It can be quite emotional, and you may spend more time than you think you’ll need visiting each location. The impact of each monument and memorial is huge, as the loss of life in this area was massive. The villages surrounding Verdun are small and housing may be difficult to find outside the city, so keep in mind that it may be easiest to stay in Reims or Paris ( click here for hotel options) and rent a car to drive about an hour and a half out to the battlefield.īecause the region is quite spread out over the countryside, if you only have a half-day, it’s best to choose sites that are close to each other to maximize your time at each.
#Verdun battlefield today full#
When staying in Reims or the region of Champagne, it’s quite easy to see some of the World War I sites in a full or half-day trip by car.
It’s important to plan your trip to Verdun and the Meuse region in advance as there are many historical sites to see. The Battlefields of Verdun and Visiting the Meuse River Region Now home to monuments and museums, visitors who wish to remember those lost in the long and difficult battles of World War I should make an extra stop during their visit to Champagne and pay their respects to those lives lost on the fields and forests surrounding Verdun. The current tranquil French countryside surrounding the expansive battlefield of Verdun and other neighboring military campaigns of the region is deceiving, as this part of the world was anything but calm in 1916 when French and American soldiers along with other Allied Forces fought side-by-side against a strong German army. The craters, now over 100 years old, mark the spots where trenches were dug and mortars fell, causing death and destruction across the land. Just an hour and a half drive from Champagne’s main city of Reims is the bucolic French countryside with wide-open grasslands and forests pockmarked with craters. Craters still litter the Verdun Battlefield at Butte de Vauquois. When you visit a region like Champagne and tour the old, iconic houses and sinuous underground caves that cut the city underneath like swiss cheese, you are learning just as much about the history of the region that was often wrought with conflict and destruction as you are about the bubbly libation that marks momentous celebrations.įor those who want more context behind the bottle, venture out from the vineyards and onto the battlefields for a history lesson, often forgotten, at the site of the longest battle in the First World War. There is no escaping the convergence of history and wine in Northeastern France.
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