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Day One - Ypres; night in town centre
Travel from start point: Canterbury / Channel Tunnel - 35 minute Tunnel crossing, then 1 hour drive from Calais
Paris - 2 hr 45 drive
Brussels - 1 hr 30 drive
Lille Eurostar station (trains from London in 1 hr 30 mins) - 45 min drive
Arrive Ypres late morning: tour taking in the site of the April 1915 gas attack ('Brooding Soldier' monument), Essex Farm (John McCrae), Sanctuary Wood (Hill 62: Mt Sorrel) preserved trenches, Caterpillar/Hill 60 (Canadian mining operations), 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 - Vimy Ridge, Monchy-le-Preux, Canal du Nord; night in Arras or Peronne
Travel 1 hour south to Vimy Ridge - tour taking in the preserved trenches and craters, the beautifully restored Canadian National World War I memorial, and less-visited parts of the battlefield such as Zivy Crater cemetery. Visit nearby Cabaret Rouge cemetery to see where the Unknown Soldier, now in Ottawa, was taken from. Drive 20 minutes east to Monchy-le-Preux scene of brave Newfoundland resistance in April 1917, then a further 20 minutes to Cambrai to see the Canal du Nord and its memorial from Canada's impressive September/October 1918 advance. Night in Arras or Peronne.
Day Three - Somme
Day tour taking in the Courcelette area (Canada’s part of the Battle of the Somme, September to November 1916), the Thiepval Memorial, preserved trenches in the Newfoundland Memorial Park (at Beaumont Hamel), the Newfoundland Memorial at Guedecourt, and Lochnagar Crater (the largest crater on the Western Front). Leave mid-afternoon, aiming to get you to your finishing point by 5.30 p.m.
Canterbury / Channel Tunnel - 90 minute drive to Calais (back in the UK we will put you on a train to London, arriving there around 7.45 p.m.)
Paris or Brussels - 2 hr drive
Lille Eurostar station - 1 hr drive
Day trips to Ypres or the Somme
Ypres - start/finish: Canterbury or Ashford B&B/hotel (car to Tunnel), or 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: Canterbury or Ashford B&B/hotel (car to Tunnel), Lille (train from London), or Amiens (for train from Paris - 75 mins from Paris Gare du Nord). 6 hours exploring the area (Tunnel option: break for French evening meal en route back; Canterbury 10.30 p.m.).
Check out our prices here.
Sample private tour itinerary: From the first Canadian fighting at ‘Second Ypres’ in April 1915 to the breakthrough Canal du Nord crossing in September 1918, you can follow them all on this suggested 3-day (2 nights) 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).
Photo Gallery:
Canadians on the Western Front
(& sample private tour itinerary)
Passchendaele, Autumn 1917 - the mud, and the Canadian memorial in Passchendaele village
Vimy Ridge - the Canadian National World War I Memorial, opened in 1936
The 'Brooding Soldier' monument to the Canadian battle after the first-ever use of gas by German forces at Ypres, April 1915
The figure of Canada mourning, at Vimy Ridge
Right: the Memorial includes a list of Canadians Missing in France - some 11,000 names (Misssing in Belgium are listed on the Menin Gate in Ypres)
Below & right: preserved trenches and a surviving tree in Sanctaury Wood, east of Ypres - part of the Mount Sorrel / Hill 62 battlefield where in June 1916 the Canadians were pushed back by the Germans, then regained all the lost land in a successful counterattack organised by General Currie
Other related pages:
Other related photo galleries:
These are private tours for family / friends groups of up to 5 people, offered by Dr Thomson’s Tours – see Introduction and More About Us for details about us and how we operate our tours. Do get in touch to discuss possible dates.
Travelling in a comfortable air-conditioned Citroën C8 or rental vehicle, tours can start either on the continent or in England - with a choice of a night in historic Canterbury (90 minutes by train from London), or of getting the first train of the day down to Ashford International Station to meet your guide.
Staying in comfortable hotels in the region, we will explore the battlefields 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.
On all our trips we are of course happy to accommodate specific requirements, and to adjust the schedule depending on weather, circumstances and preferences.