D-Day to the Rhine

Day-By-Day Itinerary

DAY 1 Overnight Flight to London

Book your overnight flight the day before you'd like to arrive in London.

DAY 2 London

Arrive in London on the morning of Day 2 and check into the hotel where the entire group will gather for an evening welcome reception. Our historian will treat us to our first lecture, with introductions all around.

DAY 3 London

The morning will feature key sites in London that figured prominently in the War. We then proceed to the Churchill War Rooms, the underground nerve center for Britain's war effort. We will also visit the Imperial War Museum, which houses authentic examples of World War II weaponry, tanks, and aircraft and an exhibit of WWI trench warfare. We will have free time to enjoy London in the evening.

DAY 4 Portsmouth

Depart London for Bletchley Park where we will visit the nerve center for intelligence used in the Allied War effort, code name Ultra. Here we will see the place where the Enigma machine is housed and where the cyphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted during the war.

This afternoon we will tour Southwick House, the advance command post of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. In the months leading up to D-Day in 1944, the house became the headquarters of the main Allied commanders, including Naval Commander-In-Chief Admiral Ramsay, Allied Supreme Commander General Eisenhower, and the Army Commander-In-Chief General Montgomery.

DAY 5 - 8 Normandy

Following breakfast, we will board the cross-channel ferry and embark for Normandy as the troops did in 1944. For the next few days, site visits in Normandy will include:

• Ste-Mere-Eglise, one of the villages where the American Airborne descended on D-Day. Here we will view and explore the iconic church where John Steele and his landing on the steeple are memorialized.
• We also visit La Fiere Bridge where the 82nd Airborne successfully delayed a German Panzer counter-attack against the Allied landing forces.
• We will study The Longest Day at Brécourt Manor where Lt. Dick Winters with members of Easy Company successfully silenced German artillery firing on American troops landing at Utah Beach.
• We will visit Utah Beach itself, where the 4th Division landed, and the Invasion Museum that depicts their heroics.
• We will stop at Ste-Marie-du-Mont where still stands the unique Renaissance-style steeple used as an observation post by the Germans.
• We will proceed to the town of Carentan where we will follow the exact steps taken by American Paratroopers during the Battle of Normandy.
•  A visit to Pointe-du-Hoc, where Rudder's Rangers scaled the cliffs to neutralize German heavy guns defending the expanse of beaches on D-Day.
• Omaha Beach where the Americans landed and faced the strongest German resistance of the day and incurred the greatest losses. We will walk the beach and visit some of the German defense fortifications. We explore these sands from the tide's ebb to the distant dunes to understand the emotions of the young soldiers of the 1st and 29th Divisions as they approached the gates of hell.
• We will pay our respects at the American Cemetery with its 9387 American soldiers' graves stretching along the top of the bluff overlooking the beach.
• We will view the battery at Longues-sur-Mer, a fine example of the great defenses that made up Hitler's Atlantic Wall.
• We will proceed along the British Beaches to Pegasus Bridge where the first shots were fired on D-Day. Here the British Sixth Airborne led by Major John Howard with a miraculous glider landing carried out a surprise attack that yielded great success in overtaking this crucial bridge across the Caen Canal.

DAY 9 On the Road

After a half day of final site visits in Normandy,  we work our way to the Netherlands with an overnight in eastern France.

DAY 10 Arnhem

After breakfast, we begin our study of Operation Market Garden, the early attempt by the Allied forces to strike directly for Berlin. Control of the bridges at Eindhoven, Nijmegen, and Arnhem was essential for the push into Germany. We drive Hell's Highway where the 101st and 82nd Airborne broke through to connect with the British in Arnhem. We visit Nijmegen to see the daring crossing of the Waal River by the 82nd Airborne.

From there we proceed to Arnhem where again we cross the "Bridge Too Far." Our historian will recount the desperate three days that the British 1st Airborne under General John Frost held it. Afterward, we finish at the Airborne Museum at Oosterbeek.

DAY 11 The Ardennes

This is where Hitler put everything he had into his final counter-attack in the Ardennes that became the Battle of the Bulge. On December 16, 1944, Lt. Lyle Bouck was one of the first people to see the German columns coming. We'll make our first stop in the Ardennes at Lanzereth, the town where Bouck and a platoon of 19 men held off a full-strength German SS Battalion under the infamous Joachim Peiper for an entire day. Well visit the American positions and hear their story, a breathtaking tale of heroism.

On December 17, 1944, the second day of the offensive, the Germans had several breakthroughs and many Americans surrendered near the town of Malmedy. Outside the town, Peiper's SS lined up about 150 GIs and fired at them point-blank. Less than half escaped alive. We will view the site of the massacre and the American Memorial at Malmedy. From there, we have a scenic drive through the Ardennes Mountains to our evening lodging.

DAY 12 Luxembourg

We continue our study of the Battle of the Bulge.  After breakfast, we drive to Bastogne where the Americans rallied and stopped the German attack. Here we will view the route of the initial American retreat and the place where the 101st Airborne and elements of the 10th Armored Division held off fifteen German divisions for six days. Our group will visit key sites in and around this historic crossroads town. We will also go to General McAuliffe's HQ where he replied to German surrender demands with one word: "NUTS." After our visit, it is a short ride to Luxembourg. This afternoon affords some relaxing free time in the center of this bustling but charming old-world city.

DAY 13 Frankfurt

We drive to nearby Hamm and the American cemetery and the site of General George S. Patton's grave. America's foremost WWII field general rests here among his men.

We'll drive to the Siegfried Line to see remnants of the German communication trenches, pillboxes, and dragon's teeth that American GIs fought so hard to take in late 1944. This evening we gather for a farewell dinner and discussion after an enriching campaign into history.

DAY 14 Flight Home

Early morning departure to the Frankfurt International Airport.

Post-Tour - DAY 1 Nuremberg

(Day 14)

We continue our journey toward the Bavarian Alps, stopping first in the historic city of Nuremberg, where Hitler staged his infamous Nazi rallies and the International Tribunal conducted the Nuremberg Trials. After lunch in the picturesque market center dominated by the Frauenkirche, we will tour the Nazi Party Rally Grounds and visit the Nuremberg Trials Courtroom 600.

Post-Tour - DAY 2 Munich

(Day 15)

We continue south through Bavaria toward Munich, first stopping to visit Dachau, the site of some of the most nefarious acts against humankind during the war. In total, over 200,000 prisoners from more than 30 countries were confined in Dachau: notably Jews, resistance fighters, clergymen, politicians, communists, writers, artists, and royalty. The second camp liberated by Anglo-American forces, Dachau was one of the first places where the West was exposed to Nazi brutality. After lunch in a traditional Munich restaurant, we’ll enjoy a city tour of Munich before checking into a hotel in the heart of Munich, our base for our final two days.

Post-Tour - DAY 3 Munich

(Day 16)

The day includes a city tour of Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg where we will visit the Eagle’s Nest and the remains of the vast Nazi Party complex liberated by the Allies in May 1945. Eagle’s Nest was built as a 50th birthday present to Hitler from the Nazi Party. Perched at 6017 feet, the complex and road network leading to it were considered feats of engineering genius as they were completed in only 13 months in 1937-1938. For our final night, we will reflect on our journey and enjoy the camaraderie of a farewell dinner.

Post-Tour - DAY 4 Flights Home

(Day 17)

Morning transfer to Munich Airport (MUC).