53309NOR
Ardennes, Luxembourg
Routes
- Sites in and around Bastogne
- Mardasson Memorial outside Bastogne
- Fox Holes used by Easy Company in Bois Jacques
- US Cemetery at Hamm (Luxembourg)
- Luxembourg City (if time allows)
This is a full day spent visiting sites related to the WW2 Battle of the Bulge (also known as the Ardennes Counter-Offensive or the Von Rundstedt Offensive). There is not a great deal of time spent on the bus and it is an enjoyable and interesting day.
Liaise with your guide as to when/where you will meet them. If you are staying in Bastogne it may be at the hotel; if you are staying in Luxembourg it will likely be at the US tank at the crossroads in the centre of Bastogne.
If coming from Luxembourg allow a good 75mins for the journey to Bastogne. It is best to take the E411 as far as Arlon and to turn off onto the N4 (signposted Bastogne) rather than taking the E411 the whole way, which is slower and considerably further.
You are pretty much in your guide’s hands today. The sites in Bastogne should include the barracks where Brigadier General McAuliffe gave his “Nuts!” reply to the Germans, including the tank museum, the cemetery where nurse Renee Lemaire is buried; the General Patton memorial and possibly St Peter’s church.
Just outside Bastogne you will visit the Mardasson memorial situated 1.5km outside the town and the location of a major new museum, The Bastogne War Museum. Reservation compulsory for school groups +32(0)61 21 02 20
You will also visit the original Fox Holes used by E (Easy Company) made famous by “Band of Brothers”.
After lunch in Bastogne (1 hour) you will head to Luxembourg to visit the US Cemetery at Hamm. The journey will take around 60 minutes. Exit the motorway A1 (E44) at junction 7 and follow the signs to the cemetery. General Patton is buried here. The Cemetery closes at 5pm, so keep an eye on timings. 45 minutes here is plenty.
If time allows you will take in some of the sites of Luxembourg City with your guide. Give free time, if applicable, for your group to explore Luxembourg on their own, before heading back to your hotel (or to Bastogne, 75 mins) depending on where you are staying. Place Hamilius is a good place to stop the bus. Walk the group down the pedestrianised Place D’Armes and Place Guillaume II to the Grand Duke’s Palace.
Bus drop-off at Place Hamilius:
