School trips to Dunkirk

Why visit Dunkirk?

Learn about Operation Dynamo

Dunkirk, in northern France, is most famous for the Allied evacuation that took place there during the Second World War, making it a popular choice for history school trips.

There are some fantastic museums here, which will help your students explore themes such as Hitler’s foreign policy and the links between science and war.

There’s even an opportunity to enjoy a guided tour of the evacuation beaches and several other points of interest in and around the city on your school trip to Dunkirk.

Dunkirk had to be almost completely rebuilt after the Second World War and so, unfortunately, it’s not one of the most picturesque cities in France. However, the amount of fascinating history here more than makes up for its lack of aesthetic charm.

In fact, it’s almost an open-air museum, offering some incredible opportunities to learn more about Operation Dynamo. On your history school trip to Dunkirk, you can tour the port, learn more about the German V-weapons programme at Eperlecques Bunker and La Coupole, and pay your respects at the Dunkirk Cemetery and Memorial.

A history school trip to Dunkirk offers many opportunities not only to learn about the scale of Operation Dynamo, but also the reasons why the Allies had to undertake such a largescale evacuation in 1940.

Discover what life was like under the Nazis

One of the hardest-hit regions during the ‘dark years’, on a school trip to Dunkirk, your students will also have the opportunity to discover what life was like for the locals in this part of France during the Second World War.

At La Coupole, your students will learn about resistance and collaboration in this region. And they’ll find out how the Nazis constructed the Atlantic Wall which was an important feature of the Dunkirk coastline during the Second World War.

Students will also learn how some locals were rounded up and deported to concentration camps and they’ll find out how the North of France was finally liberated.

Explore how warfare developed during WW2

And if your students are studying the history of warfare, you may like to combine your trip with visits to Waterloo and Ypres.

On your history of warfare school trip to Dunkirk, Waterloo and Ypres, your students will learn more about how technology and warfare developed between the Napoleonic Wars and WW2.