Why this trail matters
Americans tend to arrive in France thinking about croissants and cathedrals, then find their own history waiting for them. A French marquis bled at Brandywine. Benjamin Franklin charmed Versailles from a house in Passy. The peace that ended the Revolutionary War was signed in a Left Bank hotel. Two million Americans came to France in 1917 and 1918, and a generation later the liberation of Western Europe began on a Normandy beach.
You can visit almost all of it. Some sites are grand, like the white crosses above Omaha Beach. Others are a plaque on a building you would otherwise walk past. This page groups them by era, gives you the practical details, and ends with three itineraries you can copy. For the full D-Day picture, beaches and museums included, see our Normandy guide.
Different from home
The French remember 1917–1918 and 1944 more than many Americans expect. In Normandy and the Meuse valley, villages hold their own ceremonies for American soldiers, local families tend graves, and a US flag on a car or a jacket often gets you a thank-you. You will not find the same feeling in Paris, which is busier and more blasé, but the gratitude is real in the countryside.
The Revolutionary era: Lafayette, Franklin, Jefferson
France's help won the War of Independence. French money, muskets, and gunpowder kept the Continental Army going, and at Yorktown in 1781 French troops under Rochambeau and the French fleet under de Grasse outnumbered the Americans. The people involved left traces all over Paris and a few spots in the provinces.
Lafayette
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, sailed to America in 1777 at 19, against the wishes of the French court, and became a major general under Washington. He returned to France in 1779, then sailed back in 1780 aboard the frigate Hermione with news that a French army was coming. He died in Paris in 1834. Congress made him an honorary US citizen in 2002.
Picpus Cemetery
Lafayette lies beside his wife Adrienne in this small private cemetery at the back of a convent garden. The grave is covered with soil brought from Bunker Hill. A US flag flies over it, and the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Society of the Cincinnati and US Embassy officials replace it every July 4. In the same walled ground are mass graves of 1,306 people guillotined nearby in 1794, which is why the families who owned it kept it. It is usually open only in the afternoon, roughly 2pm to 5pm, and closed on Sundays and holidays, with a small entry fee of a few euros. Hours change, so check before you cross town.
Lafayette on horseback
American schoolchildren paid for this bronze by Paul Wayland Bartlett with their pennies. It stood in the Louvre's main courtyard from 1908 until the glass pyramid project, then moved to the riverside gardens near the Grand Palais.
Place des États-Unis
A quiet square with Bartholdi's statue of Washington and Lafayette shaking hands, plus a monument to the American volunteers who fought for France before 1917. One figure is modeled on the poet Alan Seeger, killed in the Somme in 1916. Nearby, at place d'Iéna, a bronze Washington on horseback was a gift from American women in 1900.
Château de Chavaniac-Lafayette
Lafayette was born here in 1757. The Haute-Loire département has managed the château since 2009 and runs it as a museum with period rooms and gardens, open in the warmer months. It is remote. Combine it with a trip through the volcanic Auvergne and check the official site for this season's dates before driving out. See Lyon & Auvergne.
Insider tip
On July 4, 1917, an American officer stood at Lafayette's grave and announced that the Americans had arrived, a line often credited to Pershing but actually spoken by Colonel Charles Stanton. If you are in Paris on July 4, the flag-changing ceremony at Picpus is a moving way to spend the morning. Watch the embassy's website and social channels in June for details.
Benjamin Franklin in Passy
Franklin lived from 1777 to 1785 in Passy, then a village west of Paris, in an outbuilding of the Hôtel de Valentinois. He ran the American mission from there, printed pamphlets on his own press, and put up one of the first lightning rods in France. The house is gone. A plaque marks the spot at the corner of rue Raynouard and rue Singer, and the nearby rue Benjamin-Franklin leads to a seated bronze of him on the edge of place du Trocadéro, a gift from an American banker in 1906. Combine both with the Eiffel Tower view from the Trocadéro terrace.
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson served as American minister to France from 1785 to 1789 and watched the Revolution begin. He lived at the Hôtel de Langeac, a mansion at the corner of the Champs-Élysées and rue de Berri, long since demolished; a plaque on the building there remembers him. A life-size bronze by Jean Cardot, installed in 2006, stands on the Left Bank at the foot of the Senghor footbridge, across the river from the Tuileries and next to the Musée d'Orsay.
Outside Paris, Jefferson traveled as a curious tourist. He studied the Roman Maison Carrée in Nîmes and used it as the model for the Virginia State Capitol (see Occitanie). He also toured the vineyards of Burgundy and Bordeaux and ordered Château Haut-Brion for Monticello. If you visit those regions, see our wine guide.
