PLEASE NOTE: Price is per person and based on two people sharing a twin/double room. Single room supplements and upgrades are not included.
Itinerary
5-Day Itinerary
Day 1
Local departure by coach, then to our hotel in Belgium for a four-night stay.
Day 2 - Liege 1914: Battle of the Forts
As the Germans launched the Schlieffen Plan in August 1914, their forces crossed the border into Belgium. This was an area close to the city of Liege, protected by a ring of mighty forts. German ‘Big Bertha’ guns and other heavy artillery smashed the Belgian defences, and today we visit two of the forts involved. At Fort Loncin, we see how the fort was besieged and bombarded, and its central magazine destroyed, leading to the loss of more than 350 Belgian soldiers defending it. Here, we get an included guided tour of the fort, see the museum and evidence of the battle in August 1914. In the afternoon we visit Fort de Barchon, the first of the Liege Forts to surrender. Here, we also get an included guided tour, seeing the gun positions, memorials and damage done to the fort by the German guns.
Meals - Breakfast, Dinner
Day 3 - Charleroi and Mons 1914
Today, we look at the fighting in the area beyond Liege as the German forces pushed hard against Belgian, French and then British forces in August 1914. Near Charleroi, we look at the battlefields where the fighting took place, seeing memorials and graves of the fallen from France, and then study one of the darker chapters of 1914 when German troops massacred Belgian civilians, visiting the Massacre Memorial at Tamines. After lunch, we travel to Mons and see where the British Expeditionary Force made their stand at Nimy Bridge and Jemappes, as well as the unique St. Symphorien Cemetery where British and German soldiers lay side by side, as well as the ‘first and last’ British casualties. We have free time in central Mons for an evening meal before returning to our hotel.
Meals - Breakfast
Day 4 - Battle of the Frontiers 1914
We travel down towards the Belgian-French border, where the Battle of the Frontiers was fought in 1914. On one day alone in August 1914, the French Army lost more than 27,000 men killed in a single day. Here, we have an included visit to the Citadelle of Dinant which played a key role in the fighting, and visit the French Military Cemetery. We then follow the fighting up towards Namur, seeing the battlefields of August 1914, memorials and looking at the story of Fort Marchovelette which defended Namur, visiting the graves of those who died in its defence.
Meals - Breakfast, Dinner
Day 5
Return home.
Meals - Breakfast