ww1 battlefield tour guides

Battlefield Tours

Messines Ridge, West Flanders, Belgium. Object ID: 2021.169.46

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.”

—“in flanders fields” by lt. col. john mccrae, canadian expeditionary force, 1915  , 2025 battlefield tour, prelude: belgium and the great war, monday, sept. 8 - saturday, sept. 13, 2025.

In a beautiful landscape immortalized by Lt. Col. John McCrae’s iconic poem “In Flanders Fields,” explore the gateway of the Western Front with the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Belgium. Tracing the first and last footsteps of the Great War in Europe, we will examine the strategic and cultural significance of the region – from French trenches to “French” fries.

The tour begins and ends in Brussels (BRU) with five nights of lodging dispersed between Liège, Mons and Ypres.

Planned Itinerary

Tour Pricing To be announced

Frequently Asked Questions

Previous Tours

Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood, Ypres. Object ID: 2021.169.69

(May be subject to change)

Monday, sept. 8.

The group meets in Brussels and travels southeast to Liège. Studying the battle of Aug. 1914, we will visit defensive forts and military cemeteries.

Overnight Liège – Dinner and museum admissions included.

Tuesday, Sept. 9

Southbound to Dinant to learn about the town’s destruction and German fears of retaliation by Francs-Tireurs. We explore the citadel and Meuse River bridge before ending the day at Mons.

Overnight Mons – Breakfast, with admissions to Citadelle de Dinant and Abbaye Notre-Dame de Leffe included.

Wednesday, Sept. 10

Our travels focus on the service of the British Expeditionary Forces. We will visit Casteau, Obourg, Nimy, the Binche Crossroads, San Symphorien Military Cemetery and the Mons Military Museum, then conclude the day at the site of the last shots fired by British soldiers in Nov. 1918.

Overnight Mons – Breakfast and museum admissions included.

Thursday, Sept. 11

Southbound to Chateau Bellignies, the home of Prince Reginald de Croy, we will learn about Edith Cavell and the underground network to hide Allied soldiers during German occupation. We finish the day at Ypres, watching the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate.

Overnight Ypres – Breakfast included.

Friday, Sept. 12

Studying American participation with the British Expeditionary Forces in the Ypres Salient, we cross the Scheldt River at Oudenaarde to visit the Flanders Fields Cemetery and Memorial and watch a TAPS ceremony in Waregem. The tour concludes with a final group meal.

Saturday, Sept. 13

Transfer to Brussels Airport (BRU) for departures.

Questions? Check the FAQ.   Frequently Asked Questions

Hill 60, Ypres, Belgium. Object ID: 2021.169.7

German aid post at “Cryer Farm,” Ypres, Belgium. Object ID: 2021.169.58

The “Blighty Hall” bunker, Ploegsteert Wood, Belgium. Object ID: 2021.169.52

Ploegsteert Wood near Messines, Belgium. Object ID: 2021.169.23

Please note: Modifications may occur due to current global travel restrictions.

When and where will we meet the group?

All participants should meet at the designated meeting place and time, provided with your tour information. It is recommended to arrive in the destination city the day before the tour, giving you ample time to meet at the gathering place. Once you receive the green light to purchase your airfare, please forward your arrival time and flight number to the Museum and Memorial's Learning Coordinator at [email protected] . This will assist guides in roll call before starting the tour.

What sites will we be visiting?

Please see the itinerary sent by the guides. The itinerary is loose, allowing flexibility in visiting additional sites.

What hotels will we be staying in? What amenities are included?

Please see the itinerary sent by the guides. Breakfast, WiFi and laundry services are generally available.

How many meals are included with my registration?

Breakfasts and at least one group dinner are covered under your registration. Lunches and other dinners are not included, unless otherwise specified. Please notify us immediately if you have any special dietary requirements. For most destinations, lunches will be approximately €15-€20 and dinners approximately €35.

How will we travel between different sites/cities?

Participants will travel by coach (bus) between cities and will walk around most sites.

What amenities are included with the bus?

The bus will have A/C and heating, a refrigerator, a restroom and complimentary water.

What should I wear?

• Comfortable outdoor wear (e.g. T-shirts, jeans, shorts.) Avoid wearing clothing with large, loud logos.
• Sweater or lightweight fleece
• Appropriate footwear (e.g. walking shoes). A change of footwear is also advised.
• Waterproof outer layers (light jacket)
• Hat and sunscreen

What are essential items I need to pack?

• Medicine (in your carry on!)*
• Camera or phone
• Night clothes
• Socks and underwear
• Satchel/day pack
• Electricity adapters for destination countries
• Portable power bank (if you have one)
• Waterproof jacket (and trousers if you have them)
• Sturdy shoes
• Large plastic bag for worn clothes

* Note on medicine: should be kept in its original packing, and kept in your carry-on along with a copy of any doctor's prescription. Please consult with State Department travel information to ensure that your prescriptions are not prohibited in the destination countries. Most over-the-counter medicines can be obtained abroad, though they may have different names than those in the U.S. One of the guides, where possible, will accompany you to a pharmacy (widely available) to assist with replacements, if needed.

I am staying in Europe after the tour. Can I be dropped off at my hotel after the tour?

Unfortunately, due to the size and schedule of the coach, you will not be able to be dropped off at your hotel by bus. If you need assistance returning to your hotel:

• See if your hotel has a shuttle service—communicate when and where you’ll need to be picked up.
• If a shuttle is unavailable, the guides can assist you in finding a taxi.
• If you’d prefer to use public transportation, the guides can assist you in getting the correct ticket/line.

How safe will I be touring in the Battlefield Tour regions?

Battle Honours hosts nearly 60 tours yearly and has been in the battlefield touring business for 15 years—many of the guides are former military or police. They have thoroughly assessed any potential risks that may occur during the tour—you will not be visiting any areas that may compromise your safety. Security is both their specialty and priority—you will be in very capable hands. To secure your money and passport, we recommend investing in a wearable money belt/pouch.

How much spending money should I bring with me?

We recommend bringing at least €200 in local currency, but how much you bring is truly a personal preference. Please make sure to notify your banks that you will be out of the country if you plan on taking your debit/credit/bank cards.

• VISA is most readily accepted; American Express/Discover are not accepted at most places.
• Cards issued by a smaller, regional bank that don’t have backing from larger institutions will not likely be accepted.
• ATMs are accessible everywhere for cash withdrawal—withdrawal fees/exchange rates may apply.

How can I use my cellphone while abroad?

You will need to contact your service provider to arrange an international plan (plans vary by provider.) To avoid roaming charges, we recommend turning off apps needing WiFi data before departure. Set your phone to “Airplane Mode” before boarding your overseas flight.

I have an ancestor who fought in World War I in this particular region. Can I see the sites pertinent to their involvement?

Yes! The guides cater the tour itinerary to these requests. Send the name, rank, and any key military/occupational identification of your WWI ancestor to Clive Harris and Mike Sheil approximately two months before departure, to give ample time for research.

Can I bring my ancestor’s personal items (a diary, photographs or other memorabilia)?

Yes, please do! These really help bring your ancestor’s story come to life on the battlefield. Please let the guides know what items you’ll be bringing before packing them.

How much can I expect to walk during the tour?

Participants can expect to walk multiple miles each day across uneven, unpaved terrain. Please make sure you have comfortable, sturdy walking shoes. Battlefield maps will be provided by guides on-site and via email to the participants.

What is the climate of the region we’ll be visiting?

Generally, weather will be warm to mild, and potentially rainy. Feel free to pack a light jacket for the evening and a day pack that includes snacks as you travel off the beaten path.

Questions about mobility and accessibility, or any other questions? Contact [email protected] or 816.888.8153.

Croonaert Chapel Commonwealth Cemetery near Wijtschate, Belgium. Object ID: 2021.169.49

Barbed wire picket, Ypres, Belgium. Object ID: 2021.169.76

Nimy Bridge, Mons, France. Object ID: 2021.169.227

Vee Bend Bunker, Ypres, Belgium. Object ID: 2021.169.81

Considering taking your first tour? View journals from our past tours:

2023: The War in Champagne (Instagram stories)

2022: Verdun and Saint-Mihiel (YouTube playlist)

2019: Gallipoli

2018: Harry S. Truman and the A.E.F.

2018: A.E.F. Centennial Tour of France

2017: The Doughboys in France

2016: British, Italian and American sectors of the Italian battlefields

2015: Imperial German Army on the Western Front

About Clive Harris

Raised in Hertfordshire, Clive developed a lifelong fascination with history. He spent seven years with the Royal Corps of Signals, serving operationally overseas with the 1st Armoured Division in BAOR — an Infantry attachment with the Royal Green Jackets, in Cyprus, Germany and France — and finally taking an instructor’s post in the Signals Wing of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. On leaving the army he joined his local Constabulary, serving 11 years in their Force Operations Room as a specialist communications officer and control room manager. In 1998, he began working as a speaker, writer, researcher and battlefield guide and since then has guided groups to the Somme, Ypres, Arras, Mons, Cambrai, The Hindenburg Line, Verdun, and Gallipoli for the Great War, as well as Normandy, Arnhem, The Italian Campaign, and of course the London Blitz for the Second World War. Clive is a Badged Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (No33) and also a member of the British Commission for Military History.

About Mike St Maur Sheil

Mike is the award-winning curator of Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace 1914-1918. After studying Geography at Oxford, in the early 1970s Mike began his career as a photojournalist covering “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland. Here he became associated with the New York picture agency, Black Star, and over thirty years later he is still in the fortunate position of being paid to do what he loves doing — taking photographs. Mike has visited over 60 countries around the world, working for a wide range of clients such as ABC-TV, BBC, Anti-Slavery International, British Red Cross, European Commission, National Geographic , The New York Times , Shell, Time and Time Life .

Images courtesy of Mike St Maur Sheil / Fields of Battle 1418

WWI Tour: Western Front

Home > All Tours > WWI Tour: Western Front

Our World War I: Western Front Tour will explore the most significant sites along the old Western Front, seeing where history was made and discussing the Great War’s terrible consequences. From 1914-1918 millions of men fought each other across a brutal 475-mile long “No Man’s Land,” that stretched from the North Sea to the Swiss border. When the guns finally fell silent, 10 million soldiers were dead, century’s old monarchies were overthrown, the map of the Middle-East was redrawn, the United States had become a world power, and an angry and embittered Corporal Adolf Hitler returned to Bavaria determined to avenge the humiliation of defeat and return Germany to greatness.

