Retrace the steps of Australian and New Zealand troops in the Great War. This heart-rending battlefield tour pays tribute to their extraordinary valour, reviving their experience from behind the lines to the battlefield with the help of a specialist guide. Back-Roads Touring offers and unparalleled experience in the region, bringing the events to life as we explore those significant sites that shaped modern history. It is a poignant, utterly unrivalled journey that will grip you from the first moment, and forever change your perspective on life, loyalty and national spirit.

Tour Inclusions:
• 3 nights in traditional & unique accommodation
• Specialist Battlefield Guide/Driver
• All mini-coach transportation
• Full European breakfast daily
• Full evening meals x 2

Entrance fees as listed:

• Hooge Museum Ypres
• Hooge Crater Trenches
• Wellington Tunnels
• Victoria School Museum

2011 Dates Coming Soon!G - Guaranteed Departure

Itinerary:

Day 1  Ypres Salient
Meeting in Lille we then travel from "Plug Street" up the line along the Messines Ridge, where the New Zealand and Australian troops played a crucial role in capturing the ridge. Our ANZAC experience continues with a walk on Hill 60's moonscape. We visit Polygon Wood where the monument to the 5th Division towers over the fallen and Tyne Cot, where the ANZAC's played such an important role in the Battle of Passchendaele. Our first day finishes with the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate (8pm) before enjoying a local dinner.
(B/D)

Day 2   Artois
Currently, mass graves containing unidentified British and ANZAC soldiers have been exhumed for possible identification and reburial in the newly constructed cemetery close to the mass graves at Pheasant Wood. Close by we find one of the most inspiring of the Australian memorials - the Digger carrying his mate to safety after his cry, "Don't forget me, Cobber!" We continue our day exploring the Wellington Tunnels in Arras, a city beneath the city and vastly expanded by the New Zealand Tunneling Company. Experiencing victory and defeat, we follow the push east with the capture of Bapaume and the battle at Bullecourt. We visit many sites around here, including the evocative Digger memorial.
(B)

Day 3   The Somme
Today, we tour the front line on the battlefields of the Somme. On the 1st July 1916, the British Army suffered its greatest losses, with nearly 60,000 soldiers becoming casualties. We visit the battlefields of Pozieres, the famous Windmill site and Mouquet Farm. New Zealanders will find the monument at Longueval, honouring the New Zealand efforts during the autumn battles for Flers. The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing will leave an everlasting impression by its sheer size.
(B/D)

Day 4    Villers-Bretonneux
We visit Villers-Bretonneux, where the great German push during the Spring Offensive was countered and broken. We see the inspiring Australian National Memorial, honouring all those who died in France during the war and have no known grave. The Franco-Australian Museum at the Victoria school with the words Never Forget Australia still proudly displayed will not leave you untouched. We continue in the footsteps of the ANZACS via the Memorial Park at Le Hamel, recalling Monash's victory of July 1918.
(B)

Price

Pick-up/Drop-off Information:

 

This tour starts at 11.00 from 'The Meeting Point' at Lille Europe Rail station (Eurostar terminal)

Make your own way to the pick-up point at 11.00 am at the 'Meeting Point' inside the Lille Europe station. If you are staying in Paris you may catch SNCF operated train service from Paris Nord to Lille Flanders (approx 1 hr 20 mins). From Lille Flanders make your way to Lille Europe for the 11.00am pick up at 'The Meeting Point' inside the rail terminal. Please note that transfers from Paris are not included in the price of your tour.

 

If you require transfers from London, please ask for our Eurostar times and prices.