Here is my 10-day driving-based itinerary for a visit to Belgium and France with a focus on WWII history and castles! I completed this itinerary with my mom and some extended family members in late April-early May 2015. At this point, I had been studying abroad in France since January 2015 in the northern city of Lille. Other than wanting to visit me, the primary focus of the trip was for mom to see WWII sights in Normandy. I opted to add the Loire Valley to our itinerary after hearing so much about it from friends in France. I am glad we did! It happened that flights for all of my family members were cheaper flying into Brussels (and I was close to Belgium), but we easily could easily have flown to Paris and completed most of this itinerary as well. Since we were already flying into Belgium, we opted to spend a few days exploring.
Because of the time of year, we did experience some light rain most days but it was not enough to impact our itinerary. The weather was comfortable and we wore jackets every day. At the time of our travel, crowds were not very bad. Because we were a larger number (7 people total) it was sometimes hard to find seating at restaurants, so if you are traveling with a similar number just remember to be flexible. We also rented two cars for the trip to make sure everyone was comfortable.
Day 1: Arrive to Brussels, Belgium
My mom departed from the US and arrived to Brussels late in the evening. Since I was coming from France, I took the train up and met her at the airport. The rest of my extended family took an overnight flight that would arrive the following morning. My mom and I opted to spend the night at the Holiday Inn hotel near the airport.
Day 2: Brussels
For the start of our second day, while waiting for the rest of our family to arrive, my mom and I picked up a rental car from the airport and moved our stuff to our new accommodations more centrally located: the lovely Warwick Brussels.
After checking in, we jumped right into site-seeing: the Grand Place, Palais de Justice, St Michael Cathedral, and the Manneken Pis. I don't care how cheesy it is, but we loved the Manneken Pis and the different costumes it wore each day. We also opted for a delicious chocolate tour late in the afternoon! We packed a lot in, but Brussels is a pretty small city.
Day 3: Day Trips
Because we had fit in so much site seeing the day before, we opted to spend this day doing day trips. We all bought train tickets day of and were fine, but this was also late April (not a huge tourist time). My extended family went to Bruges on a 1-hour train ride and stopped at the midpoint of Ghent on the way back. I had previously been to Bruges before and adored it! My family also loved the Gravensteen castle in Ghent.
My mom and I opted to go a bit farther--a 2-hour train ride--to Cologne, Germany. My mom's family is all German and this was her first time in Europe in a long time. Unsure of when she would be back, she wanted to step foot in the country of her ancestors while she could! The weather was a bit rainy while we were there, but we enjoyed walking around the charming town and seeing the magnificent Cologne Cathedral. We climbed to the top (588 exhausting steps!) for the panoramic views and got to see the largest church bell in the world.
Day 4: Bayeux, France
Today was primarily a driving day to take us from Brussels to Normandy, France. We opted to use Bayeux as our base in the region, which was about a 5-hour drive. Bayeux is a historic commune situated on the river with a beautiful, medieval town center. We opted to complete the drive straight through without any stops, but if you needed a break I would recommend Lille! I lived here for 4 months and the town center is very colorful and walkable. Additional possibilities are Amiens, which has a stunning cathedral, and Rouen, which is where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake (and is also home to amazing cathedrals and medieval timbered houses).
Once we arrived to Bayeux, we checked into our hotel: the charming Villa Lara. Bayeux is probably most known as the home to the Bayeux Tapestry. This tapestry depicts the story of William the Conqueror in 1066 prior to his conquest of England, culminating in a depiction of the Battle of Hastings. The tapestry is from the 11th century and depicts over 58 scenes over a length of 224 feet. It is amazing that something like this has survived all these centuries, and in such great condition! (no photos allowed, though) We spent the rest of our day exploring the village.
Day 5: WWII Normandy
The primary reason for our entire trip was to see WWII history in Normandy, particularly those sites relevant to the 101st Airborne, Easy Company depicted in Band of Brothers. My family rewatches this amazing mini-series frequently--it is so well done. We were very excited to find a Band of Brothers full-day tour with Overlord Tours. My entire family really enjoyed this tour, and even though some had not seen the tv show, the tour takes you to all of the primary spots relevant for D-Day history. Among the stops were: Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery of Colleville, Pointe du Hoc, Sainte-Mère-Eglise, and Carentan.
One of our favorite stops on the tour was actually not featured in Band of Brothers, but was the sight of amazing feats of bravery: Pointe du Hoc. Here, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion completed an impressive assault by scaling a 100-foot cliff. Sainte-Mère-Eglise was also a super interesting stop, which was a key landing site on D-Day for securing a main road; despite it being an objective assigned to the 82nd Airborne, the first paratroopers to land there were members of the 101st Airborne. The village is most known for a parachute on top of its steeple to commemorate a paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne who got stuck there while landing; he hung there for two hours while pretending to be dead until the Germans took him prisoner (but he did escape).
Day 6: Mont Saint-Michel
While still using Bayeux as our base, there were multiple options for our day: continue with WWII history, or explore the famous island commune of Mont Saint-Michel. We opted for the latter, but some options if we chose the former were: the D-Day Museum at Arromanches Beaches, the British WWII Museum in Caen, or a visit the American Cemetery in Brittany.
Mont Saint-Michel was my favorite stop on the trip, and one of my most favorite in all of Europe! The island is about a half-mile from shore and is surrounded by the highest tides in all of Europe. And quicksand! There is not much that beats driving along the French shoreline to see this beautiful island rising from the tides. It took us about 1.5-hours to drive from Bayeux. Upon arrival, there is a (slightly expensive) parking lot on the shore; from here you can either take a shuttle or walk about 45-minutes to the island's entrance. Entry to the island is free and exploring its tiny, winding streets is nothing short of magical. At the top of the island is the Abbey, which does require you to purchase a ticket. This remains one of the coolest place I have ever explored! Your ticket allows you access to the entire Abbey, letting you explore all its enchanting corners. It felt like I was in a movie with its towering columns, tucked away courtyards, and expansive views. Mont Saint-Michel is France's top visitor attraction outside of Paris, and for very good reason; despite this, when we were there, there was not an overwhelming amount of visitors. We returned to our car around dinner and stopped by the convenient (slightly expensive) restaurant next to the lot, which was appreciated as there was not much else in the area.
Day 7: Loire Valley
Our next stop on the trip was the Loire Valley, the garden of France, where many of France's royalty maintained royal residences to escape Paris. Also well-known for its extensive wine vineyards, the valley has over 300 castles to explore. We chose our base as Amboise, a 3 hour drive from Bayeux.
Amboise is a beautiful commune situated on the Loire River, not far from the larger town of Tours. We stayed at the charming Hôtel Restaurant Le Clos d'Amboise, where we also enjoyed several delicious meals. Unfortunately myself and another family member were sick this day; so while we stayed back at the hotel, others went to explore nearby wineries and meander through the town. Amboise Castle dominates the town's skyline and boasts a lot of rich history: Leonardo da Vinci frequented the castle (and is supposedly buried here), and Henry II and his wife, Catherine de' Medici, raised their children here alongside Mary Stuart, the child Queen of Scotland. I hope to one day come back and tour this castle!
Day 8: Loire Valley
For my family, this was castle day! At the time of our visit, we did not pre-book any tickets or go with a guided tour. Most of the castles offered audio guides, which we took advantage of, and the signage was good at all three. There are so many castles (chateaus) in the area that it was hard to choose, but the most famous--and our first stop--was Chambord. This castle was about a 50-minute drive from Amboise and was actually a hunting retreat for Francis I, who maintained his royal residences in Amboise and our next castle stop. It is rumored that Leonardo da Vinci even helped with its design, with many attributing the interior's notable double-spiral staircase to him. It also served as the inspiration for the castle in Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast! Since it was a hunting lodge, its grounds are vast and breathtaking. We loved exploring this castle!
After finishing up at Chambord, 20 minutes back towards town is the Chateau de Blois. This castle has a cool display of four different architectural styles across its several buildings: Medieval, Gothic, Renaissance, and Classical. Joan of Arc also received a blessing here prior to her campaign towards Orleans. It's a beautiful castle filled with period art pieces and is a bit easier and faster to digest since it is located in the town of Blois and therefore does not also have sprawling grounds.
Afterwards, we drove 45 minutes to our favorite castle: Chateau de Chenonceau. This castle was originally built around 1522 on the foundations of an old mill and was later extended to span the river. The interior is beautifully maintained and full of interesting pieces of art and history. We loved learning about all the women who were instrumental in the architectural and landscaping designs of this property! Over the years, it had several interesting occupants, including Henry II's mistress, who was later kicked out by his wife Catherine de' Medici after his death. Catherine then spent a fortune decorating the place and hosted lots of wild parties for her son, the future King Francis II. During WWI, the castle was opened up to care for injured soldiers. During WWII, the castle was occupied by the Germans and was one of the few "bridges" spanning the river Cher, which ultimately saved it from destruction and allowed people to cross from the Nazi-occupied zone to the "free" zone on the opposite bank. The grounds and gardens here are marvelous and we enjoyed the on-site restaurant for a later lunch. Returning back to Amboise was only a 15 minute drive. Other castles we considered were: Chateau de Chaumont (really wish we could have gone here!) and Chateau de Cheverny.
Day 9: Return to Brussels
We needed to return to the Brussels Holiday Inn by the airport for our flights the next day, but you could easily fly out from Paris as well. The drive was about 5.5 hours and we opted to break it up with a stop at the Palace of Versailles. The opulence of this castle is overwhelming, our jaws were open the entire time! The Hall of Mirrors was particularly exquisite. It was raining so we did not explore the grounds much, but really enjoyed Marie Antoinette's retreat: the Petit Trianon. Finishing up our drive, we stopped for a quick dinner in Lille so I could show my family where I had been living.
Day 10: Depart Brussels
Depart in the morning.
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