Bastogne War Museum

Top choice in The Ardennes


This highly recommended modern museum takes you into the heart of WWII, with an audio guide featuring four imagined voices of civilian and military witnesses/participants. A usefully thorough summary of the war's context and key stages includes an engrossing 15-minute 3D film presenting Germany's early attacks as though to a press conference. Downstairs the focus is the Battle of the Bulge and defence of Bastogne. Two theatrical audiovisuals add impressively to well-displayed memorabilia.

Do click on the buttons below several TV monitors to listen to moving civilian recollections of the atrocities that affected their lives during wartime. The audio guide that's a key part of the visitor experience (included in the ticket price) is available in English, French, Dutch and German. To get the most from it ensure that the black sensor faces forward. Allow around two hours to do justice to the visit and don't miss the cafe with its pleasant outdoor seating. The museum is 1.5km northeast of Pl St-Pièrre on the grounds of the Mardasson American War Memorial.