Check out awesome photos of tanks and other loud, powerful armored vehicles all over the world. I’ve seen tanks that beforehand I had only read about, including King Tigers, Panthers, and T-34s.
Some museums I visited in my teens and early 20s I’ve since lost the evidence, so I don’t include those. Fortunately, some, like El Goloso, I’ve been able to revisit since.
Shows I’ve Been To
Mechanized history in motion!
Tank Fest
I mean, Tank Fest doesn’t really need an introduction. The description is in the name. Literally, a festival of tanks. And the thing is that Bovington has almost every tank you could think of, so more likely than not, you’re going to see it driven out for Tank Fest.
Aquino Tank Weekend
This is like Tank Fest, but in Canada. The Canadian Tank Museum is, I believe, the largest tank museum for the public in North America. I’m not sure if it’s the second largest in the world; there are some pretty big ones out there. But if you’re in the US, you should hop on a plane to Toronto and make the drive or train ride to Oshawa.
Living History Weekend
Beautiful museum out by College Station, TX. It’s a 2-hr drive out of Austin, and totally worth it. Their vehicles in the museum are pristine, in working conditions, and they bring them out several times a year for events.
Museums I’ve Visited
Static collections I’ve been to around the world.
North America
A cool museum in Fairfield, CA, near Sacramento, with both outside and inside areas.
The tanks are with the First Division Museum. It’s completely free in a beautiful park, in a very peaceful suburb of Chicago.
This one is by the Boeing factory museum, so if you’re going to visit that you might as well stop here too. Great museum with a surprisingly robust collection of tanks and other armored vehicles.
The vehicles here are in pristine condition, and they all run. The only one I think I haven’t seen run is the Renault FT, but it does usually participate in the Living History events.
On an Army Reserve base in Austin, the collection is large.
This one is out in the middle of nowhere, California. “By” Palm Springs, but still far depending on where in that area you are. I call it the M60 graveyard.
A very tightly packed collection of vehicles, including tanks and other armored vehicles, in Los Angeles.
Western Europe
This museum is on a military base and requires a reservation. It’s a great collection of vehicles in good condition that served with the Spanish Army, from the civil war to the modern day.
Cartagena is a coastal city in Spain. This one is technically more of an artillery museum, but it restores all sorts of mechanized vehicles, including the T-26 light tank and StuG III assault gun below.
In a small Portuguese border town known for its star-shaped fortifications, the Portuguese Army maintains a museum that includes a large collection of vehicles, including tanks. The photos below are of vehicles in a grassy area separate from the museum — unless you know to walk back there, you can completely miss it. We saw it by accident while leaving, so these are taken from up near the parking lot, looking down below.
The biggest tank museum in the world (I think). In Bovington, England. They have every tank you can possibly think of, even the most obscure ones (they might not be in the main halls, but they’ll be in the warehouse).
Tank Books? These Are the Best (IMO)
I read a lot of books. These are the ones I re-read.