Visit the site of the Battle of Waterloo, which redrew the map of Europe

Ypres/Salient Battlefields

Explore the battlefields in Belgium where some of the first clashes between the Germans and the British Expeditionary Forces occurred

Arras Battlefields

Learn about one of the bloodiest encounters of the war

Visit the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France, and Trescault, one of the Western Front’s most incredible archaeological discoveries

Battle of the Somme

Learn about the Battle of Somme in France, one of the darkest day in the history of the British Army

Explore this fortress city and the surrounding battlefields in France

The Meuse-Argonne

Visit the site of the largest land battle in American history, where the WWI was finally won

Montfaucon American Monument

Explore the remains of the village destroyed in the fighting and ascend to the top of the memorial

Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery at Romagnes

Pay your respects at the largest American cemetery in Europe

Day 1 • Overnight flight to Brussels, Belgium

Guests fly independently to Brussels, Belgium, arriving on Day 2.

Day 2 • Brussels

Guests arrive at Brussels Airport (BRU) and travel independently to the tour hotel. The group will gather for an evening Welcome Reception and dinner at the hotel. Your historian will provide an overview of the tour and there will be introductions all around.

Day 3 • Battle of Waterloo and Ypres (Belgium)

A defining moment in European History, the June 18, 1815, Battle of Waterloo, redrew the map of Europe and altered the balance of power on the Continent. In the Allied victory over the French, however, lay the seeds of a conflict far more terrible than anything Napoleon or Wellington could have imagined.

After meeting in Brussels, you will travel to the Wellington Museum, located in the “Iron Duke’s” former headquarters, to see its amazing collection of artifacts related to the battle and the commander of the Allied army. Your first stop on the battlefield will be the recently renovated museum and visitor’s center, the famous cyclorama painting of the battle and Lion’s Mound, then a tour of the battlefield itself. You will then travel on to Ypres in the heart of the British sector.

Day 4 • Ypres/Salient Battlefields (Belgium)

In 1914 some of the first clashes between the Germans and the British Expeditionary Forces occurred around the town, which would remain a battlefield for the rest of the war. You will begin with the Ypres Salient at Essex Farm Cemetery, where Canadian writer John McCrae wrote the famous poem “In Flanders Fields.” Then it’s on to Hooge to visit remains of trenches and sites associated with the very first battles fought around Ypres. Nearby Langemark was the site of the first use of gas on the Western Front as well as the German military cemetery.

You will then tour sites around the Salient, including the battlefields of Passchendaele and the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 and its unsurpassed collection of uniforms, weapons and other artifacts. You will also explore the huge British underground bunker complexes used by the British as well as preserved German and British trenches. You will finish the day with the incredibly moving Last Post Ceremony, which honors the 250,000 soldiers of the British Empire who died in and around Ypres and have no known grave.

Day 5 • Arras Battlefields (France)

Begun by the British in April 1917, the Battle of Arras was intended to be a diversionary assault on a larger French offensive launched along the Chemin des Dames further south. Events, however, meant that the battle grew in size and scope into one of the bloodiest encounters of the war.

You will view the remains of a German bunker used by Corporal Adolf Hitler while a runner in the Bavarian List Regiment. You will then continue on to Ploegsteert (Plugstreet to the British), where a young Winston S. Churchill commanded a battalion in 1915 and experienced horrors that would remain with him until he became prime minister at the start of World War II. From Ploegsteert you will stop outside the village of St. Yvon to see the spot where German and English soldiers ceased fighting to celebrate Christmas 1914 together. The Island of Ireland Peace Park and New Zealand Memorial, with its preserved German bunkers, will be your next stop. Your first day in Arras will be at the Wellington Quarry Museum where the group will travel 70 feet underground to see the 12 miles of tunnels that 20,000 men called home.

Day 6 • Cambrai (France)

As you leave Arras by the old Roman road at the heart of the battlefield, you will make stops at each of the three defensive lines that the Germans held in such strength in June 1917. Next you will see the Canadian National Vimy Memorial to visit the preserved battlefield before taking a private tour of the trenches that Canadian engineers dug under the German lines prior to the battle. The next stop is Trescault where on November 20, 1917 nearly 400 British tanks crashed through the German front line and drove toward Cambrai.

Day 7 • Battle of the Somme (France)

The Battle of the Somme began July 1, 1916, and was the darkest day in the history of the British Army. Nearly 60,000 men would become casualties by sunset. For the next 141 days the soldiers of the British Empire hurled themselves against German positions along the Somme River. Your study of this five-month battle will begin at the Hawthorn Ridge Crater. You will then explore the preserved trenches at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial before traveling on to the Ulster Memorial Tower and Schwaben Redoubt. After seeing the spot of the furthest British advance on July 1st, you will go to the Thiepval Memorial, which lists the names of 72,104 men killed on the Somme who have no known grave. The group finishes at the Butte de Warlencourt where the terrible fighting along the Somme finally came to an end.

Day 8 • Somme (France)

Leaving the British sector of the front, you will visit the site of the airfield at Cappy where Manfred von Richthofen took off on his final flight. Moving on, you will enter the region of the Somme fought over by two untried American infantry divisions in 1918. You will follow the attack made by Doughboys from the 107th Infantry Regiment on September 29, 1918, as they broke through the “impenetrable” Hindenburg Line and suffered the highest casualties of any American Regiment on a single day of the war.

Your day will conclude along the Chemin des Dames, the 25-mile long road where General Robert Nivelle launched the disastrous offensive that cost France 188,000 casualties and precipitated the mutinies of 1917. You will tour the underground Caverne du Dragon where French and German soldiers fought a bitter underground war as well as the Point California where vestiges of some of the bitterest fighting along the Chemin des Dames remain.

Day 9 • Fère-en-Tardenois and Oise-Aisne American Cemetery (France)

With Russia’s exit from the war, the Germans were able to move some 50 fresh divisions to the Western Front to make one last great effort to win the war before millions of American soldiers could enter the fray. Launched in the spring of 1918, “Operation Michael,” crashed through Allied positions all along the Western Front and soon the Kaisers soldiers were within 50 miles of Paris. Desperate, Ferdinand Foch pleaded with American Expeditionary Force commander John Pershing to release untried American troops to plug holes in the line. Pershing agreed and in a series of engagements at Château-Thierry in May and Belleau Wood in June 1918 stopped the Germans once and for all.

You will begin your study of this history at the early American battlefields at Fère-en-Tardenois and AEF commander Pershing’s headquarters. Here, he and future Army chief of staff George C. Marshall planned the great American offensives at Sainte-Mihiel and the Meuse Argonne. Your next stop is Pershing’s headquarters, where according to Douglas MacArthur, Doughboys, “stormed and captured the Croix Rouge Farm in a manner which for its gallantry I do not believe has been surpassed in military history.”

You will then travel on to the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery to pay your respects to the 6,012 men buried there and the grave of poet Joyce Kilmer, the author of the famous poems “Trees” and “Rouge Bouquet.” Your visit will take you to the bridges held by elements of the 3rd Infantry Division against incredible odds in May, the impressive American memorial that sits on the heights overlooking Chateau Thierry, and then to Belleau Wood where, over the course of 25 immortal days, U.S. Marines fought a battle that is rightly remembered as one of the Corps finest hours.

Day 10 • Chamery and Reims (France)

Throughout the summer of 1918 American forces were part of the Allied effort to retake ground lost during Operation Michael. The Doughboys demonstrated that they were a competent and professional army ready to take on the best the Germans had. You will visit the tiny village of Chamery where, on July 14, 1918, President Theodore Roosevelt’s son Quentin had his last dog fight. You will finish the day in the ancient city of Reims, where you will have an opportunity to sample Champagne from celebrated local wineries.

Day 11 • Verdun (France)

No visit to the Western Front would be complete without a visit to the fortress city of Verdun and the surrounding battlefields. During this nearly year-long battle, France would endure greater losses than America has in all of its wars since the American Revolution until Desert Storm. Your first stop is the recently refurbished Memorial de Verdun. You will then travel on to the ghost village of Fleury where you will visit the Douaumont Ossuary, which contains the remains of 130,000 unknown soldiers, as well as the famous Trench of the Bayonets, where a protruding line of bayonets reminds us of the French soldiers still on duty. Lastly at Verdun is Fort Douaumont, the most important of the 19 forts and the site of some of the heaviest fighting in the 10-month long battle.

Day 12 • Meuse Argonne, Massiges, Valley of Moreau (France)

Involving more than 1.2 million men, the Meuse Argonne offensive is the largest land battle in American history and where the war was finally won. German warlord Paul von Hindenburg remarked after the war, “that the British food blockade and the American blow in the Argonne Forrest decided the war for the Allies.” Despite this, most Americans know very little about this climactic 47-day battle.

Your day begins at one of the largest sections of preserved trenches along the whole of the Western Front, the archaeological site at Massiges. Next you will go to the Valley of Moreau, where a dedicated team of volunteers has preserved one of the large German rest areas used by the Germans in the Argonne. We will discuss the battles fought near here by a young Erwin Rommel in 1918. At day’s end you will stop at Essay to see where George S. Patton led American tanks into combat for the first time.

Day 13 • Apremont, Chatel-Chéhéry, Musée de Romagne (France)

Revisiting the American offensive of autumn 1918, you will go to the steeply wooded valley outside of Apremont where the “Lost Battalion,” gained immortality for its epic six-day defense. You will then travel on to Chatel-Chéhéry where you will walk in the very footsteps of Sergeant Alvin C. York, a former conscientious objector, who single handedly killed 20 Germans and captured 132 others. Your time in the Argonne concludes at the Musée de Romagne 14-18, a collection of artifacts discovered on the battlefields. Following lunch at the museum, there will be a short driving tour that visits the sites associated with future president Harry S. Truman and George S. Patton.

