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Taking up to 5 people
(+ Guide / Driver) in our comfortable air-conditioned Citroën C8 minivan or rental vehicle we will explore the battlefields of the Western Front on foot, by car, and through museums.
The history, context, and significance of all we shall see will be clearly explained by your guide Dr Andrew Thomson (see More About Us).
This is a suggested itinerary only - on all our trips we are of course happy to accommodate specific requirements, and to adjust the schedule depending on weather, circumstances and preferences.
Ask us for an individual quote today.
ANZAC Troops on the Western Front
A suggested 3-day / 2-night private tour for up to 5 people
Make your own party - do get in touch to discuss possible dates
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Private groups (i.e. you & your friends);
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With hotel nights on the Somme (for Villers-Brettoneux, Pozières, Bullecourt and Fromelles) and Ypres (Polygon Wood, Hill 60 and Passchendaele), we will put together a programme which will also include as many of the other general sites in the Somme / Ypres areas (even Verdun) as your time allows. Here is a suggested 3-day (2-night) itinerary. Naturally we can put together a family-specific tour, and tours of different durations (only got a day? see below for information about Day Trips).
Day One - Ypres; night in town centre
- After a night in Canterbury, or a 40 minute train journey from London to Ashford - 35 minute Tunnel crossing in our car, then 1 hr drive from Calais.
- Drive from Paris (2 hr 45 minutes) or Brussels (1 hr 30 minutes)
- Meet at Lille station (1 hr 30 from London St Pancras) - 45 min drive
Arrive Ypres late morning: tour taking in the Messines Ridge (June 1917), Caterpillar/Hill 60 (site of Australian mining operations), Menin Road &Polygon Wood (September 1917; 5th Australian Division memorial), and Passchendaele - then into Ypres itself for night in hotel, with attendance at the 8 p.m. Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate memorial to the Missing.
Day Two - Fromelles, Bullecourt, Villers-Bretonneux; night in Peronne
Travel 45 minutes south to Fromelles (July 1916 - the first Australian battle on the Western Front; 1 hour here) a further 45 minutes to Bullecourt (April/May 1917 battle: 1 hour here), then on [via snack lunch stop] a final 50 minutes to Villers-Bretonneux: Adelaide Cemetery (from which the Unknown Soldier was taken to Canberra in 1993), the Australian Memorial (with the list of all the Australian missing in France), and the Franco-Australian Museum. 30 minutes drive to Albert or Peronne where we spend the night.
Day Three - The Somme
Day tour taking in Pozieres village (July/August 1916: Gibraltar and Windmill memorial sites) and Mouquet Farm, scenes of the principal Australian fighting in 1916. We will also visit Flers/Guedecourt (Australian fighting in October 1916), the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, and preserved trenches at Beaumont Hamel. Leave mid-afternoon, aiming to get you to your finishing point by 5.30 p.m.
- 90 minute drive to Channel Tunnel. Back in the UK we will put you on a high-speed train to London, arriving there around 7.20 p.m.
- Drop-off in Paris or Brussels - 2 hr drive
- Drive to Lille Eurostar station - 1 hr
Check out our prices here
Do get in touch to discuss details and possible dates.
Day trips to Ypres or the Somme:
Ypres - start/finish: After night in Canterbury, or a train journey from London to Ashford; or from Lille (train from Paris or London).
7 hours exploring the battlefield and town (Tunnel option: stay for early evening meal followed by the 8 p.m. Last Post Menin Gate ceremony; back in Canterbury 10.30 p.m.)
Somme - start/finish: After night in Canterbury, or a train journey from London to Ashford; Lille (train from London), or Amiens (train from Paris).
6 hours exploring the area (Tunnel option: break for French evening meal en route back; Canterbury 10.30 p.m.).
See also:
World War I Tours
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Dr Thomson's Tours
Tour operator & private guide
Tailor-made private tours of South-East England, France, Belgium & Germany
Above: The striking 'Cobbers' sculpture at Fromelles shows Sgt. Fraser bringing in the wounded
Below: The Australian National World War I Memorial at Villers Bretonneux
Australians remembered in Peronne (Somme) liberated in September 1918
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Add-ons before or after your tour One of the key things that we offer is flexibility: we are keen to help you enhance your tour experience by offering you the chance to visit somewhere that you’ve always wanted to see (either just before or after your tour with us). And bear in mind the possibility to do this in the context of being dropped off somewhere interesting for the next leg of your vacation (or business trip). Starting the tour in one place and finishing in another is something we do often for clients. Add-ons available on an ANZAC tour: |
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Le Trou Aid Post Cemetery, just behind the lines at Fromelles
The Menin Gate at Ypres where Australian Missing from the fighting in Belgium are listed
One of several memorials at Bullecourt, an Australian attack on the Hindenburg Line (April/May 1917)
The Memorial at Mouquet Farm, 400 metres north of Pozieres village on the Somme
Ruins of the 'Windmill' German stronghold at Pozieres, scene of Australian fighting in July/August 1916