Battle of the Bulge tours with a permitted Bastogne guide
A Battle of the Bulge tour covers the German offensive that broke through the Ardennes on 16 December 1944 and was fought across Belgium and Luxembourg through the winter into January 1945. It was the largest battle the United States Army fought in the Second World War, and the ground it covered is far too wide to see in a single day.
So every tour here picks a part of the battle. Below are the four routes most visitors choose between. Each one is private, and each can be changed around the units, the men or the family history you want to follow.
Bastogne and the 101st Airborne
Bastogne is where most people start. The Mardasson Memorial, dedicated on 16 July 1950, stands on the hill above the town. Bastogne Barracks, the Bastogne War Rooms and the 101st Airborne Museum — housed in the former officers’ mess of the Belgian Army — tell the story of the siege from inside the perimeter.
Around the town, the tour follows the 101st Airborne on the ground: the positions of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the civilians caught in the fighting, and the two Belgian nurses, Augusta Chiwy and Renée Lemaire, who volunteered for the 10th Armored Division. The Easy Company part of this story has its own page: the Band of Brothers tour in Bastogne.
The northern shoulder and Kampfgruppe Peiper
The battle began in the north. At Losheimergraben we cross into Germany to see the Dragon’s Teeth of the West Wall and stop at Purple Heart Corner, where the attack opened on the morning of 16 December.
At Lanzerath, eighteen men of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of the 99th Infantry Division held off a far larger German force for a full day, delaying Kampfgruppe Peiper. At Wereth, eleven African-American soldiers of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion were murdered after they had surrendered. In the twin villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath, the 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions fought to hold the road west.
Depending on time, the route continues to Elsenborn Ridge, to the Baugnez crossroads near Malmedy, to the King Tiger tank that still stands in La Gleize, and to Parker’s Crossroads. The full route is on the Northern Shoulder private tour page.
Patton's Third Army and the southern Ardennes
In the south, the story turns to the relief of Bastogne. The route passes the monuments of the 4th Armored Division near Vaux-sur-Sûre, General Irzyk Park and the Medal of Honor monument to Paul J. Wiedorfer, before crossing into Luxembourg.
In Luxembourg the day can take in the Luxembourg American Cemetery, where General Patton is buried, the German war cemetery at Sandweiler with its 10,913 graves, Clervaux Castle — where the 110th Infantry Regiment was surrounded between 16 and 18 December 1944 — and the National Museum of Military History in Diekirch. The route is described on the Patton tour through Luxembourg page.
A custom Ardennes route, or two days
If you already know what you want to see, the day is built around that. Frequent additions are the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, where nearly 8,000 Americans are buried; the Ardennes American Cemetery at Neupré, where around two-thirds of the 5,162 burials are airmen of the US Army Air Forces; the 82nd Airborne sites at Werbomont and Bra; and the German Panther tank at Houffalize. For those going further, the Hürtgen Forest lies just across the German border.
Several of these combine well over two days in the Ardennes. The American cemeteries are run by the American Battle Monuments Commission, and their burial search is the place to start if a relative is buried there. How that search works is explained on the page about visiting a war grave in Belgium.
Battle of the Bulge tour from Brussels
Most guests start from Brussels. Pickup is from your hotel, the train station or the airport, usually at 08:30, and the day lasts roughly eight to ten hours. The start time can move to match your arrival — a train into a regional station, for example. The itinerary and pickup options are set out on the Battle of the Bulge tour from Brussels page.
I am an official and permitted guide at the Battle of the Bulge sites in Bastogne, a former First Sergeant of the Belgian Army Airborne, and I have been guiding these battlefields since 2014, in English, Dutch, French and German. Transport is included; the basis for pricing is on the page about battlefield tour prices in Belgium.
Call +32 497 645 645 or email peter@battlefields1.com.
Battle of the Bulge tours — common questions
Which Battle of the Bulge tour should I choose?
For the 101st Airborne and Band of Brothers, Bastogne. For the opening of the offensive and Kampfgruppe Peiper, the northern shoulder. For Patton and the relief of Bastogne, the southern route through Luxembourg.
Can I visit in winter?
Yes. A December or January visit shows the ground in the conditions the men fought in. Days are short, so the route is planned around the light.
Can Bastogne and Flanders Fields be seen on one trip?
On the same trip, yes; on the same day, not comfortably. They are around three hours apart.
Can the tour follow a particular division?
Yes. Send the division, regiment or company and the route is built around where it fought.
Is there a two-day option?
Yes. Two days allow Bastogne and the northern shoulder, or Bastogne and Luxembourg, without rushing either.