Day 14 • Montfaucon, Meuse Argonne American Cemetery (France)

You will begin today at the Montfaucon American Monument, exploring the remains of the village destroyed in the fighting, and ascending to the top of the memorial. You will see the ground fought over during the largest battle in American history. From the memorial you will then go to the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery at Romagnes. The largest American cemetery in Europe, you will pay your respects to the 14,246 Americans buried there before heading to Paris. On the way there will be a stop in the Forest of Compiegne, where you will visit the clearing where, on November 11, 1918, the armistice that brought an end to the fighting was signed.

Day 15 • Flight Home

There will be one morning transfer to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to catch your flight home.

Historians on this tour

Dates & Prices

• 2024 Dates & Prices
• 2025 Dates & Prices

Tour Includes

• Professional historian with you throughout the tour lecturing and answering questions
• Tour manager to handle guest needs and on-the-ground logistics
• Educational road book of maps and historical information
• 3- or 4-star accommodations
• Rooms with private bath or shower
• Hotel taxes and service charges
• Touring by private first-class air-conditioned motorcoach
• Breakfast daily, some dinners and a Welcome Reception
• All entrance fees to museums and attractions

Flights are not included in the cost of the tour.

Activity Level

As with all of our tours, we prefer to spend our time on the battlefields. There is a fair amount of walking.

If you use a wheelchair, please read our Wheelchair Policy .

Recommended Reading

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Customize this Tour

If you would like to customize this itinerary for your alumni travel association, educational organization, high school, family or other private group, please see our custom tour page .

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Guest Reviews

3 reviews for ' WWI Tour: Western Front '

Wow! This had to have been one of the best history tours I’ve taken with SAHT (sorry, Rick.) Chris Anderson and the SAHT gang made this a lesson in how and why wars are fought, and who was involved from many points of view. Absolutely amazing and emotionally charged since I got to see where my grandfather fought in France. Excellent crew from Chris A (with Hugh Buchanan) as historians, to Chris T. as manager, to our lovely bus driver. Highly recommended!

I have enjoyed many tours and this may be my favorite. Absolutely amazing and emotional. Too many highlights to mention. Tour historian Chris Anderson, and the entire team, was beyond excellent.

Highly recommended!

I enjoyed a terrific tour of the WWI battlefields in Belgium & France last fall with historian Chris Anderson! It was the 100th anniversary of the US entering the war and it was an amazing 2-wk trip that began in Brussels then on to the Battle of Waterloo that re-drew the map of Europe in the early 19th century and set the stage for events leading up to WWI. My good friend and travel companion, Jim Hutson convinced me to go and I’m so glad that I did. Highly recommended!

Write your review

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Hugh MacDonald Buchanan

Specializing in London-based excursions in the UK and military history tours in Europe, Hugh focused his military tours initially on the French Revolution in Paris and the subsequent Napoleonic era, including the downfall of Napoleon at Waterloo. Hugh’s tours have now branched out to include the Western Front in WWI and pivotal moments in WWII. These include the Fall of France (Blitzkreig) and evacuation of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, D-Day and the Invasion of Normandy, and the series of campaigns that followed on in 1944 – 1945, including Market Garden and the Ardennes.

Hugh’s educational journey took him from attending Harrow School in London to obtaining his degree at University College London. He spent 23 years in the financial sector of London’s financial district, working for Enskilda Securities Ltd., N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd., and Taylor Young Investment Management Ltd. He spent time working in venture capital in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1980s.

During this time, he indulged his passion for organizing excursions with friends, which eventually led to his transition into full-time freelance tour guiding. In 2006, he achieved the prestigious title of Blue Badge Guide of the Year. Now, he’s excited to turn a lifelong love for culture and history into his life’s work. Born in London in 1961, Hugh spent over four decades in the city before relocating to the picturesque countryside with his young family.

Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson is a historian who is well versed in many aspects of American history with special expertise in the Normandy Invasion, Band of Brothers, 101st Airborne and the American Revolution. Anderson is one of the original creators of the Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours Band of Brothers® Tour and was a personal confidant of Major Dick Winters, Commander of Easy Company, as well as many other veterans of WWII.

As the former editor of WWII Magazine , Anderson edited and wrote about all areas of the U.S. involvement in that war. He is the co-host of History Happy Hour , a weekly livestream that features fascinating, knowledgeable guests such as Andrew Roberts, Joe Balkoski, Lynne Olson, and Hampton Sides for entertaining history discussions. He lives in London, where he chronicles his visits to the places where history happened and the fascinating people he meets along the way in his blog, History Hikes .

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Best WW1 battlefields to visit - a guide

09 February 2023

Interested in heading to the areas where fighting took place during the Great War? Here’s our guide to some of the best WW1 battlefields to visit.

Your guide to visiting WW1 battlefields

Welsh Guardsmen sit in a reserve trench waiting for action at the Somme, one of WW1's most infamous battlefields (© IWM Q 4416)

Where are the battlefields of WW1?

Picture a WW1 battlefield. You’re probably thinking of a location somewhere in northern France, with two lines of opposing trenches and No Man’s Land in between.

The most commonly thought of World War One battle sites are in France and Belgium, i.e., the Western Front.

This part of the world was subject to intense, bloody fighting between 1914-1918 and is usually the place history enthusiasts head to when visiting WW1 battlefields.

But the Great War was a World War. World War One battlefields can be found across the globe, from Africa to Asia and many locations in between.

The war on the Eastern Front was a huge conflict, engulfing millions of men and women from the Russian Empire, Austro-Hungary, the Balkans and Imperial Germany.

Fighting in Europe was not restricted to France and Belgium. Italy was a key theatre where men fought the elements as much as themselves high in the Alps or in deep ravines and valleys.

From the Middle East to China to Africa, the Great War touched all corners of the globe. However, in this article, we will mostly be focussing on the major battlefield sites of the Western Front.

When to visit World War One battlefields

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme on a glorious July day.

Battlefields of the Western Front tend to be accessible throughout the year.

When you go is really up to you, which area you plan on visiting, and your general itinerary. Depending on budget, it’s best to spend to 2-5 days visiting and studying historic regions around France and Belgium.

If you were to go in the autumn or winter, however, you might want to pack a coat and some waterproof boots! It can get wet and snowy over there during that time of year. Indeed, the service personnel engaging in trench warfare often had to do so in appalling weather.

Spring and summer should bring plenty of sunshine, but still bring an umbrella in case of seasonal showers.

You may also wish to visit these sites on the anniversary of a particular battle. For example, a trip to the Somme battlefields could be timed around early July when the battle began.

Likewise, remembrance services will be taking place in the second week of November in accordance with the signing of the Armistice.

Important information

When visiting WW1 battle sites it is important to remember these were active fields of conflict. Millions of shells, grenades, and bullets were expended during the Great War. Many unexploded shells and other potentially deadly items lurk beneath the fields and pastures of the Western Front.

Each year, during ploughing season, farmers throughout the former battlefield regions dredge up tonnes of rusting shells. You may seem them piled high on the sides of roads. These are left for the Army to collect and dispose of safely.

If you do see them, please do not pick them up or take them home as souvenirs. People are still killed by these instruments of death a century after the fighting ended. Leave them for professionals.

Likewise, if you see any areas cordoned off or no entry signs on old battlefields, respect them. It could help you avoid injury or death.

Best WW1 battle sites to visit

The best WW1 battle sites to visit will depend entirely upon your interests and connection with different periods of the war.

France and Belgium are full of old battlefields and Great War sites, for example. From the magnificent Menin Gate in Ypres through to Beaumont-Hamel and Thiepval on the Somme, World War history is everywhere.

Are you interested in learning more about the Indian Army’s experience on the Western Front? You may wish to visit Neuve-Chappelle. The memorial there commemorates over 4,700 Indian labourers and servicemen who fought in France.

Want to learn more about the ANZACs in France and Belgium? You may wish to visit one of our memorials or cemeteries commemorating New Zealand and Australian troops.

Belgium WW1 battlefields

The Menin Gate stands over the route hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth troops took to reach the battlefields of the Ypres Salient.

Belgian World War One battlefields saw combat from the war’s earliest salvoes.

WW1 battle sites in Belgium include:

• Liège – The Siege of Liège took place on 4 th August 1914, making it the first battle on the Western Front. German forces besieged the city, taking it from the Belgian army on 16 th
• Namur – Namur was captured during the initial German offensive on Belgium on 25 th It would not be liberated until 1918.
• Brussels – The Belgian capital was captured on 20 th November 1914 and was liberated on 18 th November 1918, a week after the Armistice was signed.
• Mons – Mons was the site of the first clash between the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the German Military on 23 rd August 1914. It is also reputedly the site of the final shots of the war on the Western Front on November 11 th , 1918.
• Ypres – The City of Ypres became a focal point for fighting in Belgium and is the site of several of the much-storied WW1 battles.

Ypres, now called Ieper, was the sight of bitter fighting throughout the war. The First Battle of Ypres occurred in October 1914. Two more significant actions would take place there during the Great War, including the now infamous battle at Passchendaele.

It is also home to the Menin Gate, under which hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth troops passed on their way to battlefields around Ypres.

The CWGC Ieper Information Centre contains more information about the casualties of the Ypres battles. Make sure you pay us a visit if you’re taking a battlefield trip to Belgium.  

Battlefields in France WW1

Visiting WW1 battlefields in France will take you mostly to the country’s northern departments.

The Western Front stretched from the coast to the border with Switzerland. Some of the key Great War battlefield locations to visit in France include:

• The Somme – The Somme department and river saw terrific fighting throughout the war, particularly during 1916 when the five-month Battle of the Somme raged between July and November.
• Verdun – Verdun is emblematic of French resistance, determination, and sacrifice during World War One. The Western Front’s longest battle took place in the fortress city between February and December 1916 with massive loss of life.
• Marne – The Marne River was the site of one of the war’s most significant battles, with the French Army and BEF halting Germany’s sweep into France, preventing the fall of Paris.
• Arras – Arras, one of the great cities of Northern France, was the site of two major battles in 1914 and 1917. The CWGC Visitor Centre is close to Arras – a must-visit for any trip to French WW1 battle sites.
• Cambrai – Cambrai is notable for being the site of the first major tank battle in history.
• Aisne – The battlefields of Aisne saw action throughout the Great War from its opening year to the final bitter fighting in 1918.
• Vimy Ridge – Vimy Ridge in the Pas-de-Calais is the site of a major victory for the Canadians.

