Bastogne, Belgium, the centerpiece of the Ardennes. For a very long time I’ve wanted to visit the Ardennes. Its steeped place in history has always held a special place in my fascination. The passage through Belgium, from Germany to France, is literally soaked in the blood of past wars. It has a draw to it.
Bastogne, Belgium, is one of those places everyone has heard of, even if you’ve never heard of it. As the landscape for The Battle of the Bulge during World War Two and a prominent location in the Band of Brothers series on HBO, it has become a must stop on any European WW2 tour route. That being said, if you keep your expectations low, you’ll probably have a good time while you’re there.
I’m going to admit two things at the outset. First, (obviously) I went to Bastogne for its World War Two history. And two, I picked the wrong time of year to visit, as I about froze to death while I was there.
When you’ve watched Band of Brothers as many times as I have, then you know they spend some time on a hillside overlooking the town of Foy. This would be such a hillside.
Bastogne itself is your average work-a-day kind of town. The people are friendly and the language barrier is navigable with little effort. Other than its WW2 attachments, it doesn’t really have any great pull to it. As I said above, keep your expectations low.
General Information
Weather: September (2025) in Bastogne is cold and rainy. Or … it was when I was there. Pack some warmer layers and a rain jacket that doesn’t leak at the seams, and you’ll be fine.
Money: It’s Europe, so the Euro is the currency of choice. Truthfully, I used my credit card for most of the big purchases, and had zero problems.
Passport/Visa: I don’t know that Belgium has any specific travel restrictions for your average USA passport holder. I had no issues coming or going from Belgium. If you’re not from the USA, it would probably pay benefits that you check with your county’s state department office or embassy.
Language Barrier:Okay, Bastogne is one of the few places where I’ve run into a little bit of a language barrier. It’s a rural, small town, out in the middle of forrest. As such, people tend to speak the local, and assume that you do as well. All of the major tourist attractions were either completely bilingual or easy enough to navigate. It was the restaurants and local shops where things broke down a little. Just be prepared for it, and go slowly, and you’ll be fine.
Getting In and Out
The train station in Libramont, Belgium. It’s a small and straightforward affair. The bus stop in out on the street, directly in front of the main doors.
I left Amsterdam on the train and headed south. It turned out that the train would only get me within about 30-minutes of Bastogne. If you are traveling this way, you will want to head to the town of Libramont, Belgium. From there, you can catch a bus into Bastogne. The interchange is easy enough to do, and you can buy your ticket directly from the bus driver. As I remember, it was about 4-euros for the bus ticket.
Since I came out of the Netherlands, the train was the right option. I was using an EURail Multi-Country Pass for my entire trip which meant optimizing my number of train trips whenever possible. I like the rail passes. They offer good travel for the money and allow maximum flexibility. Just understand that you have to buy it before you go to Europe, as they don’t sell them inside the EU.
The real way to get to Bastogne is by bus, from about anyway. There are several local, and regional buses that pass through the town. There are also a literal pile of tourist bus tours that go there. There’s no airport close enough to make it worth mentioning. It’s really get close to town however you choose, and then take the bus.
The Headquarters
My stay while in Bastogne was at a place called The Hotel Leo Station et Annexes. It was on the main drag, kind of in the middle of town, and reasonably priced. Frankly, it wasn’t the best choice of stays.
Where the hotel said that they had a limited front desk, the truth of the matter was that they had a non-existent front desk. This wasn’t just my opinion. It was also the opinion of two different British tour groups who seemed unamused with the staff. The breakfast was good, that’s about what I have to say that’s positive.
The rooms were loud with outside noise, and not terribly warm. I turned the heat up as far as it would go, and ended up just climbing into bed to get warm. Frankly, if I ever go back, I’ll definitely stay somewhere else. Did I mention that the breakfast was good?
Bastogne City Highlights
Banging around any foreign city in the rain is a tale of you get whatever level of effort that you put into it. If you make a little effort to dig under the skin of Bastogne, Belgium, I think that you’ll find a perfectly enjoyable place. Where the tone of this blog post is quite subdued, I have to say that I didn’t have abad time in Bastogne. I found the town to be surprisingly enjoyable, just not in the way that I had planned on it being. I guess it’s like that with a lot of places in the world?
To be honest, The whole town is kind of a tourist trap. They get a lot of tour groups coming through to see WW2 sites, and are happy to exploit every dollar/euro out of them that they can. The Le Nut’s restaurant sums up the experience perfectly. (I never ate there. I ate next door at a sandwich stand.)
There are many WW2 museums scattered across Europe. I would argue that the Bastogne War Museum is one of the standouts. It was absolutely worth walking a mile in the rain to experience it. (I took the bus back, once I figured out how it worked.)
Though small and unassuming, The Nurses Memorial was one of the particular standouts for me personally. I always thought the nurses in Band of Brothers were additions for the sake of the story. To find out that they were real historical figures added greatly to my appreciation of the situation. Heroism comes in all forms.
Alright, I actually went to Bastogne specifically for the 101st Airborne Museum. Upon reflection I would say, don’t bother. It’s a massive tourist trap.
Highlights of Walking Around
Walking around any city in the rain gives one perspective. Bastogne, at its heart, is an average Belgian city, full of everyday people making a living for themselves. When you separate the WW2 stuff from the city, it’s an okay kind of place with no specific draw to it.
Separating the WW2 stuff from the everyday is hard to do. There are tenants of it everywhere you look. Like this tank parked in the corner of one of the city center parking areas. There are such things everywhere you look.
By far the coolest thing I came across (maybe during the whole European trip) was a pizza vending machine. Why doesn’t America have these??????
Some Final Thoughts
As I said, if you separate the WW2 stuff from the rest of the town, it’s an okay kind of place. I am happy that I made the effort to go to Bastogne. The WW2 museum and stuff scattered around town were worth the trip. As long as you make some effort to avoid the tourist trap stuff, we’ll get what you want out of the stop. My stop left me with a better appreciation for the landscape’s place in the history of Europe.
The best relief for rain and wind is the inside of a bar, or it is for me. I spent a bunch of time in Bastogne inside establishments sampling the local. The Belgians make good beer! It’s worth going for that, if nothing else. (Go in summer, it’s warmer.)
There are stops in any itinerary that are less spectacular than others. Bastogne turned out to be that one for this trip around Europe. It’s cool. it happens. I got some good pictures and an experience. That’s what travels all about, isn’t it? Now, get out there. Go have some of your own experiences.
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