During this 10-night, 11-day tour we travel the length of Europe from Normandy to the Elbe following American forces as they fight alongside their allies to liberate Europe from the grip of Nazism. This is a tour that has been carefully crafted to include the most important US sites in this bitter but bravely fought advance: battle sites, fortifications, military cemeteries, memorials, liberated villages and towns, and some the best European military history museums which illuminate the American story. We start on the beaches of Normandy where American might eventually drove German forces into retreat and ensnared large numbers of the enemy at Falaise. At Bastogne and in Luxembourg we learn about the dramatic Battle of the Bulge which caught American forces off guard but led to an Allied victory. At Aachen we tour the first city on German soil to be captured and at Remagen we stand at the exact point where the Americans crossed the Rhine. Visting Buchenwald we hear about the liberation of the camp by US forces and at Torgau we end where those forces linked up with their Soviet allies.

The tour also traces the stories of some of the 2 million US servicemen, from GIs to Generals, who fought and died in this herculean effort, including the celebrated General George S. Patton.

The Normandy landings of 6 June 1944 were the much-anticipated hammer blow against Nazi Europe that the Allies hoped would bring the war to a decisive end. The foothold gained by the 160,000 troops transported across the English Channel on day 1 soon expanded forcing German forces into gradual retreat and by the end of August over 2 million Allied soldiers were in France.

The role of US forces in the invasion was decisive.

At Omaha beach the 1st US Infantry Division fought determinedly against a strong defensive position and at Utah beach the U.S. VII Corps eventually managed to dominate the strategically important Cotentin Peninsula. By August Allied forces were breaking out of the Normandy beachheads forcing the Germans into retreat and encircling 50,000 of their troops in the so-called Falaise pocket. On 1st August the Twelfth United States Army Group was formed which with 1.3 million troops became the main spearhead for the Allied advance across central France into the rapidly weakening Reich.

By the Autumn of 1944 the Allies had stalled at the formidable Siegfried Line (Westwall) and American forces began a bloody battle in the Hurtgen Forest in a bid to breach it. On 16th December German Army Group B launched the surprise Ardennes Offensive, Hitler’s last gamble to defeat the Allies and negotiate a peace in Germany’s favour. German forces pushed through the relatively inexperienced American units creating the ‘bulge’ that gave the famous battle its name. By the end of the month the advance ground to a halt in the face of the spirited American defence of the towns of Bastogne and St Vith and changing weather conditions. Winston Churchill called the Battle of the Bulge 'undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war'.

By early 1945 German forces were in disarray and the end of the Reich in sight. On 7th March the US First Army crossed the Rhine at Remagen establishing a solid bridgehead on the other side. The Twelfth Army expanded its operations trapping 300,000 troops from German Army Group B in the Ruhr pocket. By April the Americans had reached the Elbe and on 25 April a Lieutenant of the U.S. 69th Infantry Division crossed the river near Torgau to meet with a unit of the Soviet 58th Guards Rifle Division. With this meeting the German Reich had been severed in two and the war in Europe was soon to reach its end

Day 1
Assemble: Fly to or meet at Paris Charles de Gaule airport. Meet coach and drive to Normandy for our exploration of the Operation Overlord sites. Stop briefly at the famous Pegasus Bridge which, although associated with the British, is a highly important site in the Overlord story. Continue to our hotel in the Bayeux area for three nights. Welcome drinks and introductory talk. (D).

Day 2
The American Sector 1 – Omaha: Our tour starts with the outstanding American involvement in the dramatic events of 6 June 1944 at Omaha Beach. To put the day in context we start by visiting the excellent Overlord Museum at Colleville-sur-Mer which illuminates the events through a combination of exhibits, dioramas and immersion technology. We then move to the beach itself where we study the bloody battle to establish a beachhead there on the morning of the 6th. We will also visit the remarkable German battery at Pointe Du Hoc, an area preserved largely as it was in 1944. We end the day at the poignant site of the American National Cemetery and memorial at St Laurent. (B, D).

Day 3
The American Sector 2 – Utah: Today we travel to the historic town of Ste-Mere-Eglise where US airborne troops landed in the early hours of 6th in what were the first Allied actions of Operation Overlord. Here we visit the Airborne Museum where we get a superb insight into the strategic importance of the Cotentin Peninsula and the highly risky nature of paratrooper warfare. We then move on to the La Fiere causeway, scene of a desperate four-day struggle to establish control over a critical crossing of the River Merderet. Our tour continues to Utah Beach where the US VII Corps fought to establish a beachhead before they attacked the strategic crossroads at Ste-Mere-Eglise. On our journey back to Bayeux we stop at the German war cemetery at La Cambe where German tank ace, Michael Wittmann, and 12,000 of his comrades are buried. (B, D).

