Ypres, Fromelles, Arras & Loos Battlefields Tour
2 Days / 1 Night every Sunday to Monday, March-November
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 Our Battlefields tours are run in small groups, average 10 persons, and are accompanied by either ex-army personnel or Battlefield Guides with postgraduate qualifications.
We will always try to include specially requested sites. These tours are run in small groups, maximum 12 persons, and are accompanied by either ex-army personnel or Battlefield Guides with postgraduate qualifications. We will always try to include specially requested sites.
This tour may be taken in shorter sectors Saturday to Sunday, individual day tours Saturday, Sunday or Monday or as a 3 Day/2 Night tour Saturday, Sunday and Monday from either London or Lille.
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PRICE PER PERSON IN POUNDS STERLING GBP
2 Days / 1 Night Ypres Salient, Triumph & Disaster
(Departs Sunday / Returns Monday)
£199 per person Twin Share / £215 Single from Lille
ALL TOURS DEPART FROM LILLE
JOINING THE TOUR FROM LONDON
Due to Sunday Eurostar timetables, it is not possible to join the tour from London on the same day. Instead, stay overnight in Lille, then join the tour next morning. We can assist with Lille accommodation and transport from London if required.
JOINING THE TOUR FROM PARIS
If you want to join the tour from Paris, you can do so by catching the TGV from Paris Gare du Nord to Lille Europe station. Rail tickets are not included in tour price. You must report at Lille Europe station (not Lille Flanders, 10 minutes walk away) by 9.15am. The earliest train you should book to return to Paris on Monday at the end of the tour is 8pm.
Please note: There are 2 stations in Lille - Lille Europe and Lille Flanders.Tours start from Lille Europe Station which is a 10-minute walk from Lille Flanders.
We can book pre / post tour accommodation & services available in Lille, Paris and London.
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DAY ONE - SUNDAY - YPRES SALIENT
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Meet Lille Europe station 9am.
The Salient' struck fear into the Great War Tommy for being the hottest spot on the 70 mile front held by Imperial and Empire troops. Over a quarter of a million men gave their lives to hold this last bit of Belgium from the Germans. Although history records three great battles fought at Ypres, it was in fact a constant battle against shell, bullet, bomb, gas, water and rats.
On our day touring the Salient you'll see, in the company of a first class guide, some of the most important sites that remain; the German trenches at Kemmel, 'Shot at Dawn' execution sites, sites of the first gas attack and where flame thrower were introduced into modern warfare, John McRae's Essex Farm site, the grave of double VC winner, Noel Chavasse, Hoogt crater and museum, the Passendaele dug-out and Tyne Cot cemetery. You'll walk the moonscape of the Hill 60 battlefield and see literally dozens of memorials to British, Australian and Canadian regiments. We'll also spend time in Ypres itself with the opportunity to visit St George's Chapel, the Menen (Menin) Gate Memorial, and for those who want to take an optional tour of the 'In Flanders Field' Museum to do so.
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DAY TWO - MONDAY - FROMELLES, LOORS, ARRAS, VIMY RIDGE
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On this day we'll visit sites connected with the 1915 battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Neuve Chapelle, where the Indian Army gave a magnificent account of itself, and the 1917 Battle of Arras. You'll see where Adolf Hitler served and the bunker he is reputed to have used as a billet. Australian's will be touched at seeing the Fromelles 'Digger' memorial, where a current archaeological investigation is uncovering the mass grave of over 400 Diggers killed at this first Australian battle on the Western Front. We'll tour the Loos battlefield, site of the disastrous battle of 1915. For Canadians Vimy Ridge is the undoubted highlight, where, subject to availability, we take a tunnel and trench tour and spend time at the massive and imposing Vimy memorial. We'll also see sites in and around the pretty city of Arras connected with the huge battle of 1917. If time, we'll see the recently discovered underground tunnels and the French National memorial at Lorrette de Notre Dame.
We return to Lille station at approximately 6pm.
>> Go to other Battlefields Tours
>> Go to other tours departing from London
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