Verdun

I did a full day at Verdun and it was all that I wanted to do there.
You can do it on your own. The town is not large, but I remember good dining was available.

Rick Steves posted this for guidance:
To get a good overview, start at the Verdun Memorial Museum, which delivers gripping exhibits about the battle (with lots of information in English). The museum is rich in artifacts and works to pair German and French objects; for example, you'll see a circa 1916 loaded-up German rucksack right next to a French one.
In one part of the museum, a battlefield replica — complete with mud, shells, trenches, and WWI military equipment — is visible through the glass floor. You can learn about medical help in the trenches and leaps in technology (from X-ray machines to machine guns with synchronized firing, which prevented bullets from hitting airplane propeller blades). I found out that the majority of injuries in this battle weren't caused by machine-gun bullets, but by shrapnel: Every time an artillery shell exploded, jagged bits of the shell's casing sprayed like buckshot. On both sides, most men died without ever seeing the enemy.
Another key sight for visitors is Fort Douaumont, just northeast of Verdun. Constructed in 1885, the fort was the most important stronghold among 38 hilltop fortifications that protected France from a German invasion. Built on top of and into the hillside, it ultimately served as a strategic command center for both Germany and France at various times. Soldiers were protected by a thick layer of sand (to muffle explosions) and a wall of concrete five to seven feet thick. Visitors today can experience these corridors, where soldiers were forced to live like moles, scurrying through two miles of cold, damp hallways.
Visitors can also climb to the bombed-out top of the fort to see the round, iron gun emplacements that could rise and revolve. The massive central gun turret was state-of-the-art in 1905, antiquated in 1915, and essentially useless by the time the war arrived in 1916. From the perch at the top, looking out at fields leading to Germany and imagining the carnage in that horrible battle is an unforgettable experience. On the battlefield nearby, a young French officer named Charles de Gaulle was wounded; he spent the next 32 months as a German POW.
The nearby Douaumont Ossuary is the tomb of unknown French and German soldiers who perished in Verdun's muddy trenches. In the years after the war, a local bishop wandered through fields of bones — the remains of about 130,000 unidentified soldiers. Concluding that they deserved a respectful final resting place, he began raising money for the project — which was officially inaugurated in 1927. The building has 46 granite vaults, each holding remains from different sectors of the battlefield. The unusual artillery-shell-shaped tower and cross design of this building symbolizes war…and peace (imagine a sword plunged into the ground up to its hilt).

Since Verdun is so small, we’ve opted to stay in Metz for our upcoming trip and will make the one hour drive to the battlefield area. Metz had more options for hotels and more restaurants.