European Archaeological Park of Bliesbruck-Reinheim — Attraction in Sarreguemines

As an English speaking American with very little German and no French, I had a hard time planning our trip here with our kids ages 5,3, and 1.5 years. I knew it was largely outdoors with property on the German and French border but couldn’t figure out which lot to park in, where the “information center” was, etc. so we plugged the main address into our GPS and showed up on this hot June Thursday afternoon. We parked in the lot it brought us to - near the closed restaurant. There were almost no people around and several buildings and I didn’t want to be walking all over the place looking for the information center so we started walking towards the Roman Tavern. Along the way we found signs describing some of the excavations and indicating there was an audio tour you can use your phone for (though we never learned how). We ate then continued walking through the remains of the villa and found one of the SEVERAL information centers (exhibits, really) where you can obtain a map and buy tickets (which, FYI, get you into each exhibit). This one happened to be where the Celtic princess figuring is displayed, and it was truly fascinating, but would have been even better if signs in there had more English. We then backtracked through the ruins and eventually found the other exhibit, where they have jewelry and coins and whatnot on display, then found the Celtic display, the ruins of the Roman town and the bathhouse, where there seemed to be a third information center that was closed. Altogether this took us about 4 hours moving at a fairly rapid pace and only being able to read about 1/3 of the signage throughout the park (and not having the time or internet bandwidth to use Google translate app to read each one). Our double stroller was able to navigate everywhere as long as we stuck to the path, but we couldn’t bring it in the indoor exhibits and there were several outdoor displays we had to leave it 20 feet away or so to get close enough. We took a few snack breaks at picnic tables throughout, and were able to use the bathrooms in the Roman tavern and the museum indoor exhibit.

Everyone was very nice, though most of the staff had little English. The bathhouse, in my opinion, was the coolest part and was blissfully shaded by the building they built over it. Definitely worth the trip, bring lots of water and snacks, plan for several hours, and if I redid it, I’d park at the northernmost parking lot, start at the princess burial exhibit, and work my way...

Un immense espace en pleine nature, avec, durant les 2 jours de Vita Romana, largement de quoi se garer et une bonne prise en charge de la part des organisateurs. Sur le lieu dit, beaucoup de sécurité, une boutique souvenirs intéressante, des sanitaires nombreux, une démonstration de pain à la romaine et une jolie "taverne" aménagée sous une tonnelle de vigne pour se désaltérer. Un seul restaurant (un peu cher et contemporain) pour se sustenter. Des intervenants du spectacle et/ou bénévoles passionnés en habits d'époque nous font revivre cette lointaine période de l'antiquité. Un point remarquable: un lieu unique avec gradins pour les representations qu'on ne peut pas manquer: fauconnerie, musique, contes, entraînement des gladiateurs et de l'armée romaine, course de chars... Des explications sur le vif très instructives qui démontent pas mal de nos idées reçues ! Pourquoi seulement 4 étoiles alors? Ce serait bien que les gradins spectateurs soient aménagés comme un amphithéâtre romain avec des voilages pare-soleil car ça cogne fort en cas de beau temps! La petite taverne pourrait vendre le pain romain que fabrique le boulanger toute la journée et quelques spécialités de l'epoque, une bière, un jus de fruits ou un vin façon gallo-romaine afin qu'on se baigne encore plus dans l'esprit. Merci pour ces jours extraordinaires et l'implication de tous...

an incredibly large area with excavations of a roman villa and adjoining village. very accessible. fun thing is that it now lies in 3 countries so you cross the border into Germany without any problems. the celtic princess was an amazing bonus. everything very well kept, despite covid. restaurant serves also roman food ( yes!) for reasonable prices. and you can take your dog with you when you visit the outdoor...