Would you love to tour Europe and take in historical sites of major WWII battles? Stand in the place where history happened. Pay respects to those who sacrificed for freedom. One way to do this is tracing the WWII path of Easy Company, 101st Airborne Division in Europe.
The HBO miniseries Band of Brothers brought the story of Easy Company in WWII to millions of viewers. Since its 2001 premiere, the men of Easy Company have become world famous, with their actions recounted and steps retraced from the countryside in England to the Eagle’s Nest in Germany. And you, too, can join others who’ve taken this once-in-a-lifetime trip.
I enjoyed the privilege of taking this bucket list tour to seven countries with the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. The focus of this tour is tracing the path of Easy Company to honor those who fought in WWII in Europe. 
Historians travel with you and guide you to places difficult to find on your own. You can discuss with them WWII as you move from significant place to significant place. 
Another wonderful aspect of this tour is that you travel with an actor from the Band of Brothers series who talks about meeting the veterans, learning about them, and representing them in film. 
If this in-depth history travel interests you, read on for a summary of the experiences provided during days packed with incredible stories of bravery and moving, memorable moments in the places where it happened.
Note: While this gives highlights of the tour, you may prefer to plan your own adventure exploring all or some of these places. Suggestions for hotels that serve as a good base are given to help you.
This post contains affiliate links. Clicking on them may result in a commission being paid if you purchase afterwards. This is at no extra cost to you. All opinions are always my own.
The itinerary for the Easy Company Band of Brothers European Tour
Day 1: Aldbourne, England
Day 2: To Portsmouth by way of Southwick, crossing the English Channel to Normandy
Day 3: Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach
Day 4: Utah Beach and the Utah Beach Museum
Day 5: La Fiere Bridge, Carentan, Dead Man’s Corner Museum, the church at Angoville au Plain
Day 6: To The Netherlands, Amiens Cathedral in France
Day 7: Trace Operation Market Garden from Eindhoven to Nijmegen to Arnhem
Day 8: Tour of Eindhoven, The Netherlands American Cemetery, travel to the Ardennes
Day 9: Bastogne, Bois Jacques, the 101st Airborne Museum
Day 10: Luxembourg American Cemetery and Hagenau, France
Day 11: Dachau and Zell Am See
Day 12: Berchtesgaden, the Eagle’s Nest
Map courtesy of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans
Day 1 — Aldbourne, England
After meeting at a hotel in London’s Heathrow airport, we proceeded by bus about two hours west to the small, rural village of Aldbourne. This picturesque town hosted Easy Company from late 1943 as they trained for the D-Day landings. The paratroopers lived in Nissen huts and tents scattered throughout the village. Local families also took in many of the men.
Aldbourne today is much as it was when the men of Easy Company billeted here. It’s known for its rolling hills, quaint cottages, and a central village green. It dates to medieval times. You can tour St. Michael’s Church, built in the 12th century. And my group took a delightful walking tour of the village, led by an enthusiastic local guide.
A highlight of my time in Aldbourne was lunch at the local Blue Boar Pub, first opened in 1721. The pub’s walls feature photos of men from Easy Company. You can imagine them relaxing here and unwinding after a grueling day of training.
Day 2 — Ferry across the English Channel to Normandy
The morning included a lecture on the origins of WWII by the local UK guide. Then we departed for the village of Southwick. We enjoyed lunch at the Golden Lion Pub, where Eisenhower and Montgomery met to plan for D-Day.
Here I enjoyed the historic atmosphere of the pub. And a local brought his WWII-vintage Jeep for us to see.
Then we headed for Portsmouth to board the Brittany Ferry. We sat on the windy ferry deck and glided past the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, home to HMS Victory and HMS Warrior. Then we set out to trace the path of the D-Day landings across the English Channel.
After a six-hour voyage that included dinner on the rocking boat, we landed at Ouistreham on the coast of France.
It was quite late at night when we arrived after a short drive to Bayeux to check into our hotel, Lion d’Or.
Book your stay at the elegant Hotel Lion d’Or in the heart of Bayeux.
Day 3 — Omaha Beach
The next three days were filled with visits to notable sights in the American sectors of the D-Day Landings. Beaches, memorials, and museums fill this area today.
Day 3 was packed with experiences at the Omaha Beach area.
