It is my understanding that there will be far fewer vehicles on display and the ones that are on show will have a physical barrier between the customer and the vehicle. This was something to do with the National Lottery continuing to fund the museum. So unless things have changed since my last visit these changes are on route and the public will be restricted to a few shots from the front and no more of those walkarounds.

Well that's tragic news! No doubt the aim is to make space for school classes to sit around one exhibit for a lesson, regardless of what the rest of the visiting public would like. Gotta say, if they do to the old Tamiya hall what they did with the new wing in terms of spacing and displays, they will have to remove two-thirds of the collection just to make room. Oh well, every era must end...

They will still have beer! Won't they ?

Hi Eric.

I haven't been to Bovington or Saumur but I believe both are excellent.

I have been to Normandy many times and there are lots and lots of tanks on display in Normandy though, some in museums and some in public outside- you'll love it there!

Don't forget to try and see the Vimoutiers Tiger 1!

As others have said, it really depends on what you are looking for. I love both but have a very slight irrational preference for Saumur because it has very private feel; the staff is very nice and helpful but also rarely around and there are far fewer visitors than Bovington. It simply feels like you have the museum almost to yourself. The Bovington collection is larger on the floor (setting the storage annex building aside) and obviously has a richer collection of commonwealth vehicles than Saumur. Saumur has an amazing French AFV collection and both have a very strong Cold War and WW2 German collection.

Honestly, if you're in Normandy I would go to Saumur if I couldn't do both. It's an equally good collection (albeit somewhat smaller) and much closer. One thing that I will add (and this applies to most museums that I've visited) is that if there is a specific vehicle that you are interested in contact them well in advance and see if you can spend more time at it or potentially go atop it. Most museums will go above and beyond for someone who is interested in their collection since that's why the staff is there in the first place!

I have not been to Samur, but Bovington is still a very good museum.

However, unless you plan to spend time in the UK before travelling to Normandy, I reckon it would be best to do Samur. Some of you guys have a weird perspective of logistics! Even if you fly to London and hire a car, it would take you a good four hours to drive to Bovington - and if you get a train, you'd have to get to Weymouth and change trains to Wool - and from there its a taxi ride (allow 5 or 6 hours total). The museum is in a pretty 'isolated' location in Dorset. In Summer, Dorset is a tourist hotspot and the roads are clogged with traffic and the museum itself gets rammed with people.

Most of the exhibits are behind a rope, but there are some exhibits that you can interact with - the WWI MkIV Male springs to mind. also bear in mind that the museum is on the edge of a huge tank training area (the RAC) and you can park along the roads where there are viewing points to watch the almost constant flow of armour being put through its paces. Lets not forget, that you can also visit 'Clouds Hill', T E Lawrence's little cottage which is preserved by the National Trust. The house is a mile from the museum.

I would plan to visit 'out of season'. And, I wouldn't come this year. The museum is shut, the pubs and restaurants are shut, the shops are shut and all the accommodation is shut. Not to mention a 14 day quarantine period for visitors beginning in July. This may change, but it will be months before things get back to anything like normal.

I've been to Bovington a couple of times as I live close by. Visited just before the lockdown last time.
You can go up close to the tanks, you can take pictures. Some of the WWI armour is open to go in to. Touching is not forbidden.
Of course you can't climb on top, or hang from the turret, etc...

If you can, then visit it when there is a Tank Fest. It will have a lot of people for sure, but seeing all the tanks driving around is great fun.

For those thinking of visiting Normandy, the new Utah Beach Museum is very good. The museum at Dead Man's Corner is interesting, but a bit more mundane.

To a degree it sort of depends on what vehicles you are most interested in.

Back when I was trying to super detail an Italeri Bergepanther the photos of the the Samur Berge with its' winch removed and sitting next to it were invaluable.

At that time I would have voted for the French Museum.

n'est pas?

If visiting Bovington just check their calendar first as if there is a special event on sometimes there is a price increase; also, if for example, the special event is something - perversely perhaps - like a model show, you may find your viewing of the exhibits obstructed by modelling stands, traders' shelves etc.

I haven't visited for a while but I recall there was some mad initiative which placed coin-operated toy rides (ie on toy tanks) for kiddies alongside the real life versions; I always thought this was pretty trashy and out of keeping with such displays. In a separate kiddy area fine, but not alongside the actual vehicles.

IMHO the refreshments and food were pretty poor too but then perhaps I'm just hard to please(!)

Brian