Walk Through the History of the Western Front
Discover the First World War Battlefields
Explore the places where major battles took place and learn how the Western Front shaped the First World War.
Understand Life in the Trenches
Discover the conditions, challenges and daily experiences faced by soldiers during trench warfare.
Explore the Ypres Salient and its memorials
The first day follows sites linked to the fighting around Ypres, from Essex Farm and Pilckem to Passchendaele and Tyne Cot. In The Footsteps Tours, we connect cemetery visits, memorials and preserved trenches with the events recorded at each location. We include the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, giving visitors time to consider how the region commemorates those killed and missing during the First World War. We reflect.
Trace the fighting at Fromelles, Vimy and the Somme
We visit the Pool of Peace at Messines, Irish and Ulster memorials, the Fromelles cemetery and the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge. In The Footsteps Tours, we then follow the Somme sector through Beaumont-Hamel, Thiepval, Lochnagar Crater, Mametz Wood and Pozieres. These visits bring together national memorials, preserved battlefield features and cemeteries, showing how separate units and communities are remembered across a connected front. Sites reveal national commemorations and histories.
Day One: The Ypres Salient and the Menin Gate
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Essex Farm Cemetery and Advanced Dressing Station, where John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields"
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The French Memorial at Pilckem and the gas attack of April 1915
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The Welsh National Memorial, and the opening day of Passchendaele on 31 July 1917
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Langemark German Military Cemetery
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The Canadian Brooding Soldier Memorial near Sint-Juliaan
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The 5th Australian Division Memorial, Buttes New British Cemetery and the New Zealand Memorial to the Missing
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The New Zealand Memorial at 's Gravenstafel
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The Canadian Memorial at Passchendaele
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Zonnebeke's Passchendaele 1917 Museum, with its reconstructed dugout and trenches
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Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial, a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery
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Evening: the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate at 20:00, sounded every night since 1929
Return to your Arras hotel.
Day Two: Messines, Fromelles and Vimy Ridge
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Spanbroekmolen Pool of Peace, a flooded mine crater from the opening of the Battle of Messines
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The Miners Memorial at Wytschaete and the underground war
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The Island of Ireland Peace Park and the side-by-side attack of the 16th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) Divisions
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VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Memorial
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The Australian Memorial Park at Fromelles
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Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, and the search for the missing of Fromelles
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Vimy Ridge Memorial Park, with preserved trenches and the Grange Subway
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The Canadian National Vimy Memorial
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Return to your Arras hotel for a free evening.
Day Three: The Battle of the Somme
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Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont-Hamel
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The Ulster Memorial Tower at Thiepval
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The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme
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The Lochnagar Crater
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Fricourt German Military Cemetery
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Devonshire Cemetery and the grave of the poet Lt William Noel Hodgson
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Mametz Wood and the 38th (Welsh) Division memorial
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The 1st Australian Division Memorial and the windmill site at Pozieres
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The Tank Corps Memorial, near where tanks went into action in September 1916
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Your tour ends back in Arras.
Itineraries are subject to change for operational reasons. Any changes will be advised before departure.
Price: From £750.00 GBP per person
Based on: pick-up and drop-off from your tour hotel; six people touring; a dedicated tour vehicle driven by an expert battlefield historian; two people sharing a twin room.
Notes: Costs may vary with hotel availability and selection. Single occupancy supplement £105.00. A supplement may apply for anniversary dates. Deposit is 30% or £200.00 per person, whichever is greater. Booking indicates acceptance of the Standard Terms and Conditions.