Operation Market Garden Highlights Battlefield Tour

In this full-day Market Garden highlights battlefield tour, we are going to look at a number of locations which were important during the operation. This tour is a good option if you only have one day available and want to see as much of the area as possible. That also means that it is a “light version” so the location visits will be shorter and there is more driving involved to get from Eindhoven to Arnhem in one day.

After picking you up in Eindhoven we will drive to the drop and landing zones near Son en Breugel in the 101st Airborne sector where the tour begins with footage and pictures of the landing. Then we’ll proceed to the Son bridge across the Wilhelmina Canal, which was the first objective of the 506th Parachute Infantry.

The Monument to the Dutch in Sint-Oedenrode is our next stop, a gift from the veterans of the 101st Airborne to the civilians who lived along the corridor. Our last stop in the 101st Airborne sector is the Koevering battlefield, here the Germans cut the road on 24 September and it remained blocked for almost 48 hours.

After a short drive we are in the 82nd Airborne sector and will visit the John S. Thompson across the Meuse river at Grave. This was the only bridge that was to be taken by a “coup-de-main” assault with troops landing on both sides of the bridge.

Now it’s high time for lunch! We will visit a great location to sit down and unwind. Please note the lunch is not included in the tour price.

After a visit to the British Jonkerbos CWGC Military Cemetery, a beautiful cemetery where 1629 British and Allied soldiers found their last resting place.

Then we will visit the site of the heroic crossing of the Waal river took place. Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne crossed the river in broad daylight and in canvas boats under murderous German fire to secure a bridgehead and attack the nearby bridges from the north.

Next up is the majestic Nijmegen road bridge which was captured after a three day combined assault by American paratroopers of the 505th Parachute Infantry Division and British tanks and infantry of the Guards Armoured Division..

Our final stop of the day is the 1st Airborne sector in Arnhem where we will visit the road bridge. There we will talk about how the north end of the bridge was captured by John Frost and his men. We will discuss their defensive positions and the German attacks which lead to their eventual defeat.

The drop off location for this tour is the Arnhem railway station.

Tour itinerary

This tour begins at 09:00h at the Eindhoven railway station and we will visit the following locations:

101st Airborne sector:

Son Drop & Landing Zones
Son bridge
Monument to the Dutch
Koevering

82nd Airborne sector:

Grave bridge
Jonkerbos CWGC Cemetery
Waal crossing
Nijmegen bridge

1st Airborne sector:

Arnhem bridge

This tour takes around 8 hours and ends around 17:00h (5PM) at the Arnhem railway station.

Languages

This tour is available in English and in Dutch.

Pricing

We have a flat fee price for our tours:

Price for a full day private tour for 1 to 4 persons including transportation is €480.
For 5-8 persons I have to charge €650 to cover the rent of a large minivan.
Lunch is not included in the price.
For a group of more than 8 persons please visit my Groups page