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Taking up to 5 people
(+ Guide / Driver) in our comfortable air-conditioned Citroën C8 minivan or rental vehicle we will explore the battlefields on foot, by car, and through museums.
Your guide will be Dr Andrew Thomson, History Ph.D. (University of Kent). His topic was the experiences of U.S. troops in France in 1944-45 (you can consult an abstract of the thesis on this site).
This is a suggested itinerary only - on all our trips we are of course happy to accommodate specific requirements, and to adjust the schedule depending on weather and preferences.
Ask us for an individual quote today.
Normandy & the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge)
A suggested 5-day / 4-night private tour for up to 5 people
Make your own party - do get in touch to discuss possible dates
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Private groups (i.e. you & your friends);
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Staying in the pretty towns of Bayeux and Bastogne, here is a suggested 5-day (4-night) itinerary that covers not just the principal sights, but gives you a taste the distinct regions themselves, with their delightful countryside and local food. Naturally we can put together a family-specific tour, and tours of different durations.
Day One
- After a night in Canterbury, or a 40 minute train journey from London to Ashford - 35 minute Tunnel crossing in our car, then 3 hr 15 minute drive from Calais, arriving at Juno Beach around 2.30 p.m.
- Pickup from Paris - 3 hr drive, arriving for a snack lunch at Juno Beach at 12:30 p.m.
Tour taking in German 'Atlantic Wall' sites (Juno Beach), Mulberry Harbour remains (Gold Beach), Omaha Beach itself, and the Visitor Centre and US Cemetery on the bluffs above. Check-in to hotel in the nearby town of Bayeux for 2 nights.
Day Two
All-day tour taking in Pointe du Hoc, Sainte Mère Eglise, Utah Beach, German guns on the cliffs at Longues, then back to Bayeux for a choice of: free time in Bayeux, the Battle of Normandy Museum (in Bayeux) and/or the Bayeux Tapestry.
Day Three
Leave Bayeux 8.15 a.m., drive 6 hours to Bastogne
One hour before Bastogne, stop at Dinant on the Meuse River to see the western limit of the Bulge, the very furthest that the Germans got (on Christmas Eve 1944: see a Panther tank knocked out here). Arrive Bastogne by 6.00 p.m. - check-in for two nights in hotel on the main square.
Day Four
Tour of Bastogne and the surrounding area in the morning - the perimeter formed by the US 101st Airborne and 10th Armoured Division; the Bois Jacques woods and the 'Easy Company' memorial; the American Memorial & Museum; the site where Patton's tanks broke through on 26 December 1944.
Drive 1 hour south to Luxembourg to see the southern shoulder of the Bulge (with a superb museum in Diekirch) and the US Military Cemetery in Luxembourg City (which includes General Patton's grave). Return to Bastogne for the evening.
Day Five
Drive 80 minutes to the German-Belgian border to see where the 16 December 1944 German attack was launched - the forest tracks down which the German tanks rolled, remnants of the Germans' Siegfried Line anti-tank defences, and the village of Lanzarath where US resistance was notable. Follow the route that the principal German spearhead (led by Col. Peiper of 1st SS Panzer Division) took through the rugged Ardennes region - and see one of his Tiger II tanks.
- 3 hr 30 minute drive to Channel Tunnel. Back in the UK we will put you on a high-speed train to London, arriving there around 7.20 p.m.
- Drop-off in Paris - 3 hr drive
Check out our prices here
Do get in touch to discuss details and possible dates.
See also:
World War II Tours
A suggested 3-day itinterary: Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge)
A suggested 3-day itinerary: D-Day & the Battle of Normandy
A suggested 3-day itinerary: Dieppe 1942 & Normandy 1944
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Dr Thomson's Tours
Tour operator & private guide
Tailor-made private tours of South-East England, France, Belgium & Germany
Above: German guns still in their huge bunkers at Longues-sur-Mer in Normandy
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Add-ons before or after your tour One of the key things that we offer is flexibility: we are keen to help you enhance your tour experience by offering you the chance to visit somewhere that you’ve always wanted to see (either just before or after your tour with us). And bear in mind the possibility to do this in the context of being dropped off somewhere interesting for the next leg of your vacation (or business trip). Starting the tour in one place and finishing in another is something we do often for clients. Add-ons available on a Normandy/Bulge tour: |
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Machine-gunners' view of Omaha Beach, Normandy
Above: The beautiful Ardennes countryside in the autumn
Below: Remains of the Siegfried Line - anti-tank defences, built by the Nazis in the 1930's