Suggested Itinerary
Day 1 – Talbot House
Board our private executive coach at your designated pick up points – take the cross Channel ferry from your preferred port – after meeting our professional battlefield guide we visit Talbot House in Poperinge established by Tubby Clayton and Neville Talbot in 1915 and the birthplace of the Toc H movement – continue to the 4* Best Western Plus Alize Hotel in Mouscron – dinner in our hotel.
Day 2 – Ypres Salient & ‘Last Post’ Ceremony
Our battlefield guide takes us to see the sights and monuments of the infamous Ypres Salient in Belgium including the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing and the site of the Christmas Truce of 1914 – along the Messines Ridge, the area of the largest mining operation of the War, and then to the crypt of Messines church which was used as a dressing station during the War – the reconstructed German trenches at Croonaert Wood – time for lunch at the famous Hooge Crater Museum which houses a collection of arms and equipment from the War – the Worcestershire Regiment Memorial and the Passchendaele Museum keeps the memory alive of the 500,000 causalities of Passchendaele through images and films – Tyne Cot British and Commonwealth Cemetery and Memorial is the largest of its type in the world – this evening we attend the deeply moving ‘Last Post’ Ceremony under the Menin Gate which bears the names of almost 55,000 men whose bodies were never found.
Day 3 – The Somme
The Museum of the Great War at Peronne contemplates the War on the front line and the effect it had on civilians behind the lines – after seeing the largest British Mine Crater at La Boiselle, we spend time at the South African Memorial at Delville Wood, Mametz Wood Welsh Memorial and Devonshire Trench British Cemetery – the largest British memorial in the world is at Thiepval – continue to the preserved trenches at Newfoundland Park and the Sunken Road at Beaumont Hamel – finish our time on the Somme at Sheffield Park, a memorial to the men of the many ‘pals’ battalions who fought in the area of Serre – dinner in our hotel.
Day 4 – Ypres
Free time in Ypres and a chance to visit the Flanders Fields Museum in the centre of the town – continue for our Channel crossing back to the UK and then return to our original departure points with comfort stops en route.
Tour Features
Specialist battlefield guide throughout
4* hotel
2 dinners included
All excursions & guided tours included
Return Channel ferry crossings
Executive coach throughout
One free place per 10 paying passengers
Talbot House in Poperinge
Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing
Site of the Christmas Truce of 1914
Messines Ridge
German trenches at Croonaert Wood
Hooge Crater Museum
Worcestershire Regiment Memorial
The Passchendaele Museum
Tyne Cot British & Commonwealth Cemetery
‘Last Post’ Ceremony under the Menin Gate
Museum of the Great War at Peronne
Mine Crater at La Boiselle
South African Memorial at Delville Wood
Mametz Wood Welsh Memorial
Devonshire Trench British Cemetery
Thiepval Memorial
Trenches at Newfoundland Park
The Sunken Road at Beaumont Hamel
Sheffield Park
Ypres
Hotel
Three nights at the 4* Best Western Plus Alize Hotel in Mouscron. Facilities at the hotel include a bar, gymnasium and sauna. All rooms are en suite. Dinner is included in our hotel on Days 1 and 3 and the remaining night is on bed and breakfast basis.
Tailor-make this tour
Your tailor made tour
Here are some more suggested places of interest you might like to include:
- Carriere Wellington – a vast subterranean city of underground tunnels constructed by New Zealand miners during 1917 where at one stage over 20,000 men
- Arras Memorial to the Missing – bearing the names of almost 35,000 British soldiers lost on the battlefields of Arras
- Bruges – the ‘Venice of the North’ and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bruges is famous for lace making, chocolate and its picturesque network of canals
Tour Reviews
Reviews for World War I Anniversary Tour
Date of tour: April 2016
Thank you so much for organising such a splendid World War I battlefields tour. The group enjoyed the whole experience enormously, in spite of the unseasonably cold weather. Tony, our battlefield guide, was a spell-binding guide and Dave drove his huge coach with great accuracy and panache on some testing roads. Your arrangements worked perfectly and we all returned much better informed and not a little humbled by walking in the footsteps of earlier generations. Thank you.