First up was walking around Pointe du Hoc. 
This jut of land that sits between Omaha and Utah Beaches features high cliffs below the bluffs. On D-Day, the US 2nd Ranger Battalion threw rope ladders up and scaled the cliffs in the face of Germans firing on them from above.
The assignment here was to take out the five German guns on the Pointe, as they could aim at both Omaha and Utah.
Read more about the fighting at Point du Hoc.
Today, the remnants of German bunkers still stand. You can walk down stone steps and stand inside these, looking out at the English Channel. Just imagine the soldiers peering through the rocky slots and seeing hundreds of Allied boats heading straight for them.
Next, we went to Dog Green Sector of Omaha Beach. This is a 250-meter stretch of beach that had not been prepared by Allied bombs prior to the D-Day landings. The soldiers of A Company, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry of the 29th Division landed here. Within 15 minutes, A Company was reduced to just a small rescue party. This inspired the opening scenes of the movie Saving Private Ryan.
The afternoon was dedicated to visiting the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. 
Nearly 9,400 men lie at rest here. My group laid a wreath in remembrance, then each of us placed a white rose on a grave to honor a soldier.
While it’s overwhelming to see the rows of white crosses and Stars of David, it’s something else to read the names of the individual men (some just boys, really). When you find the grave of someone from your home state, the distant war becomes more real and personal. I recommend every American try to visit if possible.
The evening dinner at the hotel was a rich time of visiting with other tour guests, our tour coordinator, and our tour’s actor from the Band of Brothers series. My group was honored to travel with Shane Taylor, who played the role of the medic Eugene G. “Doc” Roe. Shane is personable and introspective. Throughout the tour, he talked about his role, medics during WWII, and the cast and filming of the series. What an immense privilege it was to have him at our meals and on the bus every day as we learned more about the war.
My group’s “sister” bus had actor Ross McCall, who played Joseph D. Liebgott in Band of Brothers. Sometimes he and Shane would trade buses, so I got to talk with him, too. His sense of humor had us all in stitches around the dinner table, a welcome relief from the seriousness of the day’s activities.
Day 4 — Utah Beach
This day was dedicated to the landing of the Americans at Utah Beach on D-Day. Standing on this beach gives you an opportunity to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of those who fought here.
Right on the beach is the amazing Utah Beach Museum. It stands on the very site where American forces landed on D-Day. The museum provides a powerful and immersive experience, telling the story of the successful amphibious assault by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.
A landmark on Utah Beach you will want to visit is the Roosevelt Café. 
The Allied landing on Utah Beach was led by Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the son of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. General Roosevelt was the first American general to land on D-Day, leading the 4th Infantry Division onto Utah Beach and famously stating, “We’ll start the war from right here!” when the troops landed in the wrong spot. His leadership was instrumental in the success of the Utah Beach landings.
Grab a coffee at the café and notice all the autographs on the walls. Veterans of D-Day who come to visit Utah Beach sign for comrades to note.
Lunch Day 4 was on our own in the village of Sante-Mere-Eglise. I ate with tour friends at a small bakery where we savored sandwiches on homemade bread. We sat at a sidewalk table and watched life in the bustling village.
In the afternoon, I wandered outside and inside around the Church of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, famous for the Allied paratrooper who hung outside the church all night before D-Day. A mannequin of the soldier with his parachute hangs there today as a tribute.
Then, my group visited the excellent Airborne Museum.
Opened in 1964, this museum is dedicated to the memory of paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne who parachuted into Normandy and landed near here on the night of June 5-6, 1944. The museum is housed in six buildings and includes full-sized planes and vehicles.
A visit to La Fiere Bridge rounded out a day of touring WWII sites on and inland from Utah Beach. This bridge was the scene of fierce fighting on D-Day and the following three days. It crosses the Merderet River about three miles outside Sainte-Mere-Eglise. Both the Germans and the Allies sought to take control of this crucial river crossing.
- The capture of La Fière Bridge helped secure the western flank of Utah Beach, ensuring the success of the D-Day landings.
- It was one of the bloodiest battles fought by the 82nd Airborne in Normandy, with many paratroopers killed or wounded.
Day 5 — Utah Beach
This morning the tour planned visits to three D-Day sites inland from Utah Beach. First, my group paid tribute at the Brecourt Manor Memorial. Across the field and behind the trees, four German howitzers pounded the beach, impeding the Allied landing troops from moving inland.
