Russ

I'll have several days here in early June to visit some WWII sites and do a little hiking. Which of the several museums and memorials did you find the most interesting? There are quite a few, but I'm not sure I'll want to see all of them. I am considering Diekirch, Bastogne, LaRoche, Henri Chapelle, and Irrel's Katzenkopf. I hope to hear from any of you who have been in the region and have comments on these or other sites. Thanks!

Al

Last September we spent about 10 days in that region, visiting several military cemeteries while looking for the graves of old friends. The only museum about WW2 that we visited was the large one at Bastogne. It is quite well done. The cemetery of Henri Chapelle, in our opinion, occupies the most beautiful site in lovely, rolling farm country. The largest cemeteries that are near each other are the American and German cemeteries near Hamm, just outside Luxembourg City. We used a small town in SE Belgium as a base (staying in a farmhouse B&B) before heading north to Holland where we saw Henri Chapelle and the U.S. cemetery nearby at Margraten, between Maastricht and Aachen.

Russ

Thanks for the tips, Al. Do you think I should plan on an entire day in Bastogne to see the museum and the battleground areas, or is would it be good to work in a drive over to Hamm on that day as well? I like to stay active most of the day - just not sure how long a visit to Bastogne really requires. <BR> <BR>Anyone else with thoughts on these places?

Al

We arrived in Bastogne around 9 a.m. and found the museum in a few minutes; it is on the outskirts, next to the big Battle of the Bulge monument. In all, I suppose we were there two hours before heading north toward Liege.

BillJ

Heading for Benelux countries, and have 2 full days for the Ardennes. I would have liked more, but. . . <BR> <BR>Generally, heading north to south, beginning in the Liege area and ending up in Trier, I would like to see St Vith, La Roche, Bastogne, Wiltz, the castles at Clervaux and Vianden, Diekirk, Echternach, Luxembourg City. Is this too ambitious? It appears things are fairly compact, but I am not sure of driving times. <BR> <BR>Thanks anyone.

Al

BillJ: The Michelin Green Guide to Belgium/Luxembourg will give you a lot of good information, suggest things to see, and help you find points of interest. It can save you a lot of time and enhance your trip a lot. We used it continuously during our trip.

btilke

Hi Russ, we spent a week in the Ardennes in Feb. We didn't visit the WW II sites, but did drive all around the area. You might want to spend a couple of hours in Monschau, a very pretty little town just over the German border. I'd wander around Liege a bit, too. <BR>Where are you planning to stay? We rented a 300-year-old stone chalet in the farm country between Malmedy and St. Vith. It cost us $300 for the week, plus another $150 for phone, water and heat (it was a very cold week--we got several inches of snow!). <BR>Keep you ear to the radio for any farm protests affecting traffic. We got stuck on the E40 behind a farm protest; tractors blocked the road and it took us 5 hours to go 50 km. <BR>Btilke