On this day trip from Brussels, we'll travel to the south of Belgium to learn about the history of the Battle of the Bulge, one of the great battles of the Second World War. We'll visit the Bastogne War Museum and the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neuville.
Tour Details
We'll meet at the indicated time at number 18 of the Boulevard de Berlaimont and, from this point in Brussels, we'll head towards the south of Belgium.
After a route of about 1.5 hours, we'll arrive at the outskirts of Liège, where we'll visit the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neuville-en-Condroz. At this cemetery, which also has a chapel and a memorial, we'll learn about the history of the American soldiers who died in the Battle of the Bulge.
We'll take a stroll among the gravestones as we discuss the strategic importance of this fight, which took place between December 16, 1944 and January 25, 1945. This confrontation was one of the major offensives launched by the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany. We'll discover what consequences this operation had in the final stretch of the Second World War.
We'll continue our tour heading to Bastogne, which was of great strategic importance during the Battle of the Bulge. We'll visit Place McAuliffe, named after the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the Siege of Bastogne. Here, you'll see a Sherman M3 tank that was used in the battle.
Afterwards, we'll continue our tour of Bastogne next to the Battle of the Bulge Monument. This impressive monument, which is shaped like a star, was erected in honour of the American soldiers who fell in the Battle of the Bulge.
Next to this memorial, we'll find the Bastogne War Museum, where we'll take a guided tour. Throughout the route, we'll see vehicles, uniforms and weapons from the 1940s. The museum has a restaurant, the Bistrot de la Paix, where you'll have two hours free for lunch.
Finally, after lunch, we'll go to the outskirts of Bastogne to visit the German military cemetery and the Foy trenches.
From there, we'll begin our journey back to the meeting point in Brussels, where we'll end this 11-hour activity.
