First World War Battlefields - Novotel Ieper

Day 1

TO YPRES
Following the Channel crossing to Calais we make our way to Ypres where we stay for the next three nights.

Day 2

YPRES SALIENT
We begin our guided tour of the Ypres Salient at Frezenberg, with an introduction and overview over the Salient. We then travel to Artillery Wood and the grave of Hedd Wyn before arriving at the new Welsh Memorial where we take a short lunch stop. In the afternoon we begin our tour at the Langemarck German Cemetery before continuing to the Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest British cemetery on the Western Front, finishing our day at the interesting Memorial Museum Passchendaele. Every evening in Ypres you can witness the poignant 'Last Post' which takes place at 8pm. (B, L)

Day 3

THE SOMME
Today we travel to the Somme where we begin our guided tour at the Newfoundland Park and the Ulster Tower. We then continue to the impressive Thiepval Memorial where a gigantic stone monument carries the names of 75,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers of no known grave. We continue to the Lochnagar Crater before finishing at the Welsh Memorial at Mametz Wood. (B)

Day 4

FROM YPRES
After departing Ypres, we visit the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy Ridge, a memorial to all Canadians who served their country in battle during the Great War, bearing the inscribed names of 11,168 missing Canadians, killed in action in France. We continue to Calais and complete the journey home. (B)

NOTE

While we have carefully planned our programme to be as relaxing and informative as possible the tour does require a certain level of physical ability in order to walk reasonable distances and sometimes over uneven ground.