European Battlefield Itinerary

Over There 2000

Bill, Wayne, and Gil with a Panzer 1 at Aberdeen

Three modern doughboys plan to sample 1,000 years of military history in 10 days, touring France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

So little time. So much to see.

WWI poster (borrowed from Trenches on the Web)

Operational Plan

Sept. 7 (Thursday) - Depart

Continental #1847

3:30 pm - dep Reagan National (DCA)
4:47 pm - arr Newark Intl. (EWR): Seats 20D, 20E, 20F

Continental #60

6:30 pm - dep Newark Intl. (EWR)
7:50 am - arr Brussels National (BRU): Seats 44H, 44K, 44L

Sept. 8 (Friday)

Arrive Brussels, pick up Hertz rental car (Group C Class, Ford Mondeo or similar)

Drive to Verdun (BRU-Verdun 170 miles, 3:05, 114 on expressway) (Scenic route via Mairy, 160 mi., 3:15, 81)

Stay at Hotel du Tigre (1 night), http://www.hotel-tigre.com/, in Verdun

Sept. 9 (Saturday)

Visit Fort of Fermont on Maginot Line near Longwy.

Tour other Maginot Line sites. Finding the Line offers advice. Ouvrage du Villy La Ferte, http://perso.wanadoo.fr/fasf/Ouvrages/villy.htm, at Montmedy is nearby.

Drive to Vianden in Luxemburg. Possible stops: Patton's grave in Hamm (Lux.), military museum in Diekirch (Lux.), or Bastogne historical center.

The mileage chart shows the driving distances between these Ardennes locations.

Stay at Auberge de l'Our in Vianden (Lux)

Sept. 10 (Sunday)

Drive to the Somme. Try to follow the path of German 1st Panzer Division: Vianden, Martelange, Neufchateau, Bouillon, Sedan, Chemery-sur-Bar, Bouvellemont, Montcornet, Ribemont, Crecy-sur-Serre, Perrone, Albert, Total: 247 miles, Driving time 5:45

Stay at Avril Williams guest house (2 nights). Dinner reservation made for Sunday night at 7:30.

Sept. 11 (Monday)

Tour Somme battlefield, starting at Vimy Ridge and working south.

Sept. 12 (Tuesday)

Last glimpses of the Somme

Drive to Normandy battlefield (Arromanches to Auchonvillers, 222 miles, 3:15, 171 miles on expressway).

Visit Pegasus Bridge

Visit Bayeux Museum

Visit Bayeux Tapestry

Stay at Hôtel d'Arromanches (3 nights) Another site describes the hotel.

Sept. 13 (Wednesday)

Visit Omaha Beach including American cemetery

Visit Pointe du Hoc

Visit Utah Beach

Visit St Mere Eglise

[Bill peeks into an observation bunker at Pointe du Hoc]

Sept. 14 (Thursday)

Visit Arromanches museum

Visit Longues battery

Visit British beaches

Sept. 15 (Friday)

Drive to Ypres (Arromanches-Ieper 257 miles, 4:40, 129 on expressway)

Possible stops in route: St. Omer, Agincourt, Calais, Dieppe or Dunkirk.

Visit Ypres: See Flanders Museum and stay for Last Post at 8 p.m. at the Menin Gate.

Stay at Varlet Farm

Sept. 16 (Saturday)

Drive to Waterloo (Ieper-Waterloo 87 miles, 1:30, 73 on expressway)

Start touring Waterloo

Stay at Ferme de l'Hosté in Wavre (2 nights)

Sept. 17 (Sunday)

Finish touring Waterloo

Visit Brussels

Sept. 18 (Monday)

Drive from Waterloo to airport, 15.4 miles, 20 minutes, 7.3 miles on expressway
Depart

Continental #61

11:15 am - dep Brussels National (BRU)
1:30 pm - arr Newark Intl. (EWR): Seats 43H, 43K, 43L

Continental #319

3:30 pm - dep Newark Intl. (EWR)
4:46 pm - arr Reagan National (DCA): Seats 24A, 25A, 25C

Gil, Bill, and Wayne on the Shiloh battlefield during Spring 1999.

Historical Links

Maginot Line and Ardennes

Fort of Fermont along the Franco-Belgian frontier
Finding the Line helps locate major works. The author gave us some helpful advice.
Ouvrage de la Férté, a fort near Montmedy

Blitzkreig 1940

Germany Attacks! traces the route of Panzer Group von Kleist.
France, 1940 is devoted to the 1940 campaign.

Normandy

Battle of Normandy, a driving tour of the beaches
Normandy 1944 from Encyclopædia Britannica.

Battle of the Bulge

Bastogne (Belgian Travel Network)
National Museum of Military History in Diekirch, Luxembourg
General Patton Memorial Museum in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg
Luxembourg American Cemetery contains Patton's grave.

Somme and World War I

Trenches on the Web , an exhaustive World War I site
Keegan on the Somme Battlefield, a quote from the famous historian.
Somme Battlefield Tours provides a good guide to the battlefield.
Battle Of The Somme; 80 Years On, a British reporter describes his 1996 visit
Verdun, France: Information and a virtual visit to the battlefield.

Waterloo

Waterloo 1815, the Visitor Center
Waterloo (Belgian Travel Network)

Other people's tours

Holt Battlefield Tours offers an wide range of tours.
Military Historical Tours, Inc. is an Alexandria-based company.
Tours International is a British company.
Destinations Europe offers a tour similar to ours.

Logistics

Thanks to a well-chosen Priceline.com bid, we have our airline tickets. Wayne has reserved the rental car. We have booked lodging for all 10 nights. The next steps: read our history books and figure out how much we can squeeze in.

Logistical links

Mileage chart

A home-grown chart showing the driving time for some of our proposed jaunts. See a map

www.iti.fr

A French version of Mapquest. You can get driving directions between any two places in Europe.

Hôtels de France

A page with a good selection of French hotels

Waterloo hotels

A few hotels from the Waterloo area

Belgian Hotels

A Dutch site which also covers Belgium

Carte Belux

A Belgian hotel site with a clickable map

Accomodations in Luxembourg

A cycling organization's page with a good list of hotels, arranged geographically

Hotels in Luxembourg

The title is self-explanatory. Click on the Ardennes region. Clervaux and Wiltz are potential candidates

Battlefield Books and Maps

Battlefield Books and Guides by Tonie and Valmai Holt who created the Holt Battlefield Tour company

Over There 2000

Contents

Operational Plan

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Historical Links

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Logistics

Logistical links

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Contact Information

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Last revised: December 21, 2006.

Over There 2000

Logistical links

Last revised: December 21, 2006.