D-Day to the Rhine

Our D-Day Tour: Designed by Stephen Ambrose

Stephen E. Ambrose himself designed our D-Day tour. Dr. Ambrose first led this WWII tour in the late 1970s. SAHT historian, Capt. Ronald Drez, who assisted Dr. Ambrose with his research while at the Eisenhower Center, developed the tour further.

Our D-Day to the Rhine Tour itinerary is based on thousands of hours of interviews with D-Day veterans, studying of the battlefields, and other World War II research. Thanks to their experience with the terrain and its history, we are able to present a D-Day Tour that is unmatched in its authenticity.

On our D-Day Tour, you will follow along the path where America’s best and brightest fought in World War II. The itinerary features a Normandy tour that visits the American Cemetery and the Normandy beaches, including Omaha Beach and Utah Beach.

Evolution of the D-Day to the Rhine Tour

Stephen Ambrose founded the Eisenhower Center at UNO in the 1980s, when he began work on the book Eisenhower: Soldier and President. As part of Dr. Ambrose’s research, he began interviewing D-Day veterans about their firsthand experiences fighting during WWII. He set them up with tape recorders and each soldier started with his name, rank, and serial number and then told his story.

Stephen Ambrose also began traveling with these veterans to the battlefields of Normandy to record their firsthand recollections. Not only did he use this research for many of his best-selling books, including D-Day: June 6, 1944, but he also began to tell the stories of these citizen soldiers on his D-Day tour at the very places where they fought. In addition, WWII luminaries like British Major John Howard were among the speakers Ambrose had on the early D-Day tours. Their collective input is what makes the D-Day to the Rhine tour that we run today the most historically accurate D-Day tour you can experience.

Our Historians are D-Day Experts

Our D-Day historians are experts in their field and world-renowned authors. Their years of extensive research and interviews with hundreds of WWII and D-Day veterans on the very battlefields on which they fought add a personal dimension to our D-Day tours that no other WWII tour company can offer. It is a highlight to hear them tell these harrowing tales of bravery and courage of America’s heroes at the very places where they occurred.

Optional Nuremberg and Berchtesgaden Post-Tour Extension

Our optional post-tour extension will depart Frankfurt to the historic city of Nuremberg, where Hitler staged his infamous Nazi rallies and the International Tribunal conducted the Nuremberg Trials. After lunch in the picturesque market center dominated by the Frauenkirche, we will have a guided tour of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds and visit the Nuremberg Trials Courtroom 600. On the second day, the group will visit Dachau Concentration Camp and have a city tour of Munich. The last full day will include a day trip to Berchtesgaden, where you will have a city tour and visit the Obersalzberg bunker and Eagle’s Nest.

Tour Highlights

Historians