WW1 battlefield tours

Several tour operators offer World War 1 battlefield tours of the Western Front and the sites of World War One battles.

At the CWGC, we instead organise tours of our war cemeteries and memorials in the UK, France, and Belgium.

Learn more about  our war grave tours near you and how you can get involved.

Battles of WW1 - discover the history

Major battles of ww1, ww1 naval battles.

HMS Invincible blows up after taking shell damage during the Battle of Jutland (Wikimedia Commons)

Often when we think of WW1 battles, we think of the grinding, brutal static warfare on the Western Front.

However, the Great War wasn’t just fought on the land. It was fought in skies around the globe and fought on and below the waves of the world’s oceans.

Part of the prelude to World War One had been a naval arms race. Britain had introduced a new class of battleship in 1906, the Dreadnought, that effectively made other rival powers’ fleets obsolete overnight.

Imperial Germany spent vast sums developing its High Seas Fleet to match the technological and power projection capabilities of the Royal Navy. It was eager to use its new ships during the war.

WW1 naval battles took place in seas and oceans that covered the globe. During the 1910s, several European powers still had empires, thus requiring navies to help connect their territories and police their waters.

As such, naval conflicts happened in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans as well as in the seas around Africa and the Mediterranean.

These varied from single ship-to-ship encounters to knockout slugfests between large fleets.

Perhaps the most famous naval battle of World War One is the Battle of Jutland.

The battle was fought between the 31 st May-1 st July 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland. The forces involved were Germany’s High Seas Fleet under the command of Admiral Reinhard Scheer and the Royal Navy’s Battlecruiser and Grand Fleets.

British naval forces at Jutland were commanded by Admiral David Beatty and Admiral Sir John Jellicoe.

Jutland was a confused, frantic, and bloody affair.

The goal for the German Navy was to weaken the Royal Navy’s North Sea presence with an ambush on the Battlecruiser Fleet.

However, British codebreakers were able to decipher the High Seas Fleet’s plans and put both its North Sea squadrons out to sea to meet the German threat.

Over 250 ships and 100,000 men were involved in the Battle of Jutland.

In the battle's opening phases, the German High Seas Fleet managed to inflict several losses on their British rivals.

Admiral Beatty’s flagship, HMS Lion, was damaged. HMS Indefatigable and HMS Queen Mary were both sunk. Beatty withdrew to allow Jellicoe’s Grand Fleet to catch up.

Admiral Scheer was now outnumbered and heavily outgunned. The High Seas fleet turned to steam back to its home ports on Germany’s northern coast. It wouldn’t leave harbour for the rest of the war.

This allowed the Royal Navy to blockade German ports for the remainder of the war, exposing Germany’s economic vulnerabilities.

The Royal Navy had lost 14 ships sunk and more than 6,000 naval personnel at Jutland. German losses came to 11 ships and 2,500 men. The difference was that the Royal Navy was able to put more ships and men to sea the following day. The German High Seas Fleet simply didn’t have the numbers of men or ships to compete.

The nature of Great War naval battles means the bodies of the fallen have been lost at sea. As they have no known grave, Commonwealth naval casualties are commemorated on our naval memorials at Chatham, Plymouth, and Portsmouth.

Merchant navy casualties are commemorated on the name panels of the Tower Hill Memorial in London.

Trench battles WW1

A German observation post showing how developed the Imperial German's trench fortifications were during the Great War (© IWM Q 57538)

If there’s one aspect of the WW1 battlefields that capture the public imagination, it’s the trenches.

Trench warfare began in the first year of the war. The war’s opening stage was one of manoeuvre, but with no side gaining a clear advantage, trench networks began to form across the Western Front.

Very quickly, it emerged that what were hoped to be temporary structures became permanent.

Some of the German trenches would eventually become several metres deep with concrete bunkers and bunkhouses. Allied trenches were not as deep, overall, nor as sophisticated.

By the war’s end, the trenches stretched from the French and Belgian coast to the Swiss border, although not in a single continuous line.

Frontline trenches were supported by a spider’s web of service and supply trenches. These could stretch back for several miles. If you were unfamiliar with your position, it could be very easy to get lost. Soldiers put up signposts with ironic names like Piccadilly Circus to aid navigation.

Life in the trenches was dangerous and harsh. While they offered some protection, the threat of cave-ins from artillery fire was constant. Stick your head over the parapet and a sniper’s bullet could find you.

Additionally, with little cover, trenches would fill with rainwater, sleet, and snow. Drainage was primitive, often just men bailing out water as fast as possible with their hats and helmets.

Rats, lice, and other pests also got in. Trenches could become rubbish dumps, with ammo boxes, food waste, and other forms of detritus piling up. Even corpses of soldiers and their service animals could pile up. Men got used to living in squalor, although troops were rotated regularly.

Between opposing trench lines was No Man’s Land: often a blasted landscape of shell craters, barbed wire, corpses, and more horrors. Each side would set up machine gun posts to overwatch the killing ground between trenches.

If you were lucky enough to survive the first wave of going “over the top”, then trench warfare would descend into intense close-quarters combat. Numerous weapons would be used to clear trenches: grenades; bayonets; cudgels; pistols; trenching tools; shotguns.

Trench warfare was a grim affair for everyone involved but represented the harsh reality of fighting on a Western Front Great War battlefield.

Of course, trench warfare was not the only form of combat practiced during World War One. This was a truly global conflict, taking in fighting in mountains, grand set-piece battles on the Eastern Front, small-scale skirmishes in Africa, and wars of rapid manoeuvre in the Middle East.

Battle of the Somme WW1

Aerial photo of Pozieres, 1916. Artillery fire from the Battle of the Somme obliterated the village (© IWM Q 63990)

The Battle of the Somme is a notorious World War One battle. It was certainly one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war.

Running for five months from July-November 1916, the carnage along the Somme would result in over a million casualties. Both the Entente Allies and their German opponents suffered terribly.

The Battle of the Somme was conceived to break 18 months of trench warfare and take the pressure off the French. At the time, the Battle of Verdun, another meatgrinder of a campaign, was underway, draining the French Army of manpower.

July 1 st , 1916, the battle’s opening day, was black and bloody for the British and Commonwealth forces. On this one morning, the British Army took nearly 58,000 casualties of which just over 19,000 were killed. It remains the worst loss of life in a single day sustained by the British Army in its history.

A typical Somme battlefield resembled the imagery we associate with Great War sites: barbed wire; crater scarred No Man’s Land; opposing trench systems peppered with machine-gun posts.

Like many major World War One offensives involving the British, the Somme was fought not just by UK-born soldiers. Servicemen came from all over the Empire, including Ireland, India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and Canada.

Despite the enormous loss of life, the British and Commonwealth forces took a strip of land just 6 miles deep and 20 miles long.

The Somme battlefield did offer some positives. Improvements were made in infantry and artillery tactics and their combined use. The men who fought at the Somme, on the British side, were also mainly conscripts. The fighting helped whip them into a battle-hardened force.

Tanks were also used sparingly for the first time during the Battle of the Somme, although they did not prove to be the decisive breakthrough weapons the Allies hoped they would be.

The fighting on the Somme covered a wide area, incorporating many locations in Northern France.

Today, we have many cemeteries and memorials commemorating those who fell in the five-month campaign.

The most iconic of our Somme memorials is likely the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing . Over 70,000 men who died during the Battle of the Somme, but who have no known grave, are commemorated on its name panels.

Battle of the Marne WW1

German soldiers prepare to attack during the Battle of the Marne, 1914 (Wikimedia Commons)

In August, the guns of the Western Front had fired their opening salvoes, signalling the start of the bloodiest conflict Europe would experience to date.

Now, the fighting was heating up across the continent.

6th September 1914. The Imperial German Army had been sweeping through France and Belgium, taking large swathes of land. The capture of Paris, part of the German Army’s ambitious Schlieffen Plan, was a real possibility.

Opposing the German advance, commanded by Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke, where the French under General Joseph Joffre and their allies from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) commanded by General Sir John French.

The BEF was a tiny force compared to the French and German military, which could put millions of men into the field. Britain's standing professional army reached only 250,000 or so soldiers and officers at the start of the war.

On the morning of the 6 th of September 150,000 French soldiers launched an attack on their German opponents’ right flank. The Germans had crossed the Marne River days before but had overrun their supply lines. They were also exhausted from their rapid advance across Northern France.

German forces wheeled to meet the French offensive. A 30-mile gap in the German lines was created and quickly flooded with French troops and men from the BEF.

Fighting raged until the 9 th of September. Eventually, the Entente powers pushed back the advancing Imperial German Army.

The Battle of the Marne was a stark warning of the cost of life the Great War would eventually claim, culminating in a combined loss of 250,000 men on both sides in just three days.

The battle has also been dubbed the “Miracle of the Marne”. Despite the huge loss of life, with the, in particular, BEF taking a high percentage of casualties relative to its size, the victory halted the German advance.

Legend has it that upon hearing of the situation on the Marne, General von Moltke is said to have told German head of state Kaiser Wilhelm II, “Your Majesty, we have lost the war.”

While the Marne battle helped avoid the capture of Paris and the collapse of the French Army, it did mean World War One would continue. Millions more men and women would lose their lives over the coming four years.

Battle of Ypres WW1

The ornate Cloth Hall in ruins after First Battle of Ypres (© IWM Q 57288)

The Ypres Salient, like the Somme, is one of the most iconic World War One battlefields.

Situated in West Flanders, the historic city of Ypres was the site of three separate, devastating campaigns. The small city had long been a centre of commerce and industry, famed for its intricate cloth work. The magnificent medieval Cloth Hall stood proudly in Ypres’ city centre as a symbol of its pride and prosperity.

By the end of the war, Ypres and its Cloth Hall would lie in ruins.

So how did Ypres become a WW1 battlefield? How and why was the Ypres Salient established?