The Treaty of Paris and Rochambeau
Britain recognized American independence in the Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, by Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay at the Hôtel d'York. The building still stands at 56 rue Jacob in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and a plaque by the door tells the story. It takes two minutes to see and sits on one of the prettiest streets on the Left Bank.
Rochambeau, who commanded the French army at Yorktown, is honored with a statue in his hometown of Vendôme, on the Loir river, about 45 minutes from Paris-Montparnasse by TGV. It matches the one in Lafayette Square across from the White House. Navy history fans can also find a plaque at 19 rue de Tournon, where John Paul Jones died in 1792; his body was found in a Paris cemetery in 1905 and sent to Annapolis.
The Statue of Liberty's French family
The statue in New York harbor was a French gift, paid for by public subscription and designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. Gustave Eiffel engineered the iron skeleton. It was assembled in a Paris workshop at 25 rue de Chazelles in the 17th arrondissement, where it towered over the rooftops in 1884 before being taken apart and shipped. Today France has its own Lady Liberties.
Île aux Cygnes
The best-known Paris replica, about 38 feet (11.5 m) tall, a gift from the American community in Paris, unveiled on July 4, 1889. It stands at the downstream tip of a narrow island in the Seine, facing west toward New York. Walk the tree-lined path down the island from Pont de Bir-Hakeim for an Eiffel Tower view along the way.
Luxembourg Garden and Musée d'Orsay
Bartholdi's own small bronze stood in the Luxembourg Garden for over a century. In 2012 it moved inside the Musée d'Orsay to protect it, and a copy took its place outdoors, near the garden's western edge.
Musée des Arts et Métiers
This science and engineering museum holds the 1878 plaster model used to build the New York statue, and a bronze cast stands outside. It is a good stop for kids and anyone curious about how the statue was built.
Flame of Liberty
A full-size gilded copy of the torch's flame, given to Paris in 1989 by the International Herald Tribune and its donors, to thank the French craftsmen who restored the Statue of Liberty for its 1986 centennial. Because it sits above the tunnel where Princess Diana died in 1997, many visitors assume it is her memorial, and people still leave flowers and notes there.
Colmar and the Musée Bartholdi
Bartholdi was born in Colmar, and his family home at 30 rue des Marchands is now a museum of his work, with models and drawings for Liberty. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to noon and 2pm to 6pm. A 39-foot (12 m) replica, unveiled in 2004 to mark 100 years since his death, greets drivers at the roundabout on the northern edge of town. See Alsace & Lorraine.
Bordeaux
Bordeaux had a small Liberty until the occupying Germans melted it down during World War II. A replica returned to the same square in 2000. See Bordeaux.
American institutions in Paris
Americans have lived in Paris in large numbers since the 1800s, and they built churches, a hospital, and a library that still serve the community. All welcome visitors.
American Cathedral in Paris
The Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, a neo-Gothic church a block off the Champs-Élysées, consecrated on Thanksgiving Day 1886. Its memorial cloister honors Americans who died in World War I. Sunday services are in English, and it hosts concerts and a well-attended Thanksgiving service.
American Church in Paris
Founded in 1814, this was the first American church established outside the US. The current building on the Seine was completed in 1931, and its stained glass includes windows from Tiffany's studios. It runs English-language services, concerts, and a famous bulletin board for Americans looking for apartments and jobs.
American Library in Paris
Born in 1920 from the books shipped to American soldiers in World War I, it is the largest English-language lending library on the European mainland. It is open Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays). Check the library's site for visitor access, and look at the calendar for its Evenings with an Author talks, which usually start at 7:30pm.
American Hospital of Paris
A private nonprofit hospital founded by American expatriates. It cared for wounded soldiers in World War I and stayed open through the occupation. It is still a full hospital, with English-speaking staff. See Safety & health for using it as a patient.
Harry's New York Bar
A dark-paneled American bar near the Opéra, opened as the New York Bar in 1911 and bought by the Scottish bartender Harry MacElhone in 1923, with college pennants on the walls. It claims the Bloody Mary among its inventions. Its old ads taught English speakers to tell the cab driver "sank roo doe noo," a line Ian Fleming gave James Bond. Expect Paris cocktail-bar prices.
Lost Generation and Jazz Age Paris
After World War I, a cheap franc and Prohibition at home drew American writers and artists to Paris. Gertrude Stein called them the lost generation, and Hemingway put the phrase in front of The Sun Also Rises. Most of their haunts are on the Left Bank, close enough to walk in a morning.
