Western Front End To End

Itinerary

• Day 1

  Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to Belgium for and overnight stay.

• Day 2 - Nieuport and Flanders

  We start on the beach near Nieuport where the Western Front began in the sand dunes. We visit the new Yser Museum and then travel through Flanders to Hooge where we see the trenches and museums and have lunch. In the afternoon we travel across the Messines Ridge for an overnight stay in the Albert area.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 3 - Somme and Chemin des Dames

  Today we see the battlefields of the Somme visiting the Thiepval Memorial with its museum and visitors’ centre. We walk the trenches in Newfoundland Park and have lunch at the Ulster Tower before visiting the Chemin des Dames, then onto Reims for a two-night stay.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 4 - Marne and Château-Thierry

  We proceed to Meaux and look at the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, seeing the excellent Meaux WW1 Museum, and after lunch, follow the Old Contemptibles at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, the Americans at Château-Thierry and then proceed to the battlefields around Soissons where the Second Battle of the Marne took place in 1918.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 5 - Massiges Trenches and Meuse-Argonne

  Departing Reims we visit the impressive reconstructed trench system at Massiges, where a whole battlefield has been restored to what it looked like in WW1, with an amazing system of trenches to explore. In the afternoon we look at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive involving American troops, seeing the impressive cemetery and museum at Romagne. We then travel to Nancy for an overnight stay.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 6 - Vosges Mountains

  We follow the Western Front from Nancy down into the Vosges and see the amazing trenches at Le Linge; trenches cut into rock and the scene of fierce combat on what was then German soil. We then spend two nights in the Colmar area.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 7 - The End of the Front

  Today we visit the end of the Western Front at Pfetterhouse, seeing where the front lines ended, visiting the area on the Swiss border and seeing some of the bunkers. After lunch in Altkirch we look at the battlefield around Hartmannsvillerkopf, where fighting took place in the Vosges Mountains.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 8 - Verdun Battlefields

  Leaving the Vosges we travel to Verdun, the ‘Meat-Grinder’ of WW1, and visit the impressive new museum at Fleury and also the battlefield around Douaumont. We then travel to Reims for our final night.

  Meals - Breakfast

• Day 9

  Return home.

  Meals - Breakfast

Accommodation

You will stay overnight in Belgium, followed by one night in the Albert area. You will then have a two-night stay in Reims., before an overnight stay in the Nancy area. You then stay for two nights in the Colmar area, Finally, you will stay for one night in Reims.

All hotels throughout the tour will be minimum 3-star hotels.