Ww2 Battlefields & Christmas Markets
- Duration: 5 days
- Board Basis: Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Ref: D2TLEG5MSW
Holiday Summary
- Travel Type: Coach
PLEASE NOTE: Price is per person and based on two people sharing a twin/double room. Single room supplements and upgrades are not included.
Itinerary
5-Day Itinerary
Day 1
Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to our hotel in Germany for a four-night stay.
Day 2 - Battle of the Bulge & Hasselt
We travel into Belgium today to discuss the last German Offensive in the West in December 1944, known as The Battle of the Bulge. Here we look at the story of the Malmedy Massacre, seeing the memorial, follow the route of German forces to La Gleize and see the King Tiger Tank there, and at Manhay see an original Panther tank from the fighting there in 1944. Later we go to Hasselt for the classic Christmas market.
Meals - Breakfast
Day 3 - Band of Brothers & Valkenburg
We begin on the River Maas, where the fighting took place during the winter of 1944/45. See a Buffalo amphibious vehicle, the type used in many amphibious operations in Europe during this period – now a memorial.
We then continue to the Netherlands American Cemetery and visit the graves of men from Easy Company – the ‘Band of Brothers’ – and also discuss the ‘Monuments Men’ who tried to save art stolen and looted by the Nazis, seeing the grave of one of them. In the afternoon, we go to Valkenburg to see the traditional Christmas market.
Meals - Breakfast
Day 4 - Siegfried Line & Aachen
This morning we begin on the remnants of the Siegfried Line, or the Westwall as the Germans called it. Built before the war to protect the borders of Nazi Germany, it was breached by American soldiers in this sector in September 1944. We see some of the Dragon’s Teeth defences here which stretch across the fields.
We then continue to the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery where the dead from the Battle of the Bulge and the fighting at Aachen are located, and we also visit the memorial to the US 1st Division: The Big Red One. Returning to Aachen, we discuss the fighting for the city and then have time for the Christmas markets in the city around the Cathedral and Market Square area.
Meals - Breakfast
Day 5
Return home.
Meals - Breakfast