History Belgium

WW1 from Ypres to the Somme

from £150pp

Based on 3 days

Suitable for Secondary Schools

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Overview

Our WW1 battlefield tours give students a deeper emotional connection with the events that took place during the war and provide the opportunity for them to appreciate the scale of sacrifice and the way that the war shaped Britain and the modern world as it is today.

In addition to highly popular and poignant visits to cemeteries, memorials and museums, we can arrange for you to lay a commemorative wreath at The Menin Gate or Tyne Cot Cemetery, or even organise for you to follow in the footsteps of your local battalion.

In the itinerary below you will be visiting both Ypres and Somme, but you could always do a shorter trip to the Battlefields, or even just a day trip to Ypres or the Somme.

Our Suggested Itinerary

Day 1

Depart school in the morning to cross the channel and make your way to Ypres.

Then, visit the fascinating Passchendaele 1917 Memorial Museum which commemorates the half a million casualties of the battle of Passchendaele. Uniquely, the museum features reconstructions of both British and German trenches.

OR

Visit the interactive In Flanders Fields Museum, where students will learn about the stories of four real people.
Day 2

Start your day with a guided tour of the Ypres Salient Battlefields. Stopovers can include Essex Farm Cemetery, Yorkshire Trench and Dugout, Langemark German Cemetery and Tyne Cot British Cemetery.

In the afternoon, Visit to the Hooge Crater Museum, Hooge Crater Museum, one of the finest museums for remembrance of the First World War in Flanders.

OR

Visit Talbot House and enjoy some light relief at this preserved WW1 soldiers' club, built so that off-duty soldiers would have a place to temporarily forget the reality of the war.

Then, explore one of few preserved trench networks around Ypres: Hill 62 Sanctuary Wood gives a feel of what it was like for the soldiers who fought and died here.

Finally, enjoy some free time in Ypres and dinner in a local restaurant before attending the Last Post at the Menin Gate – this moving ceremony is a must for all schools visiting the Ypres Salient.

Optional extra: we can supply you with a commemorative wreath to lay at the Menin Gate.
Day 3

In the morning, drive to Somme to visit different WW1 sites.

Start with Wellington Quarry which, built for the British Spring offensive of 1917, was an immense underground barracks, with space for up to 24,000 soldiers and even its own hospital.

Afterwards, take a guided tour of the Somme Battlefields. Stops include the Lochnagar Crater, the largest surviving crater on the Western Front, the Thiepval Memorial, the largest memorial to the British Missing and the Newfoundland Memorial, remembering this regiment that was wiped out in the Battle of the Somme.

Travel back home.

Accommodation

We work with a huge variety of accommodation providers in and around Ypres, such as the Menin Gate Hotel Group and The Peace Village. Let us know your school's requirements and we can find one to suit you. We always use safe and secure accommodation especially suited to schools and our accommodation is usually 2* or youth hostel standard. All accommodation we use is audited, and our auditing regime is verified by independent experts.

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