PW, London
Date of tour: November 2014
I am sure I will be amongst a flood of others who wish to offer you sincere personal thanks for organising us into some semblance of order for a weekend series of visits that were at once profoundly sad, ghastly and inspiring. Thanks of course go also to Kate and most particularly to our excellent chauffeur, Wayne, and our very knowledgeable guide, Peter. Well done.
CS-R, Cuckfield
Date of tour: October 2014
The WWI tour was brilliantly well organised, we had an excellent guide in Tony and a superb driver in Mike, so thank you very much. The trip was very evocative, emotive and emotionally overwhelming and so worthwhile when you think of the troubled world we again live in. Thank you once more for a super trip!
MK, Bognor Regis
Date of tour: September 2014
My wife and I had the great opportunity of travelling to ‘The Battlefields’ with our group. We were very fortunate in having Peter as our guide. He is an incredibly well versed in the happenings in Flanders during WW1.
DD
Date of tour: August 2014
The trip was a great success. The guide was brilliant, so knowledgeable and enthusiastic. The arrangements were good. Coach and driver also very good and the Itinerary was what everyone was hoping for.
HH, Okehampton
Date of tour: July 2014
The trip went like clockwork! Coach and driver were excellent, he was helpful and accommodating. Sabine the guide was also good and helpful. Hotel was also good and an excellent centre for exploring the town. The guided tours were good, if a little too long but this is not really a criticism; it meant that we had less time to explore on our own. All in all the trip was excellent and I'd like to thank everyone at Tailored Travel for their assistance with the tour. Once again, very many thanks to all for all the efforts.
PK, Northampton
Date of tour: June 2014
I am writing to thank you and the staff of Tailored Travel for organising an excellent WWl anniversary tour for us. I know that our group much enjoyed their trip which was enhanced by the excellence of our guide, Peter, and our driver, Tony. Peter was a fount of knowledge on all things connected with WWl and even did computer searches in the evenings to find the locations of the graves of relatives of the group. Tony was pleasant and very competent, occasionally in conditions which were not easy with such a large vehicle. They were both friendly and accessible. So, again, thank you for your organisation and for giving us a memorable experience. If I am in a position to recommend Tailored Travel in future I shall certainly do so.
DW, Lewes
Date of tour: June 2014
We’re safely back from a truly amazing trip! Tony our guide was excellent (as was Tony our driver). Laying the wreath at the Menin Gate was a wonderful experience, there was a pipe band and the Premiere of Nova Scotia.
EH, Barnet
Date of tour: June 2014
My wife Maureen and I would like to congratulate you for the excellent break you provided for our group visiting the above battlefields. We both enjoyed it very much. This was due to your overall plan, the superb guide whose precision leading contrasted with his relaxed style, the coach driver Tony who got us everywhere on time, and not least our own Tour Organiser. Thank you very much.
PD, St Albans
Date of tour: June 2014
I am writing to thank you and the staff of Tailored Travel for organising an excellent WWl anniversary tour for us. I know that our group much enjoyed their trip which was enhanced by the excellence of our guide Peter and our driver Tony. Peter was a fount of knowledge on all things connected with WWl and even did computer searches in the evenings to find the locations of the graves of relatives of the group. Tony was pleasant and very competent, occasionally in conditions which were not easy with such a large vehicle. They were both friendly and accessible. So, thank you for your organisation and for giving us a memorable experience. If I am in a position to recommend Tailored Travel in future I shall certainly do so.
DW, Lewes
Date of tour: June 2014
A note to thank you for your help in the few weeks before our tour of the Somme. The trip was a great success, historical, emotional etc. Peter our guide was great and very informative and Tony the driver was great too.
CM, St Albans
Call us on
020 7064 4970
to tailor this tour
for your group
Tailor make your group tour
Remember this itinerary is just our suggestion. Tailor make this tour exclusively for your group to suit your members’ budget or preferences. You could:
- stay for 4 nights
- travel by Eurostar from either London St Pancras or Ebbsfleet to Lille
- stay at a 3* hotel
- on half board basis
- with fewer or different excursions
- include all entrance fees and gratuities
Call us on
020 7064 4970
to tailor make the perfect tour
for your group