The key addresses
- 74 rue du Cardinal-Lemoine (5th): Hemingway's first Paris apartment with Hadley, 1922–1923, a cold walk-up above a dance hall. A plaque quotes A Moveable Feast.
- 39 rue Descartes (5th): the hotel room Hemingway rented to write in, in the building where the poet Verlaine died.
- 27 rue de Fleurus (6th): Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas's apartment from 1903 to 1938, where Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald came to Saturday evenings. A plaque marks it; the apartment is private.
- 12 rue de l'Odéon (6th): Sylvia Beach's original Shakespeare and Company, which published Joyce's Ulysses in 1922 and lent books to a broke Hemingway. It closed in 1941. A plaque remains.
- 113 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs (6th): Hemingway's apartment above a sawmill, 1924–1926. Ezra Pound lived down the street at 70 bis.
- 14 rue de Tilsitt (17th): F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's apartment near the Arc de Triomphe in 1925, the year The Great Gatsby came out.
- Montparnasse cafés: Le Dôme, La Rotonde, Le Select, and La Coupole cluster at the Vavin crossroads. Hemingway met Fitzgerald at the Dingo Bar, 10 rue Delambre, now an Italian restaurant. La Closerie des Lilas at 171 boulevard du Montparnasse has brass plaques on the bar marking where famous regulars sat.
- The Ritz (1st): the Bar Hemingway honors the writer who claimed to have liberated the hotel's bar in August 1944. Drinks are among the most expensive in the city $$$$.
Today's Shakespeare and Company, at 37 rue de la Bûcherie across from Notre-Dame, was opened by American George Whitman in 1951 as Le Mistral. He renamed it in 1964 in tribute to Sylvia Beach, and his daughter Sylvia runs it today. Expect a line at busy times, and respect the signs about photos inside. The café next door is a good stop.
Lost Generation walking route
About 3 miles (5 km), 2.5 to 3 hours with stops. Start in the morning so the cafés at the end line up with lunch.
- Start at place de la Contrescarpe (Métro Place Monge or Cardinal Lemoine) and look at 74 rue du Cardinal-Lemoine around the corner.
- Walk up rue Descartes past number 39, then continue to the Panthéon.
- Go down rue Soufflot and turn right on rue Saint-Jacques toward the river, then cut across to 37 rue de la Bûcherie for Shakespeare and Company.
- Head west along boulevard Saint-Germain and turn left on rue de l'Odéon to number 12.
- Cross the Luxembourg Garden, where Hemingway said he walked to forget he was hungry, and exit on the west side to 27 rue de Fleurus.
- Continue to 113 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, then down to boulevard du Montparnasse.
- Finish at La Closerie des Lilas, or walk west to the Vavin cafés for lunch at Le Select or Le Dôme $$.
Insider tip
Bring a copy of A Moveable Feast on your phone. Reading the chapter about a place while standing in front of it beats any audio guide, and the book is short enough to finish on the flight over.
Black American Paris
For Black Americans in the 20th century, Paris offered a measure of freedom they could not find at home. The story starts with the 369th Infantry, the Harlem Hellfighters, whose band leader James Reese Europe brought jazz to France in 1918. It continues through the cabarets of Montmartre and the cafés of Saint-Germain.
- Josephine Baker: she arrived in 1925 with La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and became the biggest star in France. During World War II she worked for the Resistance. In November 2021 she became the first Black woman honored in the Panthéon, where a cenotaph stands in the crypt; her body rests in Monaco. Her Dordogne château, Les Milandes, is open to visitors (see Dordogne), and Paris has a floating public pool on the Seine named for her, in the 13th by the national library.
- Montmartre jazz: in the 1920s and 1930s, the streets around rue Pigalle were the center of Black American nightlife. Langston Hughes washed dishes at Le Grand Duc, Ada "Bricktop" Smith ran her famous club, and Eugene Bullard, the first Black American military pilot, who flew for France in World War I, owned clubs here. The clubs are gone, so go for the history and the streets.
- Richard Wright: the author of Native Son moved to Paris in 1946 and lived at 14 rue Monsieur-le-Prince (6th) from 1948 to 1959, where a plaque marks the building. His ashes are in the Père Lachaise columbarium.
- James Baldwin: he arrived in 1948 with very little money and wrote much of his early work in Saint-Germain cafés like the Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots. He spent his last 17 years in Saint-Paul-de-Vence on the Riviera, where he died in 1987.