Day 4
The Falaise Pocket: We leave the Normandy coast to travel inland to the town of Falaise to explore the dramatic events of August 1944 when 100,00 troops from German Army Group B were hemmed in by Allied armies. The 90th American Infantry Division played a key role in this action. We visit the Moissy Ford, known as the ‘corridor of death, where thousands of Germans escaped from the pocket contracting around them and the Memorial Museum Montmorel, on the very spot where the pocket was closed on 21 August. Drive to Reims and our hotel for the night. (B, D).

Day 5
Reims and Bastogne: This morning we visit the Surrender Room in General Eisenhower’s former headquarters in Reims where the Nazis signed the document of unconditional surrender to the Americans at 2.41 a.m. on 7 May 1945. From here we continue to Bastogne in Belgium where we spend the afternoon enjoying the remarkable Bastogne War Museum. Here we engage with a range of innovative exhibits which provide a superb introduction to the Battle of the Bulge and the dramatic siege of Bastogne. Before proceeding to our hotel we visit the nearby Bunker Assenois where tanks under the command of Lieutenant Charles Boggess of the U.S. 37th Tank Battalion first made contact with American forces besieged within Bastogne. Hotel in Bastogne – 3 nights. (B, D).

Day 6
The Battle of the Bulge: A full day touring the main sites associated with the battle north of Bastogne. We visit Bois Jacques and the foxholes dug by ‘Easy’ Company of the 101st Airborne Division (the ‘Band of Brothers’), the Recogne-Bastogne German Cemetery, the battles around the strategically important town of St Vith and the site of the Malmedy Massacre at Baugnez where 84 American prisoners of war were killed by members of the 1st SS Panzer Division. We then follow the route of this notorious Division, commanded by Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper, and its last stand at La Gleize. Return to Bastogne. (B, D).

Day 7
The Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg: We travel into Luxembourg to visit the site of Schumannseck where the 26th “Yankee” Infantry Division fought an intense and bloody three-week battle to help break the encirclement of Bastogne. Stopping briefly at the ‘martyr city’ of Wiltz we continue to Ettelbruck, liberated by the 80th American Infantry Division on 25 December 1944. Here we visit the General Patton Memorial Museum where we discover more about Patton and America’s role in the liberation of the country. We visit the nearby Patton Monument before moving on to the National Museum of Military History at Dikrech where we learn more about the battle through an extensive collection of weapons, uniforms, wheeled- and tracked vehicles, photographs, documents and maps. Return to Bastogne. (B, D).

Day 8
Hürtgenwald and Aachen: We leave Bastogne and travel north into Germany to explore the battle of the Hürtgenwald Forest, a bitter precursor to the Bulge. At the Hürtgenwald Museum we gain an appreciation of the challenges faced by the US First Army as it fought in densely wooded terrain in what became the second longest battle the US Army has ever fought. We then move to the nearby Vossenack German cemetery where some of the many German soldiers killed in the battle are buried. Our journey continues to Aachen on a route where we see remarkable evidence of the formidable German defensive Siegfried Line, including rows of Dragon’s Teeth anti-tank obstacles. After checking in to our hotel in Aachen we embark on a guided walk of the city where we learn about the Battle of Aachen, one of the longest and toughest urban battles of the entire war. The liberation of the city by the US First Army on 21 October 1944 made Aachen the first city on German soil to be captured by the Allies. Hotel in Aachen – 1 night. (B, D).

Day 9
The bridge at Remagen: We leave Aachen following the route of US forces as they pushed eastward through Germany. At Remagen we stop at the Peace Museum on the site of the Ludendorff Bridge captured on 7 March 1945 by soldiers of the 9th ‘US Panzer Division’. Hotel in Weimar – 1 night. (B, D).

Day 10
Buchenwald and Torgau: Today we travel to the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp where between 1937 and 1945 over 56,000 prisoners died from poor treatment or execution. On 11 April 1945 the camp was overrun by the US 6th Armoured Division. We continue to Torgau and the Spirit of the Elbe Memorial commemorating the link-up between US and Soviet forces in April 1945. US forces were not to advance beyond the Elbe and we too end our tour here. Drive to Berlin and our hotel for the night. (B, D).

Day 11
Depart: Travel to Berlin Brandenburg Airport for flights home or perhaps extend your stay in Berlin with our suggested extension. (B).