It all began following the Battle for the Marne. With the German push into France checked by the French Army and the BEF, both powers began the “Race to the Sea”. This was essentially an effort to protect each army’s flanks by pushing along to the French and Belgian coasts.

Imperial Germany had previously invaded Belgium as part of its grand sweep into France, capturing the important port city of Antwerp.

As both sides headed for the coast, they continued to build the trench networks that would be emblematic of a typical WW1 battlefield.

In the dance of manoeuvring armies heading for the sea, Ypres and its fortifications were a choice strategic target.

The area around the city, which would become the Ypres Salient, overlooked transport routes to Belgian coastal ports. These were vital for keeping the large armies supplied.

The First Battle of Ypres took place in October 1914. In response to the capture of Antwerp, French and Belgian forces had pulled back to Ypres. They were soon reinforced by the BEF. Between 8-19th October, the city streets were gradually filled with Allied troops.

The fighting began in earnest on October 19 th . A German offensive was launched at Langemark to Ypres’ north. Comprised of “Kindercorps” soldiers, young recruits fresh from training, the German forces took heavy casualties against the arrayed British and Commonwealth troops.

Further attacks between the rest of October and November resulted in the capture of Messines Ridge overlooking the city and its surroundings by the German Army.

The First Battle of Ypres came to a halt on November 22 nd , 1914. The city remained in Allied hands.

As with any major World War One battle, casualties were high. German casualty estimates run as high as 130,000. The French took upwards of 85,000 losses while the BEF took around 58,000 men killed, missing, or wounded. Belgian casualties came to just over 21,500.

Lines drawn from the British side at Menin to the German-occupied Roulers would become known as the Ypres Salient.

Ypres would be the site of further bitter fighting across the war, such as the Second Battle of Ypres in early 1915. This is notable for seeing the first use of gas on a WW1 battlefield by German forces assaulting Canadian positions outside the city.

Today, the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial stands as a testament to the huge loss of life that took place in and around Ypres. Over 50,000 Commonwealth service personnel are commemorated there.

Battle of Verdun WW1

French soldiers advance into the carnage of Verdun (Wikimedia Commons)

No discussion of World War One battle sites would be complete without Verdun.

Between February-December 1916, the French City, known for its network of star forts from 19 th -century wars, was the target of a battle specifically designed to “bleed the French to death”.

The city held symbolic value for both sides. Verdun had been the last city to fall in France’s humiliating defeat to Prussia in the 1870s. It also had been the location of the medieval treaty that broke up the Carolingian Empire and formed the core of what would later become Germany.

The Verdun battlefield became a black morass of fighting and death. More than a million men on the French and German sides fought over the city. Of the 800,000 casualties of the battle, over 300,000 would die.

Verdun had been formulated by German General Erich von Falkenhayn as a battle of attrition. He wanted to tie up and kill as many French soldiers in one place as possible.

A staggering 2.5 million artillery shells were moved to German frontlines, feeding more than 1,300 artillery pieces when the battle began on 21 st February 1916. Over the next ten months, Verdun would become the definition of a Great War meat grinder.

France’s dogged resistance, coupled with the Battle of the Somme requiring a redistribution of troops by Imperial Germany, turned Verdun into a brutal stalemate. The Russian Brusilov Offensive on the Eastern Front also caused consternation for the Germans, pulling troops away, allowing the French to reinforce and go from the defensive to the offensive.

By October, the French Army had recaptured the important Fort Douaumont. One of the key fortifications in Verdun, the Germans had taken the fort in February. Its recapture was a signal the tide was turning.

The final decisive blow came in December with the French capture of Hill 304. The bloodbath at Verdun was finally over.

As Verdun was primarily a French/German showdown, the CWGC has no major memorials or cemeteries commemorating the battle’s casualties. Instead, the French built a huge battlefield ossuary to hold the remains of its unidentified casualties.

Battle of CambraI

British tanks captured near Bourlon during the Battle of Cambrai (© IWM Q 29943)

Today, tanks and armoured fighting vehicles are a common sight in battles and conflicts around the world. Prior to the Battle of Cambrai , these armoured beasts were rare on WW1 battlefields.

The Battle of Cambrai, which took place between late November to early December 1917, was the first time tanks had been used en masse on a battlefield.

476 tanks had been assembled by the British in secret on the eve of the battle. Joining them were 1,000 artillery pieces, eight infantry and five cavalry divisions.

Once the tanks got rolling on 20 th November after a terrific artillery barrage, they managed to punch straight through the German lines and advance five miles. Such gains had rarely been seen since the Western Front had descended into Trench warfare in 1914.

A German counterattack on the 30 th of November reversed those hard-fought gains. The battle would rage for a week or so more before the exhausted forces on both sides called a halt to the fighting.

Cambrai is notable not just for its introduction of mass tank units . It was the way the armour, infantry, artillery, and aerial support all interlinked that was important. World War One battlefields like Cambrai gave birth to some of the tactics and strategies that continue to inform warfare to this day.

Around 80,000 servicemen were killed, went missing, or were wounded during the battle.

Today, the Cambrai Memorial is a focal point for the commemoration of this revolutionary battle. It bears the names of more than 7,000 British and South African servicemen who died in November and December 1917 but have no known grave.

Battle of Passchendaele

Wounded Canadians & German Prisoners cross the muddy ground at Passchendaele (© IWM CO 2196)

One of the defining characteristics of the image of WW1 battle sites is mud.

The sucking, cloying, sticky mud, churned up by shell blasts, strewn with barbed wire, corpses, and craters, was another enemy for soldiers to overcome.

Ahead of the Battle of Passchendaele, the heaviest rains for 30 years had turned the ground in and around the Ypres Salient into a quagmire. Even the tanks of the Royal Armoured Corps struggled to get through the mud.

The Battle of Passchendaele was one of the final phases of the Third Battle of Ypres. Its goal was to seize the Passchendaele Ridge ahead of Ypres and drive the Germans out of the Salient.

British, Australian, and New Zealand troops were given this difficult task. If German machine guns and artillery weren’t hard enough to combat, the arrayed Allied forces would have to advance through thick mud.

In places, the mud was deep enough to rise to the ankles. Falling into shell holes and drowning was a very real danger. Such was the fate of many of the men commemorated on memorials to the missing.

The Third Battle of Ypres, prior to the Passchendaele offensive, had been raging since July 1917. It had already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The first blood banks had been set up by the Royal Medical Corps in anticipation of the high number of casualties expected from the assault on Passchendaele.

Following zero hour at 5.25 am on 12 th October, the Royal Artillery let fly with its big guns. Once again, the mud dampened their effect. Guns would sink into the mud due to the recoil. Any shells that landed on German positions often sank deep into the ground before detonation, dampening their explosive impact.

Some minor advances were made during Passchendaele’s opening stages, but swift German counterattacks reduced the gains.

Facing the Allies across the morass of No Man’s Land were concrete pillboxes, machine gun nests, and uncut barbed wire. Advancing in some sectors was all but impossible. The attack was called off on October 13 th . A second Passchendaele offensive would take place two weeks later on October 26 th .

Despite only lasting one day, the Battle of Passchendaele resulted in a heavy death toll for the British and Commonwealth forces involved.

Total British Empire casualties are estimated at 13,000 killed, wounded, or missing.

For the New Zealand Division, Passchendaele was an especially black day. During a disastrous attack on an area called the Bellevue Spur, the Division was hit for 2,700 casualties, more than 840 of which were killed.

The October 12 th attack on Bellevue Spur is still the highest single loss of life in New Zealand’s military history.

WW1 battle casualties

World War One battlefields were especially deadly when compared with the conflicts of the past.

The advantage lay in defence. Modern weapons like heavy artillery and especially machine guns, coupled with trench networks and No Man’s Land, made attacking a costly endeavour for all armies.

The total number of combat deaths stands at roughly 8,000,000 combined:

• 8 million – Entente Powers & allies
• 2 million – Central Powers & allies

Total deaths of Great War service personnel by all causes, such as wounds or disease, sits between 8,500,000-10,000,000:

• 1 - 6.4 million – Entente Powers & allies
• 8 - 4.3 million – Central Powers & allies

We commemorate just over 1,000,000 casualties of World War One at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. By member state, they are approximately split by:

• United Kingdom – 837,000
• India – 74,000
• Canada – 65,000
• Australia – 62,000
• New Zealand – 18,000
• South Africa – 11,500

Those who fell on World War One battlefields commemorated by the Commission can be researched using our Find War Dead tool . Discover their stories today.

WW1 battlefields today

The former battlefield of Verdun still bears the scars of the terrible fighting that took place there in 1916 (Wikimedia Commons)

Today, WW1 battlefields have mostly reverted to their original state: Belgian and French woods and farmland. Cities, towns, and villages have been rebuilt, although many of the older buildings that survived the war still bear the scars of the conflict.

Picturesque rolling hills, verdant forests, beautiful countryside landscapes, quaint villages, bely the horror and slaughter of the Great War.

However, there are many sections of preserved trenches, such as those at Vimy near the Vimy Ridge Memorial, that stand as monuments to the fighting. They’re great educational tools, giving some insight into the places men of many nations fought, lived, and died.

Many of our Commission cemeteries and memorials sit on former Great War battlefields. Before the Commission’s founding in 1917, war dead were buried in impromptu graves and cemeteries, sometimes on the battlefield itself.

For instance, Thiepval sits overlooking the site of the Somme’s former killing fields.

The Tyne Cot Memorial is close to the furthest point in Belgium the Allies reached prior to the November 1918 Armistice. In fact, the remains of a German blockhouse can be found within the boundaries of Tyne Cot Cemetery.

If you’re interested in visiting a World War One battlefield, why not take a trip to one of our centres in France or Belgium?

The CWGC Information Centre in Ieper, Belgium sits close to the site of the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.

Hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth service personnel passed through the city and the gate during the war to head to their positions across the Ypres Salient.

The Ieper Information Centre helps us tell their stories, so their sacrifice is never forgotten.

The CWGC Visitor Centre is our experience hub and visitor attraction in Beaurains, France.

