Has anyone toured Bastogne? Do you rent a car in Leige or somewhere? Can’t find information on this in the new Rick Steves book. Husband wants to go. Thanks for any help with this topic.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6739 posts
We toured Bastogne. We had a car that we picked up in Lille, France. (Our trip was the Netherlands, Belgium, Arras and Amiens, France, back to Belgium then to Luxembourg, Moselle Germany, Verdun and Champagne, France)
The museum in Bastogne is excellent. We were there the whole day and it wasn't enough time. We drove to the battlefield. I don't think the battlefield is necessary but it did add much to the experience. It was sobering to walk around and see the ditches, grave sites, etc.
Posted by
3536 posts
If you want to see Battle of the Bulge sites, I highly recommend that you engage the services of Reg Jans for either small-group or private tours. There a few sites in Bastogne, including the 101st Airborne Museum, but the sites are spread out, and not as developed for tourism as in Normandy.
We just used a car service to get us to Bastogne from Luxembourg and back for our trip in 2019. Bastogne doesn't have a train station - though this could have changed in the past 6 years.
The Hotel Melba is in a good location - a comfortable if not enchanting place to stay.
Posted by
Oregon
15 posts
We toured Bastogne in May 2023. We rented a car in Liege & cruised around countryside down to Bastogne. If you search on Rick’s site for WW2 tours, you will probably find several options. I recall that several required that you use your own vehicle to tour - they didn’t schlep folks around. Belgium is very easy to navigate.
We hired Henri Mignon for a day tour. https://henrimignonbastognebulge.sitew.fr/.
Very informative & saw lots of sites in the town and surrounding area.
He was a child during WW2 so he may not be doing tours anymore. Bon voyage!
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7499 posts
We too had a rental car, but we rented in Brussels since Bastogne was just a portion of a longer trip.
Posted by
3536 posts
The Battle of the Bulge was largest land battle by area in the history of the U.S. Army. There is no one "battlefield" you can visit,.
Posted by
Alsenborn, Germany
1789 posts
I drove over to Bastogne yesterday on my way back from Sedan. It was late, and i stopped to buy some wine, so I didn't spend a lot of time, just a few hours. The Bastogne Barracks looked interesting, but obviously set up for tourists (which are a major part of the local economy). I only went to the Bastogne War Museum, which is more general than the one battle specific. It does not detail out the battle, concentrating more on the entire war. It's also a multimedia presentation more than a museum. I was disappointed. The access to the museum also comes with access to a portion of the remaining lines, where you can still see foxholes. Having dug a few myself that was not an attraction to me. But, just from my driving around, I can only say you would need a car and possibly a guide to get a good idea of the lines of battle.
Note that the monument, which is near the museum, is closed for restoration (which will take a couple years) so you cannot climb to the top.
I've been to St Vith, and it's impossible to find much of the battlefield and any monuments without a map and a car. Likewise most of the other places involved in the Battle of the Bulge. The Ardennes remain a difficult place to navigate, the Belgian roads are worse than the French, and it's all rural.