Euro-Roadtrip 2026 Day 2: Bastogne and Luxembourg with Kids
- Aug 8
- 5 min read
Up at 6:45am for a good breakfast – and slyly making off with enough stuff for lunch before the self-catered part of the trip began – we headed off on the 2 hour 15 minute drive to Bastogne, the last war-related stop of the trip.
We arrived at the museum at 10:45am to learn about the Battle of the Ardennes/Battle of the Bulge, Germany's last major offensive on the Western Front and one of the bloodiest battles fought by American forces during WWII.
The museum tickets were a rather eye-watering €72! But that included the museum, a tour of the war rooms and entry to the forest where the infamous siege took place. Sadly, it did not include parking though (lame!).
The museum was very well set up, with audio guides included in the price which automatically switched to whichever display you were standing near. Sadly, the headsets weren't adjustable and frustrated the kids a bit as they kept falling off – particularly during the (excellent) 3D film, where we had glasses to contend with on top of trailing cables and headsets!
Other than that, it was great and we could easily have spent hours here. We sped things up towards the end as the kids were hungry, then had our packed lunches in the expansive grounds while wandering around the huge American memorial commemorating the battle just outside.
We then drove five minutes up a country lane to see the memorial to the American 101st Airborne's Easy Company, outside the Bois Jacques woodland where they were entrenched in foxholes during the battle.
This was eerie, but really brought the events we'd just learned about home. You can download a VR app and scan various codes along a trail through the woods to literally bring the battle to life, placing soldiers around the woodland and giving informative talks about the events that took place there. Slightly disturbingly, the two youngest spent some time "playing armies" in the dugouts.
Even more disturbing was the drive out. Passing through the village of Foy, we went past an agricultural building still strewn with bullet holes. It reminded me of parts of Paris where you can still spot the same thing – physical scars from events that otherwise feel impossibly long ago.
Sadly, next came the dreaded food shop.
We'd planned to do this in Bastogne itself as it had large Carrefour and Aldi supermarkets, and it was the closest point to when we'd finally arrive somewhere with a kitchen and proper food storage (we had read about increased costs in Luxembourg so wanted to avoid this). We'd brought all the dry goods, spices, sauces etc. for our meal plan from home, but for all the fresh stuff we were armed with our shopping list and bags. It was just as difficult as fears; kids bouncing off the walls, adults struggling to find things we take for granted every day at home like garlic bread and sour cream etc. But we were well prepared – this is not our first rodeo!
After this we drove about 25 minutes into Luxembourg, stopping at a free car park with a 5–10 minute walk to a viewpoint over the Sûre Valley.
This area follows Luxembourg's longest river across the northern and eastern parts of the country, with steep green hills, medieval castles and huge expanses of forest. The car park was right next to "Mémorial avec bombe", so put that into Google Maps and you won't go far wrong. From there you can follow a trail to "Aussichtspunkt Runtschelt / Point de vue de Runtschelt" for stunning views, approx. 10-15 mins down a dirt track.
In the valley beneath you can see the "floating bridge" and a number of beaches with watersports equipment for hire. We'd considered spending the afternoon here for a wild swim, but I'd read that the recent European heatwaves and drought had caused some blue-green algae blooms to flare up. Considering our next stop had a swimming pool anyway, we thought better of it this time!
You could really see from the wooded hillside how much damage the sweltering heat and lack of water had done to the trees below. Many of the saplings had leaves that literally turned to ash and dust if you touched them. Crazy. Still, the sparkle of the sun on the water of the twisting river below was utterly gorgeous. We love Luxembourg already!
It was punishingly hot, so after our brief jaunt to the viewpoint we headed back to the car and completed the final 40 minutes to our next stop: Hu Birkelt Village, Larochette.
Our first impression was absolutely perfect.
The Roan rep was smiley and enthusiastic as she handed us a cute map of the local area specifically designed for kids. The research for this trip was completed in a fair bit of haste due to the last-minute nature of the finances, so when she casually mentioned a "barefoot trail" through the woods, I immediately started considering how we might adjust the next 48 hours to fit it in!
We already planned to visit the local waterfalls and caves on our final day here, but considering the amount of driving we'd done, our late arrival – with dinner still to cook and probably no swimming today – and the rather museum/war-heavy first couple of days, we decided to cancel our planned trip to Luxembourg City on Sunday morning and have an absolute chill day instead.
And there is already so much to do on site: soft play, two pools – indoor and outdoor – splash zones, woodland walks, sports courts and games room and plenty more.
The accommodation itself was wonderful. It felt brand new and totally eclipsed our previous Eurocamp accommodation in Rome and at Domaine de la Yole in southern France. Outside we had a huge lounge area, sun loungers for the lawn and a big table on the decking with reclining chairs. Inside was a well-appointed kitchen, a clean shower room separate from the toilet, two kids' bedrooms with bunk beds, and an adult bed that was that weird European size somewhere between a UK double and a king.
As with all Eurocamps, you're charged extra to hire linen, and because we were self-driving this time we'd brought our own. However, when we asked in advance for the size of the adult bed they told us "double".
It is definitely not a double.
Our sheet didn't fit.
So that's a lesson you can learn from us!
Still, the air conditioning had been switched on before we arrived and the fridge was stocked with two free beers and a big bottle of apple juice for the kids. Such a lovely touch, especially when we had dinner still to cook after a long, hot day!
We already wished we were staying longer.
Now for the damage: Total spend on the day's outings was £68.23: the €72 museum entrance fee plus £6.44 (€6.50) for parking.
Then there was the food shop at a sad £130.22 (€151.74). Although, to be fair, that should feed all five of us for most of the remaining trip (9 days) – and given what eating out for five costs, I'm hoping it'll turn out to be some of the best money we spend!
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