, complete with 20 windmills to pump out the water (yes it IS located 10 meters BELOW sea level). Go visit the museum in Amsterdam with contains the Night watch by Rembrandt (if you like THAT kind of culture).

I was going to suggest all of these things. The fishing village is especially good.

Antwerp is a great city to visit. The cathedral and the cafe-lined squares are wonderful. Belgian food and beer are the best anywhere in the world. Brussels also is excellent, and the Waterloo battlefield is right there. My wife and I spent a day there, and she loved it. There is an excellent visitors center there with an animated map simulation of the battle which she found to be fascinating; then when we climbed the lion's head (a tall artificial hill from which you can view the whole battlefield) she was pointing out to me where the chateaux were, where d'Erlon's attack was stopped, where the cavalry charges were, where the old guard attacked. She even wants to go back someday. She despises WitP, btw!

Women seem to always love Paris. By TGV it's about 90 minutes from Brussels, and that is from downtown to downtown....

If your in the UK you could do the castles of North Wales, the scenery of the Lake District and between them both just across from Liverpool is

Just a thought...

Servus!

Of course you have to visit Austria.

Many castles, wonderful countryside, excellent wine and food, very nice people, tons of museums of every kind, art, music, mountains, lakes, rivers.....

This is no advertising of the Austrian tourist association, i swear. [;)]

http://www.hotel-gastgewerbe.info/Burgen2.htm
http://www.viaimperialis.at/members_english.php
http://www.hgm.or.at/eng/
http://info.wien.at/article.asp?IDArticle=9010
http://www.wachau.at/wachau/default.asp?id=4548

Just a few impressions. Enjoy.

Gruß
Harald

I would effort to be in Normandy June 6. Was there three years ago, crowds not that bad on anniversary years that don't end in 5 or 0. Though there should be a lot of Vets walking in the many parades. First there was the memorial service at the British cemetary outside of Bayeux, we then raced to Pegasus Bridge for the Veterans parade. At this parade only Vets who air landed in the assault are allowed to walk. Their numbers are dwindling and three years ago there were only about 20 men. Then off to the Montgomery park memorial/parade, there was a parade in the Canadian area and finally the largest gathering and parade at Arromanches. At all of these you have the opportunity to talk to some Vets, many are happy to to tell their stories. There will be a large amount of period vehicles in the area plus alot of French reinactors around pretending to be American troops, mostly 82nd and 101st. Mostly British Vets come over on June 6th. I'm told American Vets tend to come over during Memorial day....terry

Here is something that you both may enjoy. Take a cruise on the Rhine from south to north. You will get to see places like where the Ludendorff bridge was as well as castles and enjoy the wine!

Maybe you could cruise down to see the Alps near Garmisch...take a trip into Switzerland and see the bunkers on the side of the road on your way to possibly skiing!

You have to eat at the Gasthauses along the way for dinner, lunch at the metzgerei or bakerei...like little delis....actual literal translation is meatery and bakery.

For the better half, maybe a trip to the crystal museum near Munich (could do this in conjunction with the trip to Switzerland).

I second the visiting of Verdun or at least some of the Maginot Forts.

I liked Sachsenhausen in Frankfurt! It is a fun place for nightlife.

Remember any German city with "....burg" has a castle in it.

I did find that France had some snobbish people in it despite my best attempts at speaking French or any other language besides English. Then again, my short haircut may have given me away back then. Not meaning to offend any of my French comrades here with that remark, just my experience.

The Costa Brava area of Spain is great for unwinding....topless beaches and Sangria bars on the beach as well....

This community is awesome. [&o] Thanks for all the ideas. I will put them together and present them to the wife. All these suggestions are making our trip seem like it will much too short. [:D] I guess I had better plan on making a second trip at least.

Thanks again,
Wolfpack

it's little bit off your rute, but you should not skip the Spain (especially southern Spain - Seville, Granada - great places for romantic honeymoon)

If you have enough time, but money is problem, you can fly with RyanAir low fare company. YOu can find all informations (IIRC they fly from London to Jerez (southern Spain) directly) on their web page. Also you can buy ticket only online - sooner are better (price).

Lonely planet travel books are excellent guides, and it is "must" for your journey.

Of course, you should not skip Croatia also, but leave it for next time!

here is just one photography from my idiot - it shows part of Alhambra (Granada)...

There are lots of great place and cities to visit.
The ones that I visited and I strongly suggest:
- London (great)
- Edinburgh (I fell in love with this city and its pubs [:D] )
- Amsterdam (I fell in love with its people and its coffeshops [:D] - keep your kids at the hotel when you'll visit the red light district [:D])
- Copenaghen (I fell in love with its women!)
- Paris (One of the most beautiful city in the world. Period.)
- Venice (really charming)
- Rome (Lots of history: from 753 B.C. to modern days, S.Pietro, Musei Vaticani etc).
- Barcelona

But how could one forget Madrid, Wien, Prague, Berlin, Florence and so on? Each city in Europe is really unique.

and here is fortress of Alhambra with strange and freaky guy in front of it[;)]

ORIGINAL: Wolfpack

Ron,

There will be plenty of eating and uh... sleeping [:'(] but can't do that 24x7. The wife is very understanding and as long as we see a few castles I get pretty much free reign in planning the rest of the trip. She is a small town girl who never flew on a plane before meeting me so trying to think of what to do in Europe is a bit daunting for her. The second time we go I expect it to be a different story... [:D]

Wolfpack

For a castle, take her to Warwick; nice castle and stately home in one with a bit of waxworks thrown in.

In London, don't miss the Imperial War Museum