7 Movies That Will Inspire Your Next WW2 Tour in Europe

Ever watched a war film and thought, “I want to stand right there”? WWII movies are steeped in real places – beaches, bridges, villages, and cities that still bear the scars and memories of the past. 

If you’re planning a WWII tour through Europe, these seven films will give you both the context and the goosebumps before you even set foot on the ground.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Spielberg’s opening sequence on Omaha Beach is seared into pop culture. The chaos, the sound, the sheer human cost – it’s unforgettable. 

The funny thing is, when you actually stand on that beach, the place feels strangely peaceful. The surf rolls in quietly, and kids play where soldiers once struggled ashore. That contrast is what makes visiting Normandy so powerful.

Plenty of travelers watch the movie, then go on to book WW2 tours that guide them through Omaha, Utah, and the villages inland. Guides point to hedgerows where the real firefights happened. And yes, if you go early in the morning, when the mist is still lifting, it’s hard not to picture Tom Hanks trudging through the surf.

Dunkirk (2017)

Nolan’s Dunkirk is all about survival. Three timelines (land, sea, and air) collide into one desperate escape. The film barely uses dialogue, but it doesn’t need to. You feel the fear and the relief in every frame.

Walking the real beach in Dunkirk, you understand why it became such a bottleneck. The sand stretches for miles. Imagine thousands of soldiers stranded there, hoping for rescue. 

Today, Dunkirk is home to numerous museums packed with artifacts, and bunkers still dot the coastline. Grab a coffee, sit on the seawall, and look out over the water. The quiet makes the film’s intensity hit even harder.

The Longest Day (1962)

This old-school epic was filmed on location in Normandy. It has that classic Hollywood vibe (big cast, sweeping shots), but it’s also surprisingly accurate. Watching it before you go helps you spot details you might otherwise miss.

One example: Sainte-Mère-Église. The film dramatizes paratrooper John Steele getting caught on the church steeple. Visit today, and you’ll see a parachute still hanging there in his honor. It’s those kinds of touches that connect a 1960s movie to the living memory of a town that hasn’t been forgotten.

Downfall (2004)

Bruno Ganz’s chilling performance as Hitler in his final days inside the Berlin bunker makes Downfall one of the most striking WWII films ever made. The movie is claustrophobic, tense, and deeply unsettling – exactly what it should be for a story about the collapse of the Third Reich.

Visiting Berlin today, you can trace that history in ways the film only hints at. The Führerbunker site itself is just a parking lot now, marked by a small interpretive plaque, but the nearby Topography of Terror museum and city memorials explore the machinery of dictatorship in powerful detail.

Pairing the film with a trip through Germany shows you both the ruins of the war’s end and the country’s commitment to remembering its darkest chapter.

The Bridge at Remagen (1969)

Not many people talk about Remagen, but this film captured the race to seize the last intact bridge across the Rhine. It’s not as glossy as Saving Private Ryan, but the story is just as pivotal: without that bridge, the Allied push into Germany would have been delayed by weeks.

The real bridge collapsed shortly after the war, but its towers remain. They’ve been turned into a peace museum, and standing on the banks of the Rhine with those dark stone hulks above you – it gives you chills. 

The Great Escape (1963)

This one’s a classic adventure: Allied POWs plotting to break free from Stalag Luft III in present-day Poland. The movie dramatizes the tunnels and the breakout, but the spirit of defiance rings true.

Steve McQueen’s motorcycle chase? Pure Hollywood. But the ingenuity of the escape itself? That part really happened.

Head to Żagań, Poland, and you can see the museum dedicated to the camp. The grounds are quiet, almost ordinary, but when you look at the reconstructed tunnels, the reality sinks in. The movie makes it exciting; the site makes it humbling. Together, they tell the full story.

Paisan (1946)

Roberto Rossellini’s Paisan doesn’t look like a typical war movie. Shot in the rubble of real towns just after the fighting ended, it strings together six episodes set during the Allied advance through Italy. 

From soldiers landing in Sicily to the struggles in Florence and the Po Valley, the film captures everyday people caught in extraordinary times. The raw, documentary feel makes it unforgettable.

Traveling through Italy today, you can still see many of the places that shaped those stories. Sicily’s coastal villages, Florence’s bridges, Naples’ bustling streets, and the countryside of northern Italy all carry echoes of the war years. 

Visiting them after watching Paisan adds another layer. You’re stepping right into the lived realities Rossellini captured on screen.