Early in the morning of D-Day, Easy Company’s First Lieutenant Richard Winters took on the task of leading a small paratrooper unit mostly from his (12 men) and attacking and silencing the guns. In textbook fashion, this group of soldiers took out the guns. As the attack on the causeway off the beach stopped, Allied soldiers were able to move inland.
Next, the group went to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. This village sits at the end of a long causeway that links Utah beach to higher ground. It was a main objective on D-Day.
The morning ended with a solemn visit to the church in Angoville-au-Plain. This is where two American medics from the 101st Airborne treated wounded, both Allies and German. The pews still bear bloodstains, and stained-glass windows pay tribute to the paratroopers who saved lives here in June 1944.
After lunch, we went to Dead Man’s Corner. This area is significant because on June 12, 1944, after several days of brutal street fighting, the 101st Airborne captured Carentan, allowing soldiers on Utah and Omaha Beaches to link up.
The Dead Man’s Corner Museum, housed in what was the German paratroopers command post during the battle for Carentan displays memorabilia from WWII. 
Next to the museum is a separate building that houses a one-of-a-kind C-47 flight simulator. You board the plane and with motion and lights and sound you experience what it was like to be a paratrooper on June 6, 1944.
Day 6 — Travel to Eindhoven
This was a loooong day of travel. The tour bus took us from France, through Belgium, to the Netherlands. So, most of the day was traversing countries to reach Eindhoven. The one interesting stop was the city of Amiens, France.
Amiens Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, towers over the middle of this town in the Somme River Valley. It’s the largest of the three great Gothic cathedrals built in France during the 13th century. Today, it is the largest in France.
My group wandered through this massive, lovely cathedral, in awe of its size and beauty. Then we sat outside eating sandwiches in the shadow of this imposing church.
Day 7 — Operation Market Garden, Netherlands
Tracing Operation Market Garden in The Netherlands was a highlight of a tour full of highlights. And we just happened to arrive on the 80th anniversary of the battle, so memorials were decorated and paratroopers dropped from the sky to reenact Operation Market Garden.
We visited battle sites such as Neunen and Nijmegen. We traveled to the northernmost point of the battle, the bridge at Arnhem. This is known as “the bridge too far,” as the Allies were not able to defeat the Germans in this area and take the bridge.
Today, this beautiful bridge still stands. It is renamed the John Frost Bridge in honor of the British commander whose troops tried to hold on. A small museum sits at one end of the bridge and is worth a visit.
My group also went to what the Allies called “The Island” in this same region. After Operation Market Garden, Easy Company was sent here and skirmished with Germans scattered around here.
Read more about tracing Operation Market Garden in The Netherlands.
Learn more details about Operation Market Garden at the website of the Imperial War Museum in London.
Eindhoven makes an excellent base if you trace the path of this campaign. It’s a big enough city to offer choices in lodging and eating, if you are charting your own path.
My group stayed at the Pullman Eindhoven. This modern hotel offers not only lovely rooms but also a restaurant and a bar. After a long day of touring, I enjoyed a delicious dinner of risotto at the hotel. And the breakfast buffet includes hot dishes, baked goods such as croissants, fresh yogurt, and fruit.
Book your stay at the Pullman Eindhoven for a comfortable and modern travel base.
I can also recommend Hotel Erica near Njimegen. My group ate lunch in the restaurant, then relaxed on the forested grounds. I’m sure it’s a beautiful place to stay.
Book your stay at the Hotel Erica in Berg en Dal near Njimegen for a relaxing countryside stay.
Day 8 — to Luxembourg
After optional tours of memorials and the town of Eindhoven, we reluctantly bid farewell to the lovely canals and green fields of The Netherlands. We stopped at the Netherlands American Cemetery on the way out of the country.
This beautifully maintained site serves as the final resting place for thousands of American soldiers who fought and died in the liberation of the Netherlands during World War II. Many of the fallen were from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions (Easy Company).
Since 1945 members of the community have adopted the grave sites of the fallen. They take flowers to the cemetery and research the life of the service members as a way to show their gratitude for American sacrifices during the war.
Traversing Belgium and driving into Luxembourg, we then wound up a mountain to the tiny town of Clervoux, site of a notable WWII battle. We stayed in this tiny village for two nights.
