Perhaps Simon Schama is to blame - or even the young upstart Tristram Hunt and his series on the Civil War. Whatever the explanation, battlefield tours and trips to war cemeteries and memorials seem to have become more and more popular. Here are some good places to start researching a trip.
Greek and mythological battles
The Hellenic ministry of culture (culture.gr/2/21/toc/arc_ sites.html) has a long list of archaeological sites, but you'll need to know what you're looking for.
Battle of Culloden
Undiscovered Scotland (undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/inverness/culloden) offers a practical rather than an impressionable guide. (Some visitors seem to believe the site is haunted.)
American war of independence
You can find Boston's plans for the fourth of July at july4th.org, while the city's Freedom Trail is available at thefreedom trail.org. The really dedicated can follow one of three Revolutionary War road trip itineraries at revolutionaryday.com or Philadelphia's role in the war at ushistory.org.
American civil war
Plenty of sites to consult here. One of the best is Civil War Traveler (civilwar-va.com) which covers the Virginias, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The virtual tours at John's Military History (johnsmilitary history.tripod.com/) are also interesting, though they use dates rather than geographical locations as their starting point. Civil War Battlefields (battlefieldvacations.com/battle.ht) is a sexist piece of work, but reaches further south than the Traveler. The National Parks Service (nps.gov/parks.html) also publishes its own travel guides. Choose the "search by interests" section to find Indian battle sites.
Napoleonic wars
napoleonguide.com/tours_ guides.htm is for devotees only.
Boer and Zulu wars
It's slow, but battlefields.kzn.org.za/battlefields/about/2.xml has details of KwaZulu-Natal's battle sites.
First world war
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (cwgc.org) enables you to find the grave or memorial of any Commonwealth serviceman or woman killed in either of the two world wars. Charles Fair's guide to visiting first world war battlefields (fylde.demon.co.uk/charles.htm) is partially illustrated and a good introduction to each site. The excellent Trip to Gallipoli (user.glo.be/ ~snelders/trip1.htm) and Gallipoli Then and Now (user.glo.be/~snelders/thennow/thennow1.htm) explain how to reach the peninsula, where to stay and how to go about exploring it.
The 20th century
Sites devoted to second world war battlefields are more scarce. But the suitably muted Auschwitz site (auschwitz.org.pl/html/eng/start/) gives a good idea of what to see.
Organised tours
A number of British-based companies set out their itineraries online. They include Midas (midastours.co.uk), Holts (battletours.co.uk) and Battlefield Tours (battlefieldtours.co.uk).