Located in the heart of the battlefields of the Great War, The CWGC Visitor Centre is close to some of the Commission’s most recognisable French war graves and important battlefield locations on the Western Front.

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See Where WWI's Battles Were Waged During a 4-Day Guided Tour in France & Belgium

Live through the history and grit of World War I during this 4-day guided tour of its key battlefields and monuments. Journey from Paris to the Ypres Salient battlefields and see the Passchendaele Memorial and Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, the largest cemetery in the world for Commonwealth forces. Later, visit the Australian Fromelles Military Cemetery, where 250 British and Australian soldiers were buried after the Battle of Fromelles. Meet a Local Expert for a tour of the key battlefields of the Somme and see the church in Albert where many weary soldiers stopped for comfort on the way to those battlefields. On the way to Paris, visit the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux and the Franco-Australian Museum in the local Victoria School.

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Great War Battlefields

• The Retreat from Mons
• D-Day and The Normandy Campaign
• Recent Trips

We specialise in short guided tours to the major Great War battlefields of Belgium and France starting from various locations in Kent.

Unlike the competition, our trips are all inclusive; tour guide, channel crossing, hotel, lunch, travel, entrance fees to sites are all included. Indeed, all you need to bring with you is your passport and possibly some Euros for souvenirs.

We use ‘Executive’ coaches from a local firm with whom we have a good working relationship.

If you had relative who served on the Western Front, we have in-house experts who can research them for you and, if appropriate, we can tailor our trips to visit where they were.

Have a look at some photos of our last trip: Flickr

“Expect The Unexpected” – Reports of our recent trips: click

To book, or if you have any questions, send us an email by clicking: here

Peter Rolington

Daily Guided Tours of the Ypres Salient and Tours on the Western Front

Not just a business, but a way of life… Flanders Battlefield Tour is well known for organising both, daily tours of the Ypres Salient and the Somme amongst other Western Front areas. Run by Jacques Ryckebosch and Genevra Charsley both are extremely passionate about the First World War. Prior to Flanders Battlefield Tour Jacques curated for many years at Talbot House (TOC H as it was known by the soldiers/veterans) meeting and becoming good friends with First World War veterans. Genevra Charsley has been a member of the Western Front Association since 1997 and assisting with the Poppy Parade on Armistice in Ieper (Ypres) since 1997, both are associate members of the Guild of Battlefield Guides and both have featured on BBC television and international television. Our guides all come highly recommended and are as equally passionate about the First World War, residing within the Ypres Salient they are always well informed and involved about the latest discoveries and development.

"Thank you Jacques for our interesting & personal trip to the somme, a BIG thank you for being so informative.  I'm sure we'll be back for more.  Wishing you both all the success you so rightly deserve."

"Just a note to say that Susan and I were thrilled with Jacques and Genevra's presentations on the Somme & Ypres Salient.  First rate!"

"I would like to thank you for making the arrangements for our tour.  Jacques was superb as our guide and I cannot thank him enough for making our afternoon in Ieper so informative and interesting.  His recollection of facts, views and testimony of those men who witnessed the campaigns was superb as well as sobering.  We hope to be in touch again and will certainly recommend you."

"Having now returned to the UK, we just wanted to drop you a couple of lines Genevra to say thank you again for the informative and interesting Grand Tour we took with you.  We took your advice also and visited St Georges Memorial Church.  Beautiful.  Touching.  We shall certainly recommend your service to any friends that visit Ypres/Ieper in the future."

"Thank you for your tour.  It was fantastic and I was so impressed with your passion.  Your comments relating to Jews were particularly insightful and meaningful to me.  I noticed the grave of one of my namesakes near the Dressing Station althought it was not likely that he is related.  I was, however, able to perfrom the ritual of leaving a stone on the headstone to show visitation."

" Dear Genevra, We're back home on the Mornington Peninsula near Melbourne, and have finally recovered from jet lag and are getting back to normal. Thank-you very much for the amazing day we spent with you - visiting Ypres and many of the WW1 sites, cemeteries, and especially my great-uncle's resting place. It was a day we will not forget.  Your research was so thorough and comprehensive. We cannot remember the name of the other support service you had found, so when you email us the material you promised, could you please let us know. Hoping to hear from you soon."

1 Daily Tours – Ypres Salient

• Grand Tour (North Salient)
• Extended Tour (South Salient)

2 Fromelles

3 the somme, 4 vimy ridge, 5 bespoke tours, © 2024 - flanders battlefield tour -.

Email: [email protected]

EXPERIENCE NORMANDY Normandy D-Day Battlefields and U.S Landing Beaches

EXPERIENCE NORMANDY Normandy D-Day Omaha beach and American War Cemetery

EXPERIENCE VERDUN Verdun Battlefields Day Trip from Paris

EXPERIENCE NORMANDY The Great War Museum in Meaux

WW1 & WW2 Tours

BACK IN HISTORY Reasons to choice Adrian Roads

Small group, satisfaction garanted, awesome locations, local guide.

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JILL & ROBERT

Suspendisse auctor dui ante, vel lacinia augue porta in. Pellentesque venenatis mi ut egestas pulvinar. Nulla facilisi. Nulla ut tristique libero.

ZECK MCNAMARA

The trip exceeded our expectations. We had a wonderful tour guide and driver. I would recommend this tour to anyone who wanted to see Scotland in depth. Thanks for all your work in putting this tour together.

Thanks to Travelicious for recommending this incredible Mediterranean cruise. The itinerary was spectacular and a considerable value for the price. I will be booking again with your agency for sure!

Contact us anytime

« ADRIAN ROADS » passionate team company is motivated by the same core values, namely the sharing of remembrance and transmission of history knowledge in both world wars. We do run our tours in small groups only (Max 8 people) aboard a comfortable and Air conditioned minivan.

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WW1 Battlefield Tour Companies and Guides: Starting from the UK

An increasing number of guides and tour companies offer tours to the First World War battlefields: these tours can include one day visits or all-inclusive tours over several days, walking tours, themed tours, cycling tours, self-drive and personalized tours for individuals or groups. Tours will usually range in size from coach tours, to minibus tours, to tours by private vehicle.

Most tours will provide the opportunity for the first-time visitor to see the main sites of interest in a battlefield sector. An increasing number of tour companies are also able to offer, separately or within a standard tour itinerary, an extra special personalized service, whereby travellers wanting to follow in the footsteps of an ancestor who served on the battlefields can be taken to specific places of action and commemoration. Do be aware that your guide will more than likely need sufficient notice if you have a particular request to visit a place of special interest, so ask well in advance of the tour if you have any special requests.

Travellers should expect a high level of experience and expertise in the subject from a guide to the WW1 battlefields. It goes without saying that you should also expect a high standard of service for all the travel and accommodation requirements of a given tour. You are advised to look at testimonials from previous travellers and ask for the tour guide's credentials before booking a tour. Guides and companies requesting to be listed on this website are taken on trust where they are not already known to greatwar.co.uk.

List of Tour Companies and Guides Starting from the United Kingdom

The following list is an overview of organizations or individual guides offering tours to the First World War battlefields where the tour starts from designated pick-up points in the United Kingdom.

This list is offered to assist travellers in finding a tour company to suit your specific requirements. You are advised to contact the tour guide or company directly with any enquiry about the tours they offer. You must be satisfied that they comply with travel, package holidays and package tours regulations. Greatwar.co.uk cannot be held responsible for a guide or tour company failing to comply with package holiday travel regulations and public liability cover.

Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG)

greatwar.co.uk is proud to be a Supporter of the International Guild of Battlefield Guides. The aim of the Guild is to raise the understanding and promote best practice for guiding on the battlefields.

The late Lt. Col. Graham Parker, OBE, Retd. and his daughter Joanna Legg organized battlefield tours as Flanders Tours for military, private and public groups from 1980 and 2000. They founded and operated tours as Flanders Tours for 12 of those years. Graham was honoured to have been made an Honorary Member of the International Guild of Battlefield Guides. Joanna is proud to promote the International Guild of Battlefield Guides and its Badged Guides. Members and Supporters are highlighted in our list of guides and tour companies.

Battlefield Tour Companies and Guides (from the United Kingdom)

These tour companies and guides offer all-inclusive tours starting from pick-up points in the United Kingdom.

Advance! Bespoke Battlefield Tours

Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG)

Telephone: +44 (0)1728 603 645

Website: www.advancebattlefieldtours.co.uk

After Action Battlefield Guiding

Website: www.afteraction.info/index

Battlefield guide David Grainger is a member of The Western Front Association and the Guild of Battlefield Guides. David specializes in arranging bespoke tours to suit the needs of individual travellers or groups, but for sample itineraries of the places that can be included on a tour, see the After Action website.

Anglia Tours Ltd.

ABTA No. Y3463; ATOL Protected; stf (School Travel Forum) Assured Member; Quality Badge from the Council for Learing Outside the Classroom.

Address: First Floor, Charles House, Kelvedon Road, Inworth, Essex CO5 9SH

Telephone: +44 (0)1376 - 574 130

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.angliatours.co.uk

Anglia Tours has an established reputation for organizing high quality tours to the First World War battlefields amongst other historical tours. Colonel Alain Chissel, TD, is director of Anglia Tours and a Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG).

Experienced and expert guides offer a range of guided tours suitable for individuals, schools and military groups. Anglia Tours also specializes in organizing private tours for “Friends and Family”. These tours offer a personalized pilgrimage for small parties of friends and family members, providing an unforgettable experience in the shared experience of following in the footsteps of relatives, military units or the men and women named on the local war memorial.

Back-Roads Touring Co. Battlefield Tours

Members of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG)

Telephone: +44 (0)208 9870 99

Website: www.backroadstouring.co.uk

Bartletts Battlefield Journeys Ltd.

Telephone: +44 (0)1507 - 523 128

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.battlefields.co.uk

Highly acclaimed tours visit the battlefields in small groups of up to 7 people. Bartletts Battlefield Journeys (BBJ) was founded by David Bartlett in 1995. BBJ has a well-established reputation for providing excellent, meticulously researched tours by highly qualified, experienced guides, combined with the high standards of organization provided for every BBJ traveller.

