Liberation Grand Tour — Victory Edition

FROM ENGLAND TO NORMANDY

Every Grand Tour needs a beginning.

For the Victory Edition, ours begins on England's south coast — the same coastline from which thousands once departed for occupied Europe.

Today is deliberately easy.

We meet, introduce the group, get the motorcycles together and begin the journey south towards Portsmouth. For those joining us from overseas, it's the chance to settle onto the hire bikes before we reach Europe. For everyone else, it's the moment a collection of individual riders starts becoming a touring group.

There'll be time for our Boss Hogg welcome, tour briefing and something to eat before we head for the port.

And somewhere in today's journey — or tomorrow's arrival in Normandy — we hope to encounter the extraordinary Standing with Giants installation. Its location changes, so we'll follow it to whichever side of the Channel it calls home in 2027.

Then we board the overnight ferry.

Motorcycles strapped down below decks, bags in the cabins and the first drinks of the tour in our hands.

Tomorrow morning, when the doors open, we'll be in Normandy.

And that's where Liberation really begins.

NORMANDY — PEGASUS BRIDGE TO BAYEUX

We wake in France.

After breakfast aboard the ferry, the motorcycles roll onto French soil and our Liberation Grand Tour begins for real.

And we don't have far to travel before reaching one of the places where the story began.

Our first stop is Pegasus Bridge.

In the opening minutes of D-Day, British airborne troops landed by glider only yards from the bridge with orders to capture it intact and prevent German forces reaching the beaches.

Today we'll stand beside the ground where they landed and see the bridge that became one of the first objectives liberated on 6 June 1944.

From there, we turn towards the coast.

We ride through the villages and countryside behind Sword, Juno and Gold Beaches, following roads once filled with men, vehicles and equipment moving inland from the Normandy landings.

But today isn't about rushing from memorial to memorial.

This is Normandy by motorcycle.

We'll make time for coffee, find somewhere good for lunch and ride the smaller coastal roads whenever we can, with the Channel appearing beside us as we work our way west.

Eventually we reach Arromanches-les-Bains.

More than eighty years later, sections of the extraordinary Mulberry Harbour can still be seen offshore — the remains of the temporary harbour that helped supply the Allied advance across France.

We'll park the bikes and give ourselves time to explore.

Then, as the afternoon begins to fade, there's one final short ride inland.

Our destination tonight is Bayeux.

The motorcycles are parked, the luggage comes off and Normandy changes pace.

Tonight isn't about military history.

It's about finding a table, ordering something good, raising a glass and enjoying our first proper evening in France.

Tomorrow, we ride west.

And the story becomes American.

FROM OMAHA TO SAINTE-MÈRE-ÉGLISE

Yesterday, we followed the British and Canadian landings.

Today, the story becomes American.

Leaving Bayeux behind, we ride west through the quiet Normandy countryside towards a coastline whose name has become known around the world.

Omaha Beach.

Today it is an enormous sweep of sand, backed by peaceful villages and green hills.

On the morning of 6 June 1944, it was anything but.

We'll ride the coast before climbing to the Normandy 

American Cemetery, overlooking the beach where so many of the men buried here came ashore.

Nearly 10,000 white crosses and Stars of David stretch across the immaculate lawns towards the sea.

This isn't somewhere we'll rush.

We'll park the motorcycles and give everyone time to experience it in their own way.

Then we ride on.

Our second major stop couldn't feel more different.

POINTE DU HOC

Standing high above the Channel, Pointe du Hoc was one of the most formidable German positions along the Normandy coast.

American Rangers scaled the cliffs under fire on D-Day to capture the position.

More than eighty years later, the landscape still bears the scars.

Bomb craters remain scattered across the headland. Concrete bunkers lie broken amongst them. And standing on the cliffs looking down at the sea gives a perspective no photograph really can.

Afterwards, it's time to ride.

We'll leave the main roads where we can, find somewhere for a proper French lunch and spend the afternoon crossing the countryside of the Cotentin Peninsula.

Because our final destination today isn't another battlefield.

It's a town.

SAINTE-MÈRE-ÉGLISE

In the early hours of D-Day, American paratroopers descended into and around Sainte-Mère-Église.

The town would become one of the first in France liberated by American forces.

Its church remains famous for the story of paratrooper John Steele, whose parachute became caught on the church tower, leaving him suspended above the fighting below.

Today, Sainte-Mère-Église still embraces that history.

But importantly for us, it's also somewhere to finish a day's ride.

We'll park the Harleys, find the hotel and let the pace change again. A wander around town. A drink. Dinner together.

And probably a few stories about what we've seen during our first two days in Normandy.

Tomorrow, we leave the beaches behind.

Liberation starts moving inland.

LEAVING NORMANDY BEHIND

For two days, we've ridden the beaches and countryside where the liberation of Western Europe began.

Today, we leave them behind.

The Harleys turn east and the journey changes.

No long list of memorials. No museum timetable. Today is about riding.

We cross the Normandy countryside, following the direction of the Allied advance as the landscape changes around us.

Small towns. Open farmland. Forest roads. French cafés.

And plenty of miles with nowhere particularly urgent to be.

We'll stop when somewhere looks interesting, find a good lunch and allow the road itself to become part of the story.

Because the armies that landed on the Normandy beaches didn't remain there.

They pushed east through France and Belgium, liberating towns and villages as they went.

And that's exactly where we're heading.

By late afternoon we'll arrive somewhere with character, park the motorcycles and settle in for another Boss Hogg evening — good food, a few drinks and probably considerably more conversation than anyone intended.

Tomorrow, the landscape changes again.

We ride into the Ardennes.

