Paris - Normandy - Bastogne

I guess it depends if you want to spend any time in Paris itself. Bastogne is way in the opposite direction of Normandy and in another country (not that that matters so much as long as you don't rent your rental car in France and return it in Belgium — you'll normally find that that's much more expensive).

I will say that I have never visited Bastogne. But I'm guessing your interest lies in WWII history. If so, it makes historically chronological sense to visit Bastogne last.

However, your first day will be a wash. Whether you spend it recovering from jet-lag, or simply getting to Normandy, it probably won't leave a lot of time or energy to do much else (my guess is you will get to Normandy mid-afternoon, whether you drive or train). So now you are down to six full days, the last of which should be spent in Paris if that is where you are flying out of. I would think you could fill those days easily with sights just in Normandy (which is a huge area) and Paris.

My too sense...

Hi Pharmer Phil and also Kim

Thank you both for your valuable input.

The 7 days on the ground do not include our arrival day as I knew that would be a wash with jet lag and an overnight in Paris. The 7 day count down begins on our 2nd day in France. It does not include arrival day nor the last 24 hours. So day 1 and day 8 are the Paris days.

Yes, the interest is WW11 so your suggestion to visit last is appreciated. We plan on driving to Normandy for 2 to 3 nights (depending on if we add Bastogne).

Sooo --- if Day 2, 3, and 4 were Normandy, how would we easily (???) get to Bastogne for Day 5 and 6? Day 7 would be transfer back to Paris from Bastogne. We do not have to add Bastogne, we are only trying to understand the feasibility and logistics. A 5+ hour drive is not uncommon for a week-end getaway, so driving from Normandy to Bastogne is do-able for us. We also understand we would not rent a car in France and leave it in Belgium. Is there any type of direct train from Normandy to Bastogne; thereby returning our car in the Normandy area? Then train from Bastogne to Paris? Or, does it make more sense to keep the car and be able to control our own schedule.

Thank you both again!

If we do not include Bastogne, the extra days would be in Paris. I recognize this is an amazing city and not one to be missed, but my preferences lie in countryside and small villages combined with WWII. This is the reason for 1st and last days in Paris and all other days somewhere else.

Hello from a fellow Texan!

We are taking a similar trip in September 2019, but we will be using trains and not driving.

We will spend one night in Paris, and will break up the train ride to Luxembourg by spending one night in Reims to see the Surrender Museum, and drink a little champagne. I haven't decided how we will get to Bastogne from Luxembourg - bus or car service. In Bastogne, we have booked two days of tours with Reg Jans.

https://www.regjans.com/

In Bayeux, we have booked Overlord Tours to see British/Canadian sites, since we've already toured American sites, even though we only scratched the surface of what there is to see.

https://www.overlordtour.com/

Hi Carolynmstone,

You don't mention your dates, maybe you haven't booked your flights yet. If that's the case, I enthusiastically recommend Dale Booth as a private guide to the D-Day sites. He is extremely knowledgeable but books up many months in advance. I just checked the website, there are some dates in August and October available (https://dboothnormandytours.com/).

Hello Marty .... we are traveling in Sept. Thank you for the leads. I will start researching and checking availability.

I've visited Bastogne and it is very moving. However, it doesn't have a train station and the new museum is about a mile out of the city center, so I recommend a car for your visit. It will be a six-hour drive from Bayeux to Bastogne, eating up one of your days. And it's a 3-4 hour drive from Bastogne to CDG. So if your time is limited, perhaps you should consider visiting Bastogne another time.

If you are determined to visit, the new museum is excellent; you could easily spend half a day there. I'd also consider hiring a local guide to take to you battle sites, such as the foxholes dug by Easy Company of "Band of Brothers," which are still there. My father was stationed in Belgium during WWII, so it was very emotional for me to be there. If you have a family connection, it might be worth it.

You have plenty of time to visit Normandy and Bastogne. Halfway between the two worth a stop or a visit are Amiens and Arras. A car is always convenient for visiting out of the way places like WWII sites. I have visited Bastogne several years back, but was too late for a visit to the Bastogne Barracks, the vehicle restoration centre but still think certainly worth a visit. The new museum near the Mardasson Memorial wasn't open at that time, but like T. already says heard good reviews about it. After Bastogne you can drop off the car in Reims and visit the Museum of the Surrender and after that train back to Paris. Even a detour to Luxembourg is to consider for visiting Patton’s grave.

As others have posted you have the time as long as you don’t mind driving. I’ve done a similar itinerary and it was very doable.

In Normandy there are several well reviewed guides. I’ve used Overlord and was pleased. If you want a private guide you might check with Dominique of Destination Normandy. I went on a tour with her when she was with Overlord and she’s now on her own.

In Bastogne we used Roby Clam as our guide and were pleased.

If you take Wil’s suggestion of Luxembourg you’re only another 45 minutes to Ouvrage Hackenberg which is an awesome Maginot Line fort you can tour. For me it was well worth the effort.

On our travel day from Bastogne to Paris we started at the 101st Airborne Museum in Bastogne and then drove to Reims to see the Museum of the Surrender (as Wil and Trayla suggest) before heading to Paris.

You’ll have a great trip.

I haven't looked closely at your driving times and distances to see if this is feasible as a loop -- but you might want to also consider the Luxembourg American cemetery (Patton is buried there). It might just be too far, but keep it in mind if you ever do the Germany/Crossing the Rhine part of the war.

And we were in the Ardennes Forest region a couple years ago, coming from the direction of Bruges, however, not Paris or Normandy -- it's a truly lovely part of Belgium, all of it, and you might want to also add a cave trip. Some villagers hid in caves during bombardment. You can check, but I believe Grotto la Merveilleuse is one that sheltered people during the Bulge offensive.