Day 9 — Bastogne
Today was devoted to WWII sites in Bastogne, Belgium. The big battle here, which took place when Germans entered the Ardennes in December 1944 and attacked Allied forces, is sometimes called the Battle of the Bulge.
Easy Company dug foxholes in frozen ground and held off German attacks for several days. The men of Easy lacked proper winter clothing, food, weapons, and ammunition. But they did not give up.
The tour first stopped at the graves of two nurses who served here during the battle. Marie Laemaire and Augusta Chiwy are featured in Band of Brothers.
Next up was a visit to the 101st Airborne Museum in Bastogne. Located in the heart of this small city in Belgium, this treasure of a museum offers an immersive and atmospheric experience. Exhibits focus on the role of the 101st Airborne Division.
Read more about the 101st Airborne Museum.
The afternoon was dedicated to visiting the Bois Jacques, a forested area on the outskirts of Bastogne where Easy Company dug in during the battle. Some of the original foxholes are still among the trees here.
Here actor Shane Taylor, who portrayed medic Eugene Roe, held up a photo of “Doc” Roe in the exact place he would have tended to wounds of the soldiers, some as severe as losing a leg. Shane read a tribute to this young medic who aided so many soldiers.
Read more about tracing WWII in Bastogne.
Day 10 — Luxembourg and Hagenau, France
This morning began with a visit to the Luxembourg American Cemetery, resting place of more than 5,000 men who fought the Germans in December 1944 and early 1945. Our historian led us to graves of men from Easy Company. He showed a large photo of each of these men and read a short tribute to their sacrifice.
The most famous of those who lie here is General George S. Patton. Due to the number of people who come here specifically to find his grave, it is located at the front of the rows of graves.
Here, as in the other cemeteries we visited, we were each given a white rose to lay at the grave of our choice. In this small way, we honored those who gave their all for freedom.
Driving back into France, we went to the town of Hagenau, where the episode The Last Patrol takes place. We saw the canal the men crossed in Spring 1945 to capture a German prisoner of war. Then we headed into Germany to the medieval city of Esslingen. A free evening allowed us to explore the Old Town and enjoy a delicious Italian food dinner.
Day 11 — Dachau to the Austrian Alps
A sobering visit to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site reminded us of why WWII was fought. More than 200,000 individuals passed through Dachau before the end of the war. The camp housed more than 67,000 prisoners at liberation in April 1945.
As American troops made their way here that Spring, they found 30 cattle cars filled with bodies. Residents of the town were forced to bury thousands of the dead.
After the dark experience of Dachau, we boarded the bus and wound up high into the Austrian Alps. The beauty of this place was a contrast to the starkness of Dachau.
We arrived at the resort town of Zell am See, our last stay of the tour. This was fitting, as Zell am See was where Easy Company men stayed after the war in Europe ended while the war in the Pacific raged on.
We stayed at the Grand Hotel Zell am See, which was the headquarters of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in WWII.
Book your stay on the lake in the luxurious Grand Hotel Zell am See.
Day 12 — Berchtesgaden, Germany
A highlight of this Band of Brothers tour usually is a journey to the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s retreat high in the German mountains. Due to snow and avalanches in September, no one was allowed to venture up the mountain. So, my group missed this.
Instead, we went to the town of Berchtesgaden and then wound up the mountain to the site of Hitler’s house during the war. Allies destroyed the house, but you can stand on the ground and look out at the breathtaking view into Austria. This is where Hitler and his generals planned their mass crimes.
Our last stop was The Documentation Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden, Germany. This is a museum and learning center that includes access to a portion of Hitler’s underground bunker system. This was to be the final standoff site for Hitler and leaders of the Nazi Party. It was never finished, but it’s fascinating to explore.
In summary, tracing the path of Easy Company in Europe during WWII gives you invaluable insights into the war across seven countries. The National World War II Museum tour provides actors from the Band of Brothers series as well as local historians. You stay in comfortable (sometimes elegant) hotels. Your fellow travelers will talk all day about anything to do with WWII, so you can always get your fill of history. And you will be so much more aware of the sacrifices made by countless soldiers as well as civilians to ensure that we live in freedom. You will never look at life the same way again.
PIN IT FOR TRAVEL PLANNING
