Belgium, France · Battlefield Tours

4-Day WW1 Battlefield Tour of France and Belgium with Personal Research

4 Days Round trip from Lille Easy pace

Mont Saint-Quentin Australian war memorial

The journey

Trip highlights

01 Learn about the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916
02 Visit VC Corner and the Digger Memorial at Pheasant Wood CWGC
03 Proceed to Bullecourt Museum and explore the costly battles of April-May 1917
04 Explore the Passchendaele Memorial Museum

Embark on this 4-day tour for an in-depth look at the lives of the brave Australian soldiers who fought here during WW1. Visit the Ploegsteert Visitor Centre for orientation, learn about the Battle of Messines 1917 and the 3rd AIF Division, and explore the Passchendaele Memorial Museum. You will also understand the horrific past of the area at Polygon Wood Battlefield while following the story of the Western Front through key memorials and battle sites in France and Belgium.

Embark on this 4-day tour for an in-depth look at the lives of the brave Australian soldiers who fought here during WW1.

From the itinerary

At a glance

What this trip includes

Duration 4 Days

Tour type Shared

Activity level Easy

Accommodation Not included

Transport Not included

Wheelchair access Not applicable

Cities Lille, Amiens, Saint Quentin, Somme (Battlefield), Ypres, Messines

Languages English

Day by day

The itinerary

Day 01

Belgium's WW1 Memorials and Ypres

Meet your Europe tour guide in Lille.
Travel to Belgium and explore the Ploegsteert Visitor Centre for orientation.
Visit the following landmarks:
- The Battle of Messines 1917, 3rd AIF Division.
- Tunnellers of WW1 - No 1 Australian Tunnelling Company.
- Passchendaele Memorial Museum.
- Polygon Wood battlefield and memorials.
- Tyne Cot CWGC.
- Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony.

Overnight stay in Ypres.

Day 02

Fromelles and Bullecourt Battlefields

Meet your Europe tour guide and continue your guided tour by visiting the following landmarks:
- Learn about the Battle of Fromelles, July 1916, and the subsequent re-burial and DNA identification events.
- Visit VC Corner and Digger Memorial - Pheasant Wood CWGC.
- Proceed to Bullecourt Museum, the battlefield, and memorials of the costly battles for Bullecourt in April-May 1917.
- Continue to Thiepval Memorial, Pozières, Mouquet Farm, and Dernancourt.

Overnight stay in Amiens.

Day 03

Somme Battlefields and Memorials

Meet your Europe tour guide and continue your guided tour by visiting the following landmarks:
Sir John Monash Centre and the Australian War Memorial.
Le Hamel battlefield and the Australian Corps memorial.
Adelaide War Cemetery and Naours caves.
Vignacourt photographic collection.

Overnight stay in Somme.

Day 04

Peronne Museum and Return to Lille

Continue your guided tour by visiting the following landmarks:
- Peronne Museum of the Great War.
- Mont St Quentin and Bony ABMC.
- Bellicourt and WGC Montbrehain.
End your tour with a return to Lille.

Where this trip takes you

Ploegsteert Visitor Centre orientation, Polygon Wood battlefield and memorials, Tyne Cot CWGC, Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony

The route

Where you'll travel

Tour route map — Round trip from Lille 6 cities · 4 Days

The fine print

Trip details

What's Included

English speaking Europe tour guide services
Research into personal stories. This is what is unique about our tours. A battlefield historian will carry out some research to find the locations relevant to individuals of interest to you. For example, we will explain the service record and cross-reference the war diaries and history books to find places where that person's unit served and even where they became a casualty.
Maps and other supporting material handout

What's Not Included

Accommodation: We can recommend hotels and hostels to suit your preferred standards and the itinerary.
Meals: We can recommend restaurants to suit your taste and the size of your group. For large groups, we can recommend menus. We can picnic in good weather. Budget around 10-15 Euros for lunch and 25-50 Euros for an evening meal.
Guide accommodation and subsistence: If you want me to provide informed company, book me into the same hotel during the evening. Otherwise, I will stay in budget accommodation.
Vehicle rent: This will depend on the size of your group. We can advise on and book suitable transport, and drive or share the driving.
Museum entrances

Know before you go

This is more than a guided tour. This is an offer of a personalised visit to the battlefields of the Western Front with an itinerary that is tailored to your interests. We adjust the itinerary to include locations and topics specific to you. If you want to visit the graves of a soldier or the places where they served, we will do our best to find out the background to what happened and why. We will cover the main sites of interest to the Australian visitor, but we will do it, as far as possible, through the experiences of the people of most interest to our guests.
We charge you for the guide's time. Everything else is charged separately to keep the cost down for our guests.

Logistics