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France
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Hauts-de-France
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Pas-de-Calais
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Arras
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Tours & Activities
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4-Day World War I Battlefields Tour from Paris
4 days
About this activity
As you travel through the idyllic French and Belgian countryside on this 4-day trip, it can be hard to imagine the bloodshed that once took place there. This moving 4-day trip brings home the enormous cost of war. As you visit battlefields and memorials, your knowledgeable guide puts the sites you see into historical context. With three nights of accommodations included, this historical adventure allows you to follow in the footsteps of brave soldiers who fought and died 100 years ago.
Please see the Itinerary below for details on each day of the tour.
DAY 1 - FROM PARIS TO YPRES BATTLEFIELDS AND LILLE.
Depart Le Méridien Etoile, at 09:00 bound for Flanders Fields. Visit the Ypres Salient battlefields, including Hill 60, Polygon Wood, the Passchendaele Memorial and Tyne Cot Cemetery. In the town of Ypres, hear the Last Post sounded at the Menin Gate. Continue to your hotel and join your Travel Director for a Welcome Drink.
DAY 2 - TIME FOR REFLECTION AT FROMELLES AND VIMY RIDGE, THEN ONTO AMIENS.
See the Australian cemetery of Fromelles, before continuing to the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy Ridge. Take in a visit to the trenches preserved just as they were during the Great War with a Local Expert, who tells stories of battles that raged the now silent pastures. Continue to Amiens and perhaps visit the impressive cathedral?
DAY 3 - (RELAXED START) THE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE SOMME.
Meet your Local Expert to explore the key battlefields of the Somme. Visit the Lochnagar Crater, the South African and New Zealand Memorials at Longueval, Newfoundland Memorial and Museum and the Franco-British Memorial at Thiepval. Enjoy a lunch stop in Albert to see the church. Afterwards, explore Beaumont-Hamel on the way back to Amiens where you will have the afternoon at leisure. Maybe do a little shopping or spend some time in the historic Saint-Leu district?
DAY 4 - RETURN TO PARIS.
Visit the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux and the Franco-Australian Museum in the local Victoria School. Stop to explore Le Hamel and then continue to Péronne. On return to Paris, a stop is made at Charles De Gaulle Airport. For those departing in the evening, please do not schedule flights before 19:00. Alternatively the coach will drop you at Le Méridien Etoile.
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Please see the Itinerary below for details on each day of the tour.
DAY 1 - FROM PARIS TO YPRES BATTLEFIELDS AND LILLE.
Depart Le Méridien Etoile, at 09:00 bound for Flanders Fields. Visit the Ypres Salient battlefields, including Hill 60, Polygon Wood, the Passchendaele Memorial and Tyne Cot Cemetery. In the town of Ypres, hear the Last Post sounded at the Menin Gate. Continue to your hotel and join your Travel Director for a Welcome Drink.
DAY 2 - TIME FOR REFLECTION AT FROMELLES AND VIMY RIDGE, THEN ONTO AMIENS.
See the Australian cemetery of Fromelles, before continuing to the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy Ridge. Take in a visit to the trenches preserved just as they were during the Great War with a Local Expert, who tells stories of battles that raged the now silent pastures. Continue to Amiens and perhaps visit the impressive cathedral?
DAY 3 - (RELAXED START) THE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE SOMME.
Meet your Local Expert to explore the key battlefields of the Somme. Visit the Lochnagar Crater, the South African and New Zealand Memorials at Longueval, Newfoundland Memorial and Museum and the Franco-British Memorial at Thiepval. Enjoy a lunch stop in Albert to see the church. Afterwards, explore Beaumont-Hamel on the way back to Amiens where you will have the afternoon at leisure. Maybe do a little shopping or spend some time in the historic Saint-Leu district?
DAY 4 - RETURN TO PARIS.
Visit the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux and the Franco-Australian Museum in the local Victoria School. Stop to explore Le Hamel and then continue to Péronne. On return to Paris, a stop is made at Charles De Gaulle Airport. For those departing in the evening, please do not schedule flights before 19:00. Alternatively the coach will drop you at Le Méridien Etoile.
Included
- Three nights accommodation
- Meals as per itinerary (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner)
- Professional guide
- Air-conditioned vehicle
Not included
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 30 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
- Return times to Paris on the final day are approximate and could be affected by adverse weather or traffic conditions. If you are booking a flight from Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) immediately after the tour, the departure time should not be before 7pm.
Features
Tourism
95%
Cultural
65%
Aquatic
25%
Reviews
The tour itself was wonderful. Our guide was professional and knowledgeable, the trip was well organized, and we stayed in fine hotels each night. Had plenty of time to visit each site, never felt rushed. Got to see a wide variety of places and memorials. Loved every bit of it. Only complaint: booked through Viator, but tour actually run by Insight. Viator gave us the wrong departure place, which we discovered by accident and would have been a disaster. We left from Hotel Meridian Etoile, not where Viator listed. We also didn’t get the same trip info and introductory materials as those who booked directly with Insight. Viator could also stand to improve its method of email communication. Loved the tour.
This 4 day tour was remarkable! We visited most of the major WW1 sites in Northern France and Belgium. The two hotels were very modern and comfortable and the breakfasts were fantastic. Our coach was configured with fewer seats than normal so there was lots of legroom. Our guide Caroline was professional, knowledgeable and very friendly. Our driver Suli was highly skilled. My impression is that all 22 participants fully enjoyed the trip and I would highly recommend it.
The battlefields tour was wonderful and I enjoyed very minute of it. The only problem I had with the tour was that no one at Viator told me that it would be the local tour operator picking me up at the hotel, and I started to panic when I did not see a Viator bus show up. It got figured out out when the tour director paged me in the lobby, but I think it would be a good idea to let your clients know which tour bus is picking them up. Other than thst glitch, it was a fabulous tour.
This was a fantastic tour. We saw a lot of beautiful countryside, learned a lot about WW1 and made new friends. We took our teenage boys on this tour and they really enjoyed this tour as well -- even though they were by far the youngest on the tour.