Tours with BBJ feature:

• Year-round programme of all-inclusive 3 to 12 day tours to the 1914-1918 battlefields of the Western Front and WW2 tours to Normandy.
• Bespoke tours arranged for larger groups including military personnel and school parties.

Battle Honours

Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG) Badged Guides

Telephone: +44 (0)1438 791 020

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.battle-honours.co.uk

The UK's leading battlefield tour company providing well-established, carefully researched walking battlefield tours. Every tour is accompanied by at least one badged member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG), who will act as guide, host and organizer: lead guides and founders of Battle Honours are Clive Harris (GBG Badge no. 33) and Julian Whippy (GBG Badge no. 31). Photographer Mike St Maur Sheil is a key member of the team (GBG Badge no. 38).

Tours with Battle Honours feature:

• Scheduled walking tours of up to 16 persons to a wide range of locations on the battlefields on the 1914-1918 Western Front.
• Bespoke tours tailored to meet the requirements of groups of varying sizes from the military, schools, clubs or associations.
• Tours in association with The Western Front Association.

NO LONGER? Battlefield Breaks.com

ABTA No. 16850

Telephone: +44 (0)845 344 0342

Website: www.battlefield-breaks.com

The Battlefield Guide: Frank Toogood

Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG) Badged Guide

Telephone: +44 (0)1916 45 1812

Website: www.thebattlefieldguide.com

Frank is Badged Guide no. 39 with the Guild of Battlefield Guides. He is a specialist in bespoke walking tours for small groups.

Bird Battlefield Tours

Telephone: +44 (0)20 8752 0956 or +44 (0)1243 789077

Website: www.birdbattlefieldtours.com

Clevelode Battlefield Tours

Telephone: 01684 311 257

Email: [email protected]

Website: clevelode-battletours.com

Retired Army Officer Major David Craig specializes in arranging bespoke family and group tours to the battlefields.

The Cultural Experience

ATOL Protected No. T10153; Travel Trust Association Member No. U6964

Address: The Cultural Experience, 8 Barnack Business Park, Blakey Road, Salisbury SP1 2LP

Telephone: (UK) 0345 475 1815; (International) +44 1722 340699

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.battlefieldtours.com

The Cultural Experience is a tour company highly recommended by its customers. All tours are led by expert guides, including leading historians, academics and retired officers.

The company specializes in history tours including a wide range of battlefield tours from 19th century to the modern day. WW1 tours include Haig on the Western Front, the Gallipoli campaign and the Western Front. Tours are accompanied by expert military historians. Bespoke tours can be arranged for individuals, a group of friends or members of a club or association.

Discovery Battlefield Tours

Associate Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG); Serenity Travel Trusts (Package Travel, Package Holidays & Package Tour Regulations 1992)

Telephone: +44 (0)2380 986 523

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.discoverybattlefieldtours.com

Bespoke tours for 1-4 people to the battlefields of the Western Front and Normandy beaches specialising in guests wishing to follow in the footsteps of a relative. Tours are relaxed, friendly and informal. For more information on the type of tours we offer please visit the Discovery Battlefield Tours website.

Ecosse Battlefield Tours Ltd.

Travel Trust Association member

Telephone: 07584 859737

Fax: 013552 33555

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.ecossetours.co.uk

Ecosse Battlefield Tours is a Scottish based company who organise tailor made WW1 & WW2 tours for groups (20+) to the battlefields of France, Belgium, Normandy and Arnhem in the Netherlands. All coach tours start and finish in Scotland.

Eyewitness Tours

Telephone: +44 (0)1306 - 880 960

Website: www.eyewitnesstours.com

Galina Battlefield Tours

Official Tour Operators to the Normandy Veterans Association; Member of ABTA No. Y4466

Address: Galina International Battlefield Tours, 16 Bridge Street Row, Chester, CH1 1NQ

Telephone: 01244 340 777

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.wartours.com

Galina Battlefield Tours offer tours for large groups (17-49 persons), small groups (6-16 persons), individuals and couples (1-5 persons). Galina has been arranging tours for adult groups since 1989 including military personnel, Rotarians, corporate organizations, groups of friends, literary societies and the University of the Third Age. Tour itineraries can be set by Galina or can be tailored to suit the requirements of the size of your group, your travel dates, accommodation needs, travel preferences and the places you wish to visit. Self-drive tour itineraries are also available.

For full details and to request a free quotation see the Galina International Battlefield Tours website.

Telephone: 01449 765861

Email: www.travel-galloway.com Contact form

Website: www.travel-galloway.com WW1 Centenary Tours

All-inclusive Continental coach holidays including a four-day tour package to the Ypres Salient and Somme battlefields.

Great Rail Journeys

See our page:

WW1 Battlefield Tours by Rail

Guided Battlefield Tours

Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG); Member of the Association of Bonded Travel Organisors Trust (ABTOT)

Telephone: +44 (0)1633 - 258 207

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.guidedbattlefieldtours.co.uk

A well-established, family-based battlefield tour company run by Susan and Steve Cocks. Tours are limited to a maximum of 32 people and travellers are assured of a high quality, well-researched tour. Visit the website for information about tours, dates and prices.

Holts Tours Battlefields and History

Telephone: +44 (0)1306 873 571

Website: www.holts.co.uk

With almost 40 years’ experience in operating Battlefield and History tours and more than 25 years in running School Travel, Holts Tours prides itself in being the specialist in educational travel and the leading history and battlefields tours company. Our school battlefields, history and education tours are carefully designed to fit in with the school curriculum and are tailor-made to suit your group needs and budget. Call or visit the website for a brochure.

In the Footsteps

Supporter & Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG); Member of the European Tour Operator Association (ETOA) and Recommended and rated Excellent on Trip Advisor

Telephone: +44 (0)1989 - 565 599

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.inthefootsteps.com

In the Footsteps Battlefield Tours provide expert guided tours for individuals, couples and groups. We specialise in providing tours for those wanting to Follow in the Footsteps of their ancestors or a particular unit, as well as the more general tour of the battlefields. Our expert guides can cover tours of Pre 20th Century Wars, the First World War and Second World War.

Kimber Battlefield Tours

Telephone: +44 (0)592 - 642 466

Website: www.kimberbattlefieldtours.co.uk

Guides Paul Trickett and Phil Adams are members of the Guild of Battlefield Guides. Paul and Phil both served in the Royal Marines.

Leger Holidays Guided Battlefield Tours

ABTA No. V43582; ATOL No. 3880

Telephone: +44 (0)1709 385 624

Website: www.visitbattlefields.co.uk

Leger Holidays are the leading provider of escorted Battlefield tours and offer the widest range of tours visiting sites from WW1, WW2 and other significant wars, including Waterloo, the American Civil War and the Boer and Zulu Wars of South Africa. What’s more, each tour is led by a Specialist Battlefield Guide whose knowledge and expertise help bring history alive, giving you the ultimate battlefield tour experience. Call or visit the website to request a brochure.

Mercat Tours International Ltd.

Complies with EC Directive on Package Holidays; Member of the Travel Trust Association

Address: Mercat Tours International Ltd., 28 Blair Street, Edinburgh EH1 1QR

Telephone: +44 (0)131 225 5445

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.mercattoursinternational.com

Mercat Tours International has been leading independent adult group tours and school tours to the battlefields of the Great War since 1996. Our accredited guides bring the stories of WWI to life focusing on the experience of soldiers on the Front Line and the pals battalions. Established by an ex principal history teacher, Mercat Tours International now operates tours to D-Day Landings in Normandy, Berlin and Poland in addition to the battlefields of WW1. Visit the website for more information, dates, prices and availability.

Mr Scott's Tours

Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG) Badged Guides; Member ETOA (European Tourism Association)

Telephone: +44 (0)1420 475567

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.mrscottstours.com

Mr Scott’s Tours offers a warm welcome, providing friendly, flexible and relaxed tours for small to large groups such as regimental associations, livery companies, business groups or families or friends. Mike Scott has thirty years experience of guiding battlefield tours. Mike and the team of guides operate tours throughout the UK, Europe and the world. The experienced guides are accredited as Badged Guides with the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG). Visit the website to find out more or email your enquiry to discuss a tour.

Newmarket Holidays: Battlefield Tours

ABTA No. V787X, J159X; Partner to the Royal British Legion in the Remembrance Travel Programme for Commemorative Tours

Telephone: 0330 160 7703 (standard charges apply)

Website: www.newmarketholidays.co.uk Battlefields of World War One

Founded in 1983, Newmarket Holidays is part of the Newmarket Group. It is one of the largest independently owned tour operators in the United Kingdom. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War Newmarket Holidays is offering four day guided coach tours to the battlefields of World War One in northern France and Belgian Flanders. Tours take place between May and October 2015. For more information about tour details, hotels, departure dates and customer reviews visit the website.

On The Go Tours

ABTA No. W4479; ATOL No. 6109; AITO No. 5096; AITO 4 Sustainable Tourism Stars; Travel Compensation Fund Participant

Telephone: +44 (0)207 371 1113

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.onthegotours.com

On The Go Tours offers a range of battlefield tours to a number of worldwide destinations including The Boer & Zulu Wars in South Africa, The Burma Railway (combined with the Burmese Water Festival), The Siege of Leningrad, The Borneo Death March and Ranau Track and The Vietnam War. First World War destinations include tours featuring ANZAC forces on the First World War battlefields of the Western Front and Gallipoli. For details of battlefield tours see the website page at:

Website: www.onthegotours.com Battlefield Tours

Telephone: +44 (0)7970 - 065 852

Website: www.pillow.co.uk

Rail Holidays & Battlefield Tours

Remembrance travel.

Badged Guide No. 12 and Supporter of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG)

Telephone: 020 3207 2321

Website: www.remembrancetravel.org.uk

Remembrance Travel (formerly Poppy Travel) is a subsidy of The Royal British Legion, working with tour operator Newmarket Travel. The “Journeys of Remembrance” tour programme offers battlefield tours to many destinations. Tours are led by experienced military historians who combine the historical information with the personal pilgrimages for travellers wishing to visit particular places of action and commemoration.