- Sidney Bechet: the New Orleans saxophonist settled in France in 1950 and became a national celebrity. Juan-les-Pins on the Riviera, home of the Jazz à Juan festival each July, has a monument to him (see Riviera).
To hear live jazz today, the Caveau de la Huchette (5 rue de la Huchette, 5th) has been a swing-dance cellar since 1946, and rue des Lombards (1st) has the Duc des Lombards and Sunset-Sunside. Book weekend sets online ahead of time. See Paris nightlife.
Père Lachaise for American fans
Paris's largest cemetery is in the 20th arrondissement (Métro Père Lachaise or Philippe Auguste). Jim Morrison of the Doors, who died in an apartment at 17–19 rue Beautreillis in the Marais in July 1971, is buried in Division 6, where a barrier now keeps fans back from the grave. Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas share a headstone in Division 94. Richard Wright and the dancer Isadora Duncan are in the columbarium. Download a map or photograph the one at the entrance, because the paths are confusing and phone signal is weak in places.
World War I: the American Expeditionary Forces
The United States declared war on April 6, 1917. The first troops landed at Saint-Nazaire in Brittany in June 1917, and by the armistice of November 11, 1918, about 2 million Americans had reached France under General John J. Pershing. More than 116,000 Americans died in the war, about half of them in combat and many of the rest from the 1918 flu. Almost all American WWI battlefields are in the northeast, between Paris and the German border. You need a car (see Driving in France).
Belleau Wood and Aisne-Marne American Cemetery
In June 1918 the US Marines fought for three weeks to take this small forest, a battle the Corps still treats as part of its identity. The cemetery at the foot of the wood holds 2,289 graves, and its chapel still shows damage from 1944. Walk up into the woods to the Marine monument among old trenches and shell holes. In Belleau village, Marines traditionally drink from the bulldog fountain for luck.
Château-Thierry American Monument
A big double colonnade on a hill above the Marne honoring US and French troops who stopped the German advance of 1918. It overlooks the town and river and is a 10-minute drive from Belleau.
Oise-Aisne American Cemetery
The second-largest American WWI cemetery in Europe, with 6,012 graves facing a curved colonnade of rose-colored stone. The poet Joyce Kilmer, author of "Trees," is buried here.
Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
The largest American military cemetery in Europe, with 14,246 graves. The Meuse-Argonne Offensive of fall 1918 was the deadliest battle in American history, with about 26,000 Americans killed. Nearby, the Montfaucon American Monument is a tall column on a former German observation post. Sergeant Alvin York's trail is near Châtel-Chéhéry.
St. Mihiel American Cemetery
4,153 graves from the first major offensive led by an American army, in September 1918. Pair it with the Montsec American Monument, a circular colonnade on a hilltop with a huge relief map and views over the old battlefield.
Somme American Cemetery
1,844 graves of soldiers who served with British forces, many from New York, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, in the attack on the Hindenburg Line. The Bellicourt Monument stands over a canal tunnel nearby. Combine with British and Australian sites (see The North).
Suresnes American Cemetery
On the slope of Mont Valérien with a view of the Paris skyline, it holds more than 1,500 WWI dead and 24 unknown soldiers from WWII. Take a Transilien L train from Saint-Lazare to Suresnes–Mont-Valérien, then walk about 10 minutes uphill. The Memorial Day ceremony here each May is the main one in the Paris area.
Lafayette Escadrille Memorial
A memorial arch and crypt in the Villeneuve-l'Étang park honor the 68 American volunteer pilots of the Lafayette Flying Corps who died in the war. Forty-nine of them lie in the crypt with two of their French commanders. The ABMC took over the site in January 2017. Pair it with Suresnes for a half day.
Other American WWI markers in the region include the Cantigny monument, at the site of the first American offensive in May 1918; the Sommepy (Blanc Mont) monument near Reims; and the 369th Infantry monument at Séchault in the Ardennes. For the French side of the war, the Verdun Memorial museum and the Douaumont Ossuary are about 40 minutes from Romagne. Meaux, east of Paris, has the Musée de la Grande Guerre, the best general WWI museum in France.
Watch out
Old battlefields still contain unexploded shells. Stay on paths in woods like Belleau and the Argonne, and never pick up metal objects. French farmers turn up tons of munitions every year.
World War II: from D-Day to the Rhône
On June 6, 1944, American troops landed at Omaha and Utah beaches, with airborne divisions dropping inland around Sainte-Mère-Église. Ten weeks later, on August 15, Operation Dragoon landed Allied forces, Americans in the lead, on the Riviera. The two armies met in eastern France and pushed on to Germany. Five American WWII cemeteries mark the path.
