Young Canadians entered the Great War as representatives of a dominion. They fought and fell, but emerged as representatives of a new nation, forged during bloody battles. At the outbreak of World War II, Canadians were again amongst the first to answer the call to arms by Britain. More a pilgrimage than a battlefield tour, this trip takes you to the sites of their heroism and follows soldiers' experiences firsthand, from the trenches to the impact zone. It's a mesmerizing journey, which will leave an indelible mark.

Tour Inclusions
• 6 nights in traditional & unique accommodation
• Specialist Battlefield Guide/Driver
• All mini-coach transportation
• Full European breakfast daily
• Full evening meals x 4

Entrance fees included:

• Hooge Museum Ypres
• Hooge Crater Trenches
• Albert Museum
• Juno Beach Museum
• Château Memorial Museum Dieppe
• Todt Battery Museum
• Sanctuary Wood Museum

Sun 04 Apr, 2010 - Sat 10 Apr, 2010 (6 nights)Sun 02 May, 2010 - Sat 08 May, 2010 (6 nights)Sun 06 Jun, 2010 - Sat 12 Jun, 2010 (6 nights)Sun 04 Jul, 2010 - Sat 10 Jul, 2010 (6 nights)Sun 08 Aug, 2010 - Sat 14 Aug, 2010 (6 nights)Sun 05 Sep, 2010 - Sat 11 Sep, 2010 (6 nights)Sun 03 Oct, 2010 - Sat 09 Oct, 2010 (6 nights)

Itinerary:

Day 1  Albert
We follow the Western Front trench line, across the Loos battlefield travelling the short distance to Vimy Ridge where it is generally agreed the Canadian Nation was forged over Easter 1917. Here we hear in detail how this tremendous victory was achieved, and see the magnificent memorial and possibly view the underground tunnels. Also on today's itinerary will be a visit to Courcellette, scene of savage fighting in September 1916 during the Somme, and finally the town and museum at Albert.
(D)

Day 2  Bayeux
Today, we concentrate on the Somme battlefield. An undoubted highpoint, and one to be indelibly imprinted in the visitor's memory, will be our walking tour of the amazingly well-preserved battlefield at Beaumont Hamel (site of the Newfoundland Regiment's bloody loss of innocence). Then we follow the battle lines to Amiens before continuing to our night stop at Bayeux.
(B/D)

Day 3  Bayeux
We commence our visits to the Normandy Beaches fittingly with a visit to the memorial and museum at Juno Beach. Then, follow the battle from the initial beach landing to Caen, finding memorials and plaques en route. Appropriately, we will include Beny Cemetery, Carpiquet, and the town of Courseulles-sur-Mer where troops engaged in house-to-house combat before liberating it. Also included will be Authie, just north of the Caen-Bayeux road, where the first tank battles took place against the 12th SS Panzer Division. The German tanks were far superior to the Canadians. You'll see where Kurt Meyer's 25th SS Panzer Grenadiers encircled the Royal Winnipeg Rifles at Putot-en-Bessin, and the terrible Abbaye d'Ardenne where Canadian prisoners, most of whom wounded, were shot or bayoneted to death.
(B)

Day 4   Dieppe
This morning we see sites connected with Operation Spring which, other than the Dieppe raid, was the Canadians Army's costliest single operation of the Second World War. May-sur-Orne, Verrieres Ridge (the burial ground of the Black Watch where of the 320 that crossed their original start line, only 15 came back to be counted) and Tilly-la-Campagne are some of the evocative names of the day. This afternoon arrive in Dieppe. Here, on 19 August 1942 five thousand troops of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, along with a thousand British troops, many of them commandos, attacked the French port of Dieppe. The purpose was to make a successful raid on German-occupied Europe over water, and then to hold Dieppe briefly. The results were disastrous. We'll visit the local museum, Canadian cemetery, and actual beach battle site.
(B/D)

Day 5   Ypres
Today we follow the Canadians as they fought tooth and nail along the Atlantic Wall through France to Belgium. Major stops will include the fortifications around Boulogne and Calais that were captured as Canadian forces moved up the coast line, such as the Citadel, Fort Neuilly, the Cathedral Bunker, Fort Lapi, Griz Nez and the museum at the Todt Battery with its immense Railway Gun.
(B/D)

Day 6  Ypres
Today, we return to the Great War and Canadian involvement in perhaps the bloodiest of all British held lines, the Ypres Salient. Here we'll visit the many sites that make this such a special area for Canadians, including Hooge, John McCrae's Essex Farm, Hill 60, the Princess Pat's memorial, St Julien, the site of the first gas attack of modern warfare at Vancouver Corner, Maple Copse and Passchendaele. This evening, after dinner in the rebuilt medieval splendour of Ypres, you'll attend the moving nightly Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.
(B)

Day 7   Lille
We trace the footsteps of soldiers ‘on leave' from war. Our tour ends in Lille and for those who are not continuing on the Operation Market Garden tour you may explore Lille at your leisure. Those who opted to add Operation Market Garden to this tour will continue their tour from Ypres.
(B)

Price

Pick-up/Drop-off Information:

This tour starts at 09.30am from 'The Meeting Point' at Lille Europe Rail station (Eurostar terminal)
Make your own way to the pick-up point at 9:30 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 09.30am 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. The tour will return to Lille on day 7 of the tour.

If you require transfers from London, you will need to arrive the day prior to the tour, ask us for prices.