Reveille Tours

Telephone: +44 (0) 1304 240820

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.reveillebattlefieldtours.co.uk

Reverend Canon Bruce Hawkins, guide to the battlefields for over 25 years, specialises in taking small groups of people to visit the major battlefields of the First and Second World Wars. Tour guests travel in groups up to eight people in an air-conditioned, executive minibus. Accommodation is arranged as appropriate for the tour in guest houses, hotels or historic mansions. Bruce will be pleased to discuss a bespoke tour for groups of friends or families wishing to visit places of personal interest.

Rifleman Tours

Rifleman Tours is in association with Avanti Travel Insurance of Avanti Insurance Limited, registered in England No. 03882026

Telephone: +44 (0)1908 617264

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.riflemantours.co.uk

Run by a husband and wife team Rifleman Tours is a battlefield tour company based in the UK, specializing in small group tours of between 12 and 18 people to the WW1 battlefields of France and Belgium. Prices include executive coach travel and good quality accommodation. Tours are suitable for first time visitors and those with more specialist knowledge alike.

Rifleman Tours offer a number of tours scheduled during the year. Visitors wishing to pay their respects to a grave or visit a particular place of action during a tour can be accommodated (advance notice is required). Bespoke tours can also be planned around a group wanting to study a particular theme or visit special places of action.

Shearings Holidays: Battlefield Tours

Winner British Travel Awards 2012; ABTA No. V6468; Member of the Bonded Coach Holiday Group of the Confederation Of Passenger Transport UK Ltd.

Telephone: 0844 824 6351

Website: www.shearings.com Battlefields

Shearings is the UK's number one coach holiday tour operator and has been organizing tours for over 100 years. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War Shearings is offering high quality guided coach tours and river cruises to the WW1 battlefields of the Western Front in France and Belgium. Shearings also offers WW2 tours and cruises.

Groups of all sizes - students, cadets, military personnel, associations - are very welcome to make enquiries at 01942 823 447.

For more detailed information visit the Shearings website or call to discuss your enquiry.

Skylark Battlefield Tours

Telephone: +44 (0)1354 696 779

Website: www.skylarkbattlefieldtours.co.uk

NO LONGER? Spirit of History

Telephone: +44 (0)1883 744 342

Website: www.spiritofhistory.co.uk

A battlefield tour company offering travel in small groups.

Spirit of Remembrance

Fully licensed and bonded tour specialists in ANZAC, British, Canadian, American and tailor-made tours. Badged guides & members of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG).

Telephone: 01634 233785

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.spiritofremembrance.com

Fully licensed battlefield tour company and travel agency led by a highly experienced team in travel and tourism combined with expert ex-Service guides with many years of experience in battlefield guiding. WW1 tours are just some of the destinations available for booking. Spirit of Remembrance not only offers travellers to the battlefields the means to visit all the major sites, but also provides a variety of tailor-made opportunities for travellers to personalize a tour, whether wishing to travel as a group or an individual.

Visit the Spirit of Remembrance website to read in detail about the many and varied tour and learning opportunities available, including:

• Platinum tailor-made tours
• Day tours: ANZAC, Canadian and Waterloo
• 2 - 8 day inclusive tours
• Tailor-made tours for individuals and groups of all sizes.
• Theme tours such as photography, painting and poetry.
• “Who were they? Tours” : Personal tours helping you to trace your military ancestor, discover their story and build a tour around their story.

Take Us Touring

Telephone: +44 (0)1989 565599

Email: [email protected]

Website: takeustouring.com

Specialising in private group tours to the battlefields for groups of 10 or more.

Dr. Thomson's Tours

Badged Guide with the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG)

Telephone: +44 (0)1227 - 455 922

Website: www.drttours.co.uk

Tours can be arranged by Dr Andrew Thomson for individuals, large or small groups, couples, corporate organizations, clubs and conferences. Dr Thomson is Badged Guide No. 14 with the Guild of Battlefield Guides.

Williamsomme Tours

Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides

Telephone: +44 (0)7848 976 142

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.williamsommetours.co.uk

Williamsomme Tours is a small, highly rated company offering bespoke tours of the Western Front for groups of 4-6, between March and November each year.

Mike Williamson has been operating the company since 2008. Since March 2015 he has been joined by Giles Guthrie. Giles is a former museum curator and a member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides. Giles will research family members' roles in the Great War (free of charge) and tours will be arranged accordingly and will include visits to many of the major sites.

The guided tours are all-inclusive (included is travel, B&B, restaurant meals, picnics, refreshments and museum entrance fees). Guests are accommodated in a beautiful 5-bedroom Somme farmhouse around 30 minutes' drive from Amiens. Visit the website for further details of tours and photos of the accommodation.

Related Topics

Visiting the ww1 western front battlefields.

Advice and useful information about travelling, accommodation and tourist information for visitors to the Western Front battlefields:

Visiting WW1 Western Front Battlefields

Battlefields of the Western Front

Pages on the battlefields by area including comprehensive listings and locations of military cemeteries, main memorials, battle remains, museums and accommodation:

International Guild of Battlefield Guides

The International Guild of Battlefield Guides is for guides with a specialism in battlefield history, providing an organization where guides can meet one another, share information and approaches to the subject. Members of the Guild can take part in an accreditation programme to become a “Badged Guide”. Visit:

Website: www.gbg-international.com

Somme Battlefields' Partner, France

The Somme Battlefields' Partner is a new network for visitors to the Somme, where local professionals involved in tourism and the history of this battlefield area have come together. The Somme Battlefields' Partner website is at:

Website: www.somme-battlefields.com

Battlefield Tours

Battlefield Tours & Travel

Battlefield Tour Companies and Guides based in Belgium and France

Cycling Routes & Tours on the WW1 Battlefields

Walking the WW1 Battlefields

Self-drive Itineraries & Tours of the WW1 Battlefields

Motorcycling Tours on the WW1 Battlefields

Battlefield Tours by Rail

WW1 Battlefield Tour Companies for Students & School Groups

• Western Front Battlefields
• Battlefield Visits
• Memorials & Monuments
• Museums & Archive Collections
• Tracing Family History
• Researching Military History
• Education Resources
• Experience of the Great War
• Remembrance
• Organizations
• The Poppy Umbrella
• Tours from UK
• Tours start in Belgium/France
• Cycling Tours
• Walking Tours
• Self-Drive Tours
• Motorcycle Tours
• Tours by Rail
• Tours for Schools & Students
• Guild of Battlefield Guides
• Travel Maps
• Accommodation

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Discover our WW1 Battlefield Tours

Battlefield Tours

New-Zealand

1 Day Tours

Welcome back! Discover our special Tours and Promotions

A local and experienced guide.

The combination of local knowledge and historical research through the years turns out to be a major asset to give our clients the most rewarding experience.

Adapted on your own expectations

The main issue for us is to give our clients a tour adapted to their needs and expectations.Whatever their choice is, a one day or several day tours we can arrange it.

Personal service

Following the footsteps of your relative is very humbling and a lifetime achievement with their suffering in the back of your mind.

Testimonials

"great experience".

We were three friends from Spain and wanted to visit in one day the most important places of WWI at Ypres. Annette was an EXCELLENT guide, the tour that she made absolutly completed our expectations. Without her guidance and knowledge (that is impressive) it would have been imposible to seize the day as we did.

Guided Tours of the Western Battlefields

Battlefield sites

Our guided tour will take you to the most relevant trenches and significant battlefield sites from World War One such as Hill 60, Hill 62, Tyne Cot cemetery, Polygon Wood,Essines Ridge and more in the Ypres Salient. In the Somme we go to Thiepval, Pozieres, Mouquet farm, Villers Bretonneux.

Your own choice

But we take you also to places of your own choice: a small cemetery where a relative is buried or a less known battlefield where he fought was wounded or received an award. We also visit German sites as well Allied.

Trace a soldier

As a special service we can try to trace the movements of an individual soldier during the first world war. If you are interested in that service, please give us notice a few weeks prior to your arrival.

Ypres & Somme Battlefield tours accommodation

During our package tours we use the Novotel in Ypres and breakfast and dinner is included in the price of our 2. 3 or 4 day battlefield tours. Convenient is to arrive in Lille the day before the tour. In this case we will be happy to recommend accommodation near the station where you arrive. If you have choose your own accommodation, we are also able to guide you on the Ypres and Somme battlefields.

Kim's Battlefield Tours

Specialising in world war  one   battlefield  tours ypres, passchendaele, vimy and the somme.

Connections

What connects us in 2024 when it comes to World War I? Eight participants, including myself, each selected an object from the WWI collection in Flanders Fields that deeply moved us. Jelle Vermeersch captured this profound emotional journey through photo and video.

A passionate WWI tour guide from the U.K now based in Ypres, Belgium. Bringing to life the stories of the men who fought here, helping to keep their memories alive. 

WW1 battlefield Guided Tours in France

Experience ww1 battlefieds in france with custom-tailored guided tours and private guides, discover france's ww1 battlefields with guided tours specialists.

Are you interested in the Great War ? We organize your WW1 battlefield custom-tailored Guided Tour in France , with the best guides and specialists.

From the Belgian border to the Vosges mountains, France hosts some of the most famous WW1 battlefields in the world. During the war, the battles have moulded the landscapes of northern France and now these WW1 battlefield vestiges are still incredibly lively. Strolling among them is a deep emotional and historical experience.

From offbeat locations to the most renowned battlefields , you are accompanied by an independent local professional guide and specialist, who makes these battlefields alive especially for you.

Your WW1 battlefield Guided Tour is entirely private and custom-tailored

Save time and money ! Depending on your requests and destination, we organize your perfect trip everywhere in France : tell us where you go and what you are interested in and we design your Guided Tour .

Here are just a few of the places we visit:

• The battle of Somme
• The Hindenbourg line
• The Kemmel mount
• The Chemin des Dames
• The Marne battles
• The Vosges mountains
• The Hartmannswillerkopf

If you don't have your own vehicle, we can also organize transportation with private limousine or van.

We complete your Guided Tour with recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels and exhibitions, in order to provide a unique experience.

Each Guided Tour is different: price is quoted on demand.

Contact us so we can start working on your customized WW1 battlefield Guided Tour in France : [email protected].