Ypres to The Somme
A suggested 2 or 3 day tour for up to 5 people

Two-thirds of British and Empire casualties on the Western Front were incurred around Ypres or the Somme. At the north and south respectively of the British section of the Front, these infamous sites form the core of this classic World War I tour. Here is a 3-day (2 nights) suggestion (a 2-day version would exclude Day Two). Naturally we can put together customised family-specific tours.

Day One - Ypres
Arrive Ypres late morning: tour tracing where ‘No Man’s Land’ ran through looking at today’s landscape and trench maps, then visits to the Canadian ‘Brooding Soldier’ memorial (site of the Germans’ first use of gas, April 1915), huge mine craters at the Caterpillar/Hill 60, the Island of Ireland Peace Park on Messines Ridge, and Tyne Cot cemetery on the slopes of Passchendaele village. Into Ypres town for night in 3-star hotel and attendance at the 8 p.m. Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate memorial.

Day Two - Fromelles, Loos, Vimy Ridge & Arras
Drive south to the striking Australian statue and memorial at Fromelles, their first engagement on the Western Front (July 1916). Further 30 minutes (past Loos) to the Canadian memorial and preserved craters and trenches at Vimy Ridge. Afternoon visit to Wellington Quarry in nearby Arras, part of the preserved tunnel system where New Zealand and British troops waited before the 1917 Battle of Arras. Night in Arras, Albert or Peronne.

Day Three - The Somme
Day tour taking in the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, preserved trenches at Beaumont Hamel, ‘Pal’s battalions’ memorials at Serre (walk in ‘The Copses’), the German cemetery at Fricourt, and Lochnagar Crater (the largest on the Western Front). Leave mid-afternoon for the drive back to Paris, Brussels, the Channel Tunnel or Lille station.

Add-ons available: A day in the county of Kent (+ a night in Canterbury), Reims, Bruges, Ghent, Paris

See also:
Photo Gallery: Ypres
Photo Gallery: The Somme

Above: The Caterpillar Crater - all that remains following a deadly explosion on 7th June 1917
Below: Ypres' 14th century Cloth Hall totally rebuilt after World War I

Above: The preserved trenches at Sanctuary Wood
Left: Sir Edwin Lutyens' Memorial to the Missing

Day Trips to Ypres or The Somme

Ypres:
Start/finish Canterbury or Ashford B&B/hotel (meet 7.30 a.m., 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.)

The Somme:
Start/finish Canterbury or Ashford B&B/hotel (meet 7.30 a.m., car to Tunnel), Lille (train from London), or Amiens (for train from Paris - 75 minutes 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.).

Verdun and the Argonne
Private 2 to 4 day tours for up to 5 people

Staying in a village near Verdun, we explore not just the French battlefield of 1916, but the sectors either side - areas from which the Americans launched their major attacks in September/October 1918: St Mihiel, and the Argonne Forest. These are amongst the least-visited Western Front sites, but include the most spectacular crater fields and preserved trench systems to be seen anywhere.

Add-ons available:
A day in the county of Kent (+ a night in Canterbury), Reims, Paris

See also:
A suggested 3-day itinerary: Verdun & the Argonne

Above: Exploring a German communication trench (near St Mihiel)
Right: Elaborate German bunkers in the Argonne Forest (the 'Abri de Kronprinz')

Above: Dwarfed by the huge craters left by underground mining and subsequent blowing up of each others front lines: Butte de Vauquois, Verdun area

U.S. troops on the Western Front
Private 2 to 4 day tours for up to 5 people

With hotel nights near Verdun for both Meuse-Argonne (Lost Battalion and Sgt. York sites) and St Mihiel (preserved trenches and U.S. Memorial), we can extend this tour depending on the time available and your particular interests (maybe family links to particular battles): this could include Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, Fere-en-Tardenois, and even the actions fought much further north by the two divisions which fought with the British (Hindenburg Line, Mt Kemmel).

Add-ons available:
A day in the county of Kent (+ a night in Canterbury), Reims, Paris

See also:
A suggested 3-day itinerary: U.S. Troops on the Western Front

Detail from US Memorial at Sommepy (Champgane)

ANZAC troops on the Western Front
Private 2 to 4 day tours for up to 5 people

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.

Add-ons available:
A day in the county of Kent (+ a night in Canterbury), Reims, Bruges, Ghent, Paris

See also:
A suggested 3-day itinerary: ANZAC Troops on the Western Front

The striking 'Cobbers' sculpture at Fromelles

Canadians on the Western Front
Private 2 to 4 day tours for up to 5 people

With hotel nights on the Somme (for Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, and Monchy-le- Preux) and Ypres (Vancouver Corner for the April 1915 Gas Attack memorial, Essex Farm where John McCrae wrote 'In Flanders Fields', 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.

Add-ons available:
A day in the county of Kent (+ a night in Canterbury), Reims, Bruges, Ghent, Paris

See also:
A suggested 3-day itinerary: Canadians on the Western Front

Canada Mourning at Vimy Ridge

Preserved trenches at the Newfoundland Memorial Park (Beaumont-Hamel), The Somme