And towards a name that became legendary.

Bastogne.

THE ROAD TO BASTOGNE

Yesterday was about putting miles beneath the wheels.

Today, history finds us again.

We leave northern France behind and ride into Belgium, where open countryside gradually gives way to the forests and sweeping roads of the Ardennes.

For motorcyclists, this is wonderful country.

Rolling hills. Forest roads. Small villages. Long bends disappearing between the trees.

But in the winter of 1944, this beautiful landscape became the setting for one of the largest and bloodiest battles fought by American forces during the Second World War.

The Battle of the Bulge.

Our destination is Bastogne.

Surrounded by German forces during the winter offensive, the town became one of the defining stories of the battle as American troops — including the 101st Airborne Division — held their positions despite freezing conditions, dwindling supplies and repeated attacks.

When the German commander demanded their surrender, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe's response became legendary:

“NUTS!”

Today we'll ride the same forests and countryside before arriving in Bastogne with time to experience some of the places that still tell that story.

But we're not spending the day being marched around museums.

The Ardennes itself is part of today's experience.

We'll ride it.

We'll stop somewhere interesting for lunch.

And we'll make sure there's time simply to enjoy some of the best motorcycle country we've encountered since leaving England.

By late afternoon, we'll roll into Bastogne.

The Harleys get parked.

And tonight we're staying right in the middle of another town whose name became part of history.

Tomorrow, we turn north.

The Netherlands is getting closer.

1. BASTOGNE TO THE NETHERLANDS

This morning, we leave Bastogne behind.

The direction is north.

The dense forests of the Ardennes gradually begin to open as we ride through Belgium, following beautiful roads towards the Netherlands.

After several days surrounded by some of the most powerful stories of the Second World War, today gives us room to breathe.

There will still be history along the way — it's almost impossible to travel through this part of Europe without encountering it — but today isn't about another list of battlefields.

It's about the journey.

Belgian villages. Forest roads. Coffee stops. A good lunch somewhere we probably won't want to leave.

And mile by mile, the landscape begins to change.

By afternoon we'll cross into the Netherlands.

Tomorrow is 4 May.

And that changes the mood of the journey.

We're deliberately stopping short of Wageningen tonight. There is no reason to rush towards something we've travelled this far to experience properly.

We' have found somewhere special, we will park the motorcycles and enjoy the evening.

Tomorrow morning we'll have just a relatively short ride ahead of us.

A final journey towards the city where the German capitulation in the Netherlands was negotiated in 1945.

Wageningen.

And by 8pm tomorrow night, an entire country will fall silent.

ARRIVAL IN THE CITY OF LIBERATION

Today the road brings us to Wageningen — the City of Liberation.

It was here, in May 1945, that German forces in the Netherlands were summoned to discuss the terms of surrender at the now-famous Hotel de Wereld.

More than eighty years later, remembrance remains woven into the identity of the city.

We'll arrive during the afternoon, park the motorcycles and check into our hotel. There'll be time to settle in, change and enjoy something to eat before we head into Wageningen for an evening unlike any other on the tour.

At around 19:00, thousands gather for the Silent March through the city.

We join them.

At 20:00, Wageningen — along with the rest of the Netherlands — falls silent for two minutes in remembrance of those who lost their lives in war and conflict.

There are no motorcycles to start, no miles still to cover and nowhere else we need to be.

Tonight, we simply stand alongside the people whose country our journey has been leading us towards.

Later, the atmosphere begins to change.

At 5 Mei Plein, outside the historic Hotel de Wereld, the Freedom Fire is lit. As midnight approaches, runners gather to carry that flame from Wageningen to towns and cities across the Netherlands.

Midnight marks the beginning of Liberation Day.

Tonight we remember.
Tomorrow we celebrate.

TODAY, THE BIKES STAY PARKED.

No luggage.

No morning briefing.

No route to follow.

Today we're in Wageningen for Bevrijdingsdag — Liberation Day.

After following the story of liberation across Europe, we've deliberately timed our journey so that we're here when the Netherlands celebrates its freedom.

The morning begins with the national commemoration of the capitulations of 1945 before Wageningen's Freedom Parade takes to the streets — veterans, military units, bands and historic vehicles passing through the city that became synonymous with Dutch liberation.

And then Wageningen celebrates.

Stages appear throughout the city. Streets fill with people. There is live music, food, bars, historic vehicles and events continuing throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

We'll give you our suggestions for the things we think shouldn't be missed, and we'll meet up at various points during the day.

But this isn't an organised excursion.

It's your Liberation Day too.

ONE LAST RIDE

Yesterday, the motorcycles didn't move.

Today, they do.

After breakfast in Wageningen, bags are packed, engines fire and for the final time on the Victory Edition we ride out together.

There are no battlefields to reach today.

No memorials.

No museums.

We've followed the story from the beaches of Normandy, through France and the forests of the Ardennes, all the way to the Netherlands.

We've stood in silence on 4 May.

We've celebrated freedom on 5 May.

Today, we simply ride.

We'll take the best route we can towards the Channel, stopping for coffee and one last lunch together somewhere along the way.

Eventually the coast appears ahead of us and, nine days after leaving England, we board the ferry home.

There'll be time on the crossing for a drink, photographs, stories and all the inevitable arguments about which road, place or completely unplanned moment was the best part of the tour.

Then the English coastline appears.

The Harleys roll off the ferry.

And the Liberation Grand Tour — Victory Edition comes to an end.

Nine days.

Four countries.

One extraordinary journey.

We came to remember.
We rode to celebrate.
And we leave understanding a little more about the freedom that made the journey possible.