Normandy American Cemetery
9,389 graves on a bluff above Omaha Beach, plus 1,557 names on the Walls of the Missing. With about a million visitors a year, it is the busiest American cemetery abroad. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. rests beside his brother Quentin, a WWI pilot moved here from his original grave. The visitor center explains the landings well. Arrive early in summer, when tour buses pack the site by late morning, and check abmc.gov before you go: ABMC plans to require free pre-registration for every visitor, with reservations expected to apply from summer 2027 (relatives of those buried here can still come when they choose). See Normandy for beaches, museums, and Pointe du Hoc.
Brittany American Cemetery
4,409 graves from the breakout from Normandy and the fight for Brittany's ports in summer 1944. Quiet and rarely crowded. It is an easy detour on the way to or from Mont-Saint-Michel (see Brittany).
Lorraine American Cemetery
The largest American WWII cemetery in Europe, with 10,489 graves, mostly from Patton's Third Army in the hard fall and winter of 1944–1945. Combine with Metz or Strasbourg (see Alsace & Lorraine).
Épinal American Cemetery
5,255 graves on a plateau above the Moselle river, many from the Seventh Army that came up from the Riviera.
Rhône American Cemetery
The smallest of the five, with about 860 graves, most from Operation Dragoon. Pair it with the landing beaches near Saint-Raphaël and Saint-Tropez, an unusual and moving add-on to a Riviera beach holiday (see Riviera and Provence).
The Liberation of Paris
Paris rose against the Germans on August 19, 1944. On August 25, Leclerc's French 2nd Armored Division entered the city with the US 4th Infantry Division, and the German commander surrendered. Four days later the US 28th Infantry Division marched down the Champs-Élysées on its way to the front, the scene in the famous photo of GIs under the Arc de Triomphe.
- Musée de la Libération de Paris: on place Denfert-Rochereau (14th), opened in 2019, open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm, with free entry. The highlight is the command post about 65 feet (20 m) underground, where the Resistance leader Colonel Rol-Tanguy directed the uprising. Access to the bunker is limited, so check the museum's site for how to book.
- Street plaques: look for small marble plaques reading "Ici est tombé..." (here fell...) on buildings across the city, especially around the Latin Quarter, the Hôtel de Ville, and the Préfecture de Police on Île de la Cité. Fresh flowers appear under them every August 25.
- Hôtel de Ville: de Gaulle gave his speech celebrating the liberation from here on the evening of August 25, 1944.
Visiting the American cemeteries
The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), a small US federal agency, runs all 12 American military cemeteries in France: 11 war cemeteries plus the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial. Every site is free. The grounds are kept immaculate all year, so a rainy Tuesday in February looks as perfect as the D-Day anniversary.
Hours and ceremonies
Cemeteries open daily from 9am to 5pm and close on December 25 and January 1; they stay open on other holidays. Normandy currently keeps the same 9am to 5pm hours, with last entry at 4:30pm. Each cemetery lowers its US flag at the end of the day, and at Normandy this is a daily ceremony about an hour before closing, with taps and the folding of the flag. Arrive 15 minutes early and stand where staff ask; visitors are sometimes invited to help fold the flag.
Finding a relative
- Search the ABMC burial database at abmc.gov by name. It covers everyone buried or listed as missing in ABMC cemeteries, with plot, row, and grave numbers, unit, and date of death.
- If the person is not there, the family may have brought them home after the war, which most families did. Check US national cemeteries through the VA's Nationwide Gravesite Locator.
- Email or call the cemetery a few weeks before you go, giving the name and your visit date. Staff will be ready for you.
- When you arrive, check in at the visitor building. A staff member will walk you to the grave, tell you about the battle, and do a sand rubbing: they rub sand into the carved letters so the name stands out in photos. At Normandy, the sand comes from Omaha Beach.
- You can bring flowers. If you can't travel, families can order flowers through a local florist and staff will place them on the grave; ask the cemetery how it works.
Insider tip
Write down the unit, rank, and hometown before you leave the US, and bring a photo of the soldier if the family has one. Staff and local volunteers sometimes know details about specific units that you will not find online, and the visit means more with a face to remember.
Different from home
Unlike most US military cemeteries, which also hold veterans who died long after their service, nearly every grave here belongs to someone who died in the war itself. Headstones of the unknown end with the words "known but to God." The Walls of the Missing use a small bronze rosette to mark names of soldiers later found and identified, and new rosettes are still added as remains are recovered.
