4 & 5-Day Break

• Day 1 – We travel to Belgium for a 3 or 4-night stay.
• Day 2 – Battlefields of Flanders (included). On our exploration of the battlefields around Ypres and Passchendaele, we visit Tyne Cot, the largest British cemetery in the world, and Sanctuary Wood, with its fascinating museum of artefacts from the war, plus many chilling picture displays. There's also a preserved trench system to walk around. We have lunch at the Hooge Crater café, with its superb museum, then visit the recently-opened Yorkshire Trench, as featured on BBC T.V. We also visit the 'death cells' town of Poperinghe and hear the story of the soldiers 'shot at dawn'. Our day ends in Ypres for the 'Last Post' Ceremony at 8pm at the Menin Gate. B
• Day 3 – Battlefields of the Somme (included). July 1st, 1916 was the first day of the Somme, where so many died. We visit Newfoundland Park, and its preserved trenches and museum, which commemorates the plight of the Newfoundlanders. We also see the Sunken Lane (Lancashire Fusiliers) at Beaumont Hamel and Hawthorne Ridge, before visiting the South African Museum at Delville Wood, where the allied forces suffered great casualties. After time at the historical Museum of Peronne, we visit the memorial to the troops from Ulster, a re-creation of a castle in Belfast, before ending our day at the 'Memorial to the Missing' in Thiepval, the largest memorial to British and Commonwealth forces in the world. It’s said that every family surname in Britain can be found on this wall. B
• Day 4 (4-day break) – We journey to Calais and then home. B
• Day 4 (5-day break) – Vimy Ridge, Arras and the Somme. We return to northern France's Vimy Ridge, captured by Canadian troops in 1917 (the Vimy Ridge memorial is undergoing restoration until early 2007). We then look at the battle of Arras, visiting the Arras Memorial and nearby war cemetery. In the afternoon, we spend time at Pozieres where so many Australians died and are commemorated, before finishing at the Lochnagar Mine Crater, a 300 feet-deep crater left after a mine exploded on the first day of battle. Here, just a couple of years ago, the body of a British soldier was discovered lying just beneath the surface! B
• Day 5 – We journey to Calais and then home. B

B=Breakfast Br=Brunch L=Lunch D=Dinner