Introducing the Western Front

Day 1: After a morning crossing from the UK, we arrive on the iconic Ypres Salient. We look at life behind the lines with a visit to Talbot House, the Every Man’s Club. We will then take in a tasting session of local Belgian beer at a brewery before taking in important sites that tell the story of 1914-15. We will be in Ypres in time for the Last Post. 

Day 2: We move down to the Somme and forward to 1916, to some of the best-known sites of the British sector in the First World War. We will start with the story of the failed capture of Beaumont Hamel, but we won’t focuse solely on 1st July 1916.  and we will take in Delville Wood and sites relating to the Battle of the Ancre. We will end the day with a visit to the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

Day 3: The tour will move into 1917 and discover evolution of warfare in the final years of the war. After visiting the French Cemetery and Ossuary at Notre Dame de Lorette, we will focus on the battlefields around Arras, with visits to the sites of Vimy Ridge and Monchy le Preux before entering Arras itself. We will end the day at Faubourg D’Amiens Cemetery and Memorial.

Day 4: On our final day on the battlefields, we will start with the Battle of Messines Ridge, considered to be one of the most successful of the First World War. In the afternoon, we will move on to the Third Battle of Ypres, visiting sites across the Salient including Tynecot Cemetery and Memorial, the largest CWGC in the world. We will end our tour with the story of the Americans around Ypres in 1918, before heading for home.