D-Day anniversary: June 2027
The 83rd anniversary of D-Day falls on Sunday, June 6, 2027. Normandy's D-Day Festival runs for about two weeks around the date, from May 29 to June 13 in 2027, with parachute drops near Sainte-Mère-Église, convoys of restored jeeps, reenactors in period uniform, concerts, and fireworks over the beaches. The ABMC holds the main American ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery on the morning of June 6. In recent years seats have required advance registration and nearby roads have closed for security, so watch the ABMC events page from early 2027. Our Normandy guide has festival details.
- Book lodging in Bayeux, Caen, or the beach villages by winter. Rooms near the beaches sell out early and prices rise.
- Expect road closures and long waits around Sainte-Mère-Église, Omaha Beach, and Arromanches on June 5 and 6.
- Go to the cemetery on a quieter day if you want time alone at a grave, and attend a village ceremony instead on the 6th.
- The weeks just before and after the anniversary still have events with fewer crowds.
Suggested heritage itineraries
Paris in one day
- Morning
Liberty, Washington, Franklin
Start at 9am on the Île aux Cygnes for the Statue of Liberty (Métro Bir-Hakeim). Walk up to the Trocadéro for Franklin's statue, then to place d'Iéna for Washington and place des États-Unis for Lafayette and Washington together. Continue to place de l'Alma for the Flame of Liberty.
- Late morning
The 8th arrondissement
Visit the American Cathedral on avenue George V, then walk up to the Champs-Élysées at rue de Berri for Jefferson's plaque. Have lunch nearby or head east on the Métro.
- Afternoon
Picpus and the Left Bank
Take Line 1 to Nation and walk to Picpus Cemetery for Lafayette's grave (afternoons only, closed Sundays). Then go to Saint-Germain for 56 rue Jacob, where the Treaty of Paris was signed, and Shakespeare and Company.
- Evening
American Paris after dark
A cocktail at Harry's New York Bar, or dinner in Montparnasse at Le Dôme or La Coupole, then swing dancing at the Caveau de la Huchette. If you prefer a quieter afternoon, swap Picpus for Suresnes American Cemetery and the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial.
Normandy in three days
- Day 1
Paris to Caen and Bayeux
Take a train from Paris-Saint-Lazare to Caen (about 2 hours). Spend the afternoon at the Mémorial de Caen, the region's best overview museum. Pick up a rental car and drive 30 minutes to Bayeux for two nights.
- Day 2
Omaha and Pointe du Hoc
Be at the Normandy American Cemetery at opening. Then drive down to Omaha Beach at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer or Vierville, and on to Pointe du Hoc, where the Rangers climbed the cliffs and the bomb craters remain. Stay for the flag lowering at the cemetery, or catch it on day 3.
- Day 3
Utah Beach and the airborne
Drive to the Utah Beach Museum, then to Sainte-Mère-Église for the church with the paratrooper dummy hanging from the steeple and the Airborne Museum. Visit Dead Man's Corner near Carentan. Drop the car in Caen for the evening train, or carry on to Brittany American Cemetery and Mont-Saint-Michel. Full details in our Normandy guide.
World War I in three days
- Day 1
Belleau Wood and the Marne
Pick up a car in Paris and drive 1 hr 15 to Belleau. Visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and walk Belleau Wood, then see the Château-Thierry Monument and Oise-Aisne American Cemetery. Sleep in Reims, with champagne cellars for the evening (see Champagne).
- Day 2
The Meuse-Argonne
Drive east past the Sommepy monument to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, about 1.5 hours from Reims. Climb the Montfaucon monument for the view over the battlefield, and walk part of the Sergeant York trail if you like hiking. Sleep in Verdun.
- Day 3
Verdun and St. Mihiel
Spend the morning at the Verdun Memorial and the Douaumont Ossuary to see the French side of the war. In the afternoon drive to the St. Mihiel American Cemetery and the Montsec Monument. Drive back to Paris in about 3.5 hours, or drop the car in Metz and take the TGV, about 1 hr 25 to Paris-Est.
Save money
All ABMC cemeteries and most American monuments are free, so the main costs are the car and fuel. Booking a rental car well ahead and sharing it among four people makes the WWI loop cheaper than a guided tour. Private guided battlefield days from Paris or Reims typically cost several hundred euros per group, which can be worth it for a family history trip.
Add it to a route in the trip builder, or ask us to plan the hotels, trains and guides for you.