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Your departure
Upgrades, transfers, accommodation and more can be quoted on enquiry — call 1300 414 198.
Over 295,000 Australians served on the Western Front between March 1916 and November 1918. Of those, over 130,000 were wounded and 46,000 lost their lives. Battle conditions were so dire that more than 18,000 of the fallen had no known grave.
This very special 4-day Remembrance Day tour visits all the main battlefields in the Somme, Flanders and the Ypres Salient. The itinerary has been personally designed by Mat McLachlan, and the expert historians who escort the tour have been hand-picked by Mat.
Either begin your tour in Paris or Lille, a great option if you are catching the Eurostar from London or travelling elsewhere in Europe.
Itinerary
- 1
Paris to Ypres
Welcome to the Western Front tour. The group assembles in Paris or Lille (meeting point and time to be confirmed; anticipate 8:30am from Paris or 12-noon from Lille). Visit the 1916 battlefield of Fromelles, where Australia lost 5,533 men during its first action on the Western Front. Explore the Australian Memorial Park, VC Corner Cemetery (the only all-Australian cemetery in France), the site of the Australian mass grave at Pheasant Wood, and the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Cemetery where 250 Australian and British soldiers were laid to rest in 2010. Visit the Fromelles Museum which tells the story of Australia's involvement in the 1916 battle. Travel to Ypres, home for the next two nights. Between 1914 and 1918 Ypres was completely destroyed by shellfire and came to symbolise the horror of the First World War. In the evening enjoy a walking tour with a historian around the rebuilt town, before a welcome dinner.D - 2
The Ypres Salient
Explore the Australian battlefields in the Ypres Salient, a bulge in the front line that curved around Ypres for most of the war. More than a million men were killed or wounded trying to gain control of this small patch of ground. Visit the Passchendaele Museum, a collection of relics and displays chronicling the fighting in Flanders. See the 5th Australian Division Memorial at Polygon Wood, including the graves of Private Hunter and Sergeant Calder. Lunch is included at a local café. Experience the cratered landscape of Hill 60, devastated by four years of continuous artillery fire. Visit Tyne Cot, the world's largest Commonwealth war cemetery, located in the heart of one of the war's most horrific battlefields at Passchendaele. Visit the German Cemetery at Langemark and see the magnificent Canadian memorial marking where poison gas was first used in the war. In the evening, attend the moving Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, where the names of 54,000 missing British and Commonwealth soldiers are recorded. The Ypres fire brigade has performed this bugle ceremony every day since the memorial opened in 1927. Two passengers will be invited to lay a wreath on behalf of the group.BL - 3
Ypres to the Somme
Leave Ypres and travel south towards the battlefields of the Somme. Visit the battlefield of Bullecourt, where Australia lost 10,000 men in two great battles in 1917. Pay respects at the Slouch Hat memorial in the centre of town and the Australian Memorial Park on the site of the German front line. Visit Pozieres, scene of the most costly battle in Australia's history, where 23,000 men were killed or wounded in six weeks of fighting. Pay tribute at the 1st Division Memorial and the Windmill. See Mouquet Farm, where the Australians fought a bitter campaign against the Germans in August 1916. Visit the imposing Thiepval Memorial, which commemorates more than 70,000 British soldiers missing from the Somme fighting. Check in to a central Somme hotel with free time to enjoy dinner. A packed picnic lunch is included.BL - 4
The Somme to Paris
Explore the killing fields of the Somme, where Australian troops performed magnificently in 1918. Visit Adelaide Cemetery, where Australia's Unknown Soldier lay before being reinterred in Canberra in 1993. Visit the Victoria School in Villers-Bretonneux, which displays a sign entreating schoolchildren to 'Do Not Forget Australia', and explore the excellent Franco-Australian Museum at the school. Visit the Australian Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, where the names of almost 11,000 Australians missing in France are recorded. Visit the new Sir John Monash Interpretive Centre, which tells the story of Australia's achievements on the Western Front. Visit the Australian Memorial Park at Hamel, scene of a great Australian victory orchestrated by General John Monash on 4 July 1918. Depart the battlefields and drive to the drop-off point, arriving at approximately 5pm in Paris.B
Inclusions & exclusions
What’s included
- Services of an expert WWI Historian
- Paris pick-up and drop-off plus option to meet tour in Lille
- All excursions, scenic drives and sightseeing as described in the itinerary
- 3 nights’ 3 to 4-star accommodation
- Travel by comfortable air-conditioned coach
- Breakfast daily, 2 lunches and welcome dinner
- All entrance fees as per the itinerary
Not included
- Travel Insurance
- Airfares
Accommodation
Comfortable 3 to 4 star standard hotels are used throughout this tour.
Book this tour
Send us an enquiry and a consultant will be in touch, or call 1300 414 198 for personal help choosing a departure.
You might also like
Explore the Battlefields of World War I
- Discover the Museum of the Battle of Fromelles
- Visit Commonwealth War Graves and historic cemeteries
- Small-group touring with a maximum of 18 guest
Anzac History Tour of the Western Front
- Explore Pozières, Mouquet Farm, Longueval and Flers
- Visit the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme
- Discover the Australian story at the Franco-Australian Museum
Travel further when you're not travelling alone
Our Social Getaways are small-group holidays designed especially for over-60s Australians who want the freedom of a great trip without the work of planning every detail. A Travel at 60 host travels with the group, the operator handles the logistics, and you get to focus on the bit that matters — the people, the places, and the stories you'll bring home.
Open to solo travellers too. Many of our travellers book on their own and find their feet quickly in a friendly group of like-minded Australians. Reduced single-supplement options are available on most departures — ask one of our consultants and we'll talk you through what's offered on this trip.
- A friendly Travel at 60 host — an Australian face on the ground, looking out for the group from day one.
- Curated local guides & boutique suppliers — the same operators we'd book for our own families.
- Real itineraries, not whirlwind tours — comfortable transfers, breathing room, and the “off the beaten track” stops the big bus tours skip.
Want to talk it through? Call 1300 414 198 7 days a week, Queensland time, and one of our consultants will walk you through it.
— The team at Travel at 60
