Ypres Tours
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THE CHANNEL TO YPRES TOUR
-Two Days, One Night
The Northern Tip of the Western Front
Day One
8:30 Depart Surrey or other prearranged area by coach for tunnel crossing to Calais
12:00 (local time). Arrive in France. Travel towards Nieuport and the area flooded in 1914, to prevent the German advance towards the other Channel ports. See the sluice gates and visit memorials that commemorate the flooding. Visit the Ramskapelle British Cemetery where 800 defenders of the sector are buried.
2:00 Drive down the line of the Front en route to Ypres.
Snack lunch in Dixmude, which remained in German hands after the Battle of Yser.
Visit the Vladslo German Cemetery where 25,000 Germans are buried, including the son of the sculptress who designed the haunting memorial figures. See the graves of some famous soldiers and other interesting stories.
3:00 Visit the Trenches of Death at Dixmude - if time.
4:30 See the graves of double VC holder, Noel Chevasse Brandhoek Cemetery.
Visit the Essex Farm Cemetery and memorial to John McCrae, poet who wrote in Flanders Fields.
6:00 Check into town centre hotel. Free time or study the Menin Gate.
7:50 Meet up as a group under the Menin Gate for the Last Post.
8:30 Evening free for dinner in the town centre or a group booking for everyone.
Day Two
9:00 Coach to Passchendaele and the Tyne Cot Cemetery. Tyne Cot, near Passchendaele, is the largest cemetery for Empire forces anywhere in the world. It contains 34,888 names of the missing engraved on the memorial wall and 11,908 graves. From July 31st until November 6th, the Allied forces struck the German frontline trenches in an attempt to breakthrough to Passchendaele Ridge and beyond. The cost in human suffering, on all sides amounted to over 750,000 casualties. The Germans had good trenches with pillboxes, which the shelling had not destroyed. Once again the notion of a big push had proved disastrous. Drive to Poelcapelle British Cemetery where 7,400 graves lay in testament to the fighting. Perhaps the youngest soldier, Private J Condon, Royal Irish, aged 14, is buried here. Brief stop at Languemarck German Cemetery, the site of over 44,000 German burials.
2:00 After lunch in Ypres, coach to the museum at Hill 62.
3:30 Coach to Messines Ridge area. Coach tour along a section of the front where 19 mines were laid under the German trenches and exploded on June 7th 1917. Find out what happened and visit some of the sites of the explosions.
5:00 Return to Calais for Channel Tunnel crossing.
8:00 approx. Back at departure point
See Tour Dates page for further information
Price of Tour £199 per person sharing
Single room supplements £40
This includes hotel in Ypres on a BB basis, all travel in a luxury minibus, tour guides, all museum entrances and a specially prepared booklet designed to go with our itinerary.
Our Company Insurance is included. However, you may want your own holiday insurance, and should bring your E1-11 card in case of personal injury requiring hospital treatment (or adequate insurance cover). See booking terms and conditions.
