The Great War - The Somme & Flanders

Day One

Welcome to France
Travel to your hotel in the Lille region. If time permits, begin exploring the area.

Day Two

In Flanders Fields Museum ‘In Flanders Fields Museum’ which has been renovated and improved in recent years. Located in the former Cloth Halls of Ypres, in the centre of the town, the museum presents the story of WW1 in the West Flanders Front region. Using bracelets given to you on arrival, you can activate the exhibits and read accounts of people from the First World War, tailored to be personal to yourself. There are also several films showing clips of the battles and a retelling of life in a WW1 Hospital. (N.B.
The museum is closed for most of January and on Mondays between November and March.) The 14-18 Route – Battlefields and Memorials

Take the guided coach excursion around the 14-18 route. The tour normally stops at Essex Farm where John McCrae wrote his famous ‘In Flanders Fields’ poem, Langemarck Cemetery which is one of only four German cemeteries in the Flanders region and Tyne Cot Cemetery which is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world. The contrast of the gleaming white headstones of Tyne Cot and the simple grey stones of Langemarck, surrounded by oak trees, both places of remembrance, but markedly different. Other sites including Hill 62 Museum / Sanctuary Wood and the Irish Peace Tower in the Island of Ireland Peace Park can be visited but more time may be required. The afternoon will be spent in Ypres to discover the charming town then head for dinner at the local restaurant. Last Post at the Menin Gate

Finish your day at the Menin Gate to witness the emotional Last Post Ceremony, held every evening at 20.00hrs. During the war this was the call for all soldiers fighting in the fields outside the gates to head back to the city for the evening. However, many did not return back through the gates. The tradition continues each evening to this day and is one of the most poignant elements to any battlefields tour. We recommend arriving early to be able to see the ceremony taking place and the wreaths being carried.

Day Three

The Somme Battlefields The Somme Battlefields complement the tour to the battlefields of the Flanders region. The Somme Battlefields and Memorials Starting with a guided tour, there are several sites you can visit. Lochnagar Crater, the largest crater of its kind at 300ft, created from charges packed into a tunnel and yet only one of 17 mines that blew up on 1st July 1916. Thiepval Memorial is a striking memorial to over 72,000 officers and men of the UK and South African forces who have no known grave. Their names are inscribed on the walls. There is also a small cemetery at the site where French and Commonwealth soldiers lie side by side, their gravestones marking the difference of armies. A visit to the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a focal point of this day and a sombre experience. Visit Ulster Tower, Northern Ireland’s national war memorial and one of the first Memorials to be erected on the Western Front and commemorates the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division and all those from Ulster who served in WW1. We also recommend visits to Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, Delville Wood or simply one of the many small roadside cemeteries, as the haunting history of the area is hard to miss. Arras and Wellington Quarries End the day with a visit to Arras and Wellington Quarries. Almost completely rebuilt after being destroyed during the Battle of Arras in WW1, perhaps discover the historic streets and Flemish-style architecture of the squares. However, the town’s history lies not only above ground – under the streets of Arras lie a warren of chalk quarries that proved a strategic base for numerous assaults in WW1. The evocative Wellington Quarries museum relates the story of some 24,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers stationed there, 20m underground in 1917.

Day Four

Homeward - Back to UK