The Maginot Line

Itinerary

• Day 1

  Local departure by coach, then to the Liège area and our overnight hotel.

• Day 2 - Eben Emael & Fort d’Aubin-Neufchâteau

  We begin this fortifications tour in Belgium and see the 1930s Liege forts used to defend Belgium against the Blitzkrieg. We start at Eben Emael, assaulted by German Airborne troops in gliders; we have a full tour of the site here. After lunch we see the heavily fought over Fort d’Aubin-Neufchâteau, completely surrounded in May 1940; here we take a guided tour of the fort, seeing the extensive damage caused in 1940. We then travel through the Belgian Ardennes, scene of the Blitzkrieg in May 1940, and into France to our hotel were we stay for the next three nights.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 3 - Ouvrage Fermont & Villy la Ferté

  Today we start our look at the Maginot Line at Ouvrage Fermont. This massive system of bunkers and tunnels came under attack in May 1940 and proved how strong the Maginot Line could be. We descend in the original lifts, travel on an old ammunition train and see the fighting bunkers during our morning’s guided tour of the site. In the afternoon we see Villy la Ferté, a smaller Maginot Line complex that saw heavy fighting in May 1940. The site has been left as it was, with anti-tank rails, barbed wire and bunkers showing wartime damage. We have a fully guided tour around one of the few Maginot sites that saw heavy fighting.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 4 - Ouvrage Immerhof & Ouvrage Hackenberg

  We continue with our look at the classic Maginot Line locations with a visit to Ouvrage Immerhof. Sited in the Thionville sector, it was built in the early 1930s with an extensive system of infantry and combat bunkers. In an excellent state of preservation we spend the morning visiting the whole site, with 90 minute guided tour and also seeing the museum. In the afternoon we travel to Ouvrage Hackenberg. Set on high ground, this is the largest fortification on the whole Maginot Line and was one part of the line actually held by British troops in 1939/40. We spend two hours underground here seeing what a remarkable state of preservation the site is in, and seeing the many objects connected with the defence of this area. We continue our look at British troops in this area with a visit to the cemetery at Luttange, where the first British soldier killed in WW2 is buried.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 5

  Return home.

  Meals - Breakfast

Accommodation

You will stay for three-nights at the 3-star Ibis Thionville Porte de Luxembourg in Yutz, near Thionville. 

Your overnight stay in Liège will be in a city-style hotel.