ABOUT OUR TOURS

This bit is quite important. . .

As our name suggests, we organise both guided and self-drive tours (see menu left) to the battlefields of Ypres and the Somme. We are a specialist company and as such only organise tours to these battlefields. All our energies are therefore directed into providing a conducted tour which is quite different to the more commercially driven options offered by larger companies.

We are particularly proud of our long-standing reputation.  Please take a few moments to read just some of the many letters we have received, such as those shown below and to the right of this page.

   
Click to enlarge

If you are wondering what the ages are of those who join our tours then best have a look at the 'Tour Photos' page of our website. Ages range from 20's to early 90's, with roughly half travelling by themselves and the rest in pairs.

Our tours are particularly suited to the more discerning battlefield visitor, who wishes to visit the battlefields as part of a very small group, rather than just one of a medium or large coach party. For this reason we will be introducing our 'Premier' conducted tour service for 2008 based on a group size of just four persons (with an option for five persons if travelling as one group). This very much reduced group size has been introduced in order that we may provide not only the very best guiding service, but care for our guests at all times.

We offer two tour options, both of three days duration, depending upon whether you wish to visit just the Somme battlefield (at a more leisurely pace and in greater depth), or both the Ypres and Somme battlefields.  The itineraries below tell you more about each of the tours. The tour dates for 2008 are now shown on a separate page (see menu left or click here).

Travelling as part of such a very small group allows us to pretty much ‘go where we please’, thus making the tour more of an ‘adventure’. 

We appreciate that travelling as part of such a very small group results in a higher per-person cost, but we believe the benefits are well worth the extra expenditure.

Being one of just four guests is by far and away the best group size for the informal exchange of questions and answers as we explore some of the most poignant battlefields of the Great War.  We also make use of film footage and enlarged pictures of the battlefield 'then' to compare with the exact spot 'now' as we travel the battlefields, such as the examples below and to the right of this page.

The above are two examples of the images we use - 'White City', Beaumont Hamel, Somme (left) and the detonation of the Hawthorn mine (18 tons of explosive) at 0720 hrs on 1 July 1916 (right).

(See further picture and film clip of the mine detonation to the right of this page)

Unlike some tour organisers, we only use Eurotunnel to cross the Channel as this option is not only much quicker, but less susceptible to adverse weather conditions and industrial action.
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In addition to visiting the more memorable sites, we also get ‘off the beaten track’ as much as possible, to places where one can still find the remains of trenches, craters etc - places where larger tour operators possibly haven’t the time or means to reach or find. There is usually enough time for those who wish to have a rummage around the battle-scarred terrain, which can be a quite absorbing pastime! We are also sometimes able to see the original trench lines after the fields are ploughed as shown below at Thiepval (top) and Beaumont Hamel (below), as well as detailed explanations which put these pictures into chilling perspective...

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In addition to the itinerary, we are pleased to be able to include visits to any cemetery/memorial etc that you may wish to visit, provided we can do so in the time available. We can usually include a 'dawn visit' to Villers Bretonneux for Australian travellers!

• Accommodation (en-suite room with TV)..
   

• All meals, including 'proper' lunches and wine/coffee with our evening meals..
   

• A group size that is limited to just four guests (possibly the smallest group size offered, and by far and away the very best way to visit the battlefields)..
   

• Limitless snacks - as much and as often as you wish..
   

• Museum entrance fees.
   

• Full colour briefing pack(s), including copies of trench maps, detailed narratives, photographs etc. These notes will be sent to you well in advance of the tour.
  
  ....in short - everything!

Please also remember that Self-Drive tours are available all year round, where you choose the dates you wish to travel and we do all the rest!

HERE'S MORE ABOUT THE TWO TOUR OPTIONS WE OFFER. . .

It's important to first read the 'Background' information (above) about our tours.

This very popular three-day tour takes place on either a Friday to Sunday or Tuesday - Thursday (see 'Dates & Cost' page).  This all-inclusive tour comprises not more than six persons and  starts at either London (Victoria) or the popular M20 services at Maidstone (our preferred meeting place which also has a handy 'Travel Inn' where one can stay over the night before/after), or indeed anywhere along the Dorset - Folkestone motorway route. If you are all travelling together we will be pleased to discuss the possibility of picking you up from your home (if in southern England) or your hotel in London.

Our 'Somme and Ypres' tour is best suited to those who wish to visit perhaps the two most significant battlefields of the Great War.  We deliberately get away from the usual 'tourist routes' and make best use of our very small group size - which allows us to get 'off the beaten track' as much as possible so as to visit the places most battlefield visitors never get a chance to see.

We make a point of always staying at hotels situated on or very near to the battlefields, rather than larger more impersonal hotels elsewhere.  With this principle in mind, we spend one night staying at the two-star Hotel Basilique (click link to see more of the hotel) in the very centre of the WWI town of Albert, situated directly opposite the famous Basilica. The second night is spent staying in the centre of Ypres at the more luxurious  family-run four-star Ariane Hotel (our final evening meal, including wine, is taken in the hotel's fine restaurant).

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The 4-star Ariane hotel (Ypres)

Here's the itinerary for our 2008 tours...

2. THE SOMME ONLY TOUR

It's important to first read the 'Background' information about our tours.

This three-day battlefield tour is ideally suited to those who wish to spend the the limited time available looking at perhaps the most tragic battlefield of the Great War, the Somme battlefield of 1916.  By spending all our time "on the Somme" we are able to visit some of the most poignant sites on the battlefield at a more leisurely pace and in greater depth. We also find time to stop and explore just about anything of interest we see as we travel around the battlefield (subject to time).

If you wish to book a place on a either tour then have a look at the 'Dates & Cost' (or click here), then phone (0044 (0) 1202 880211) or e-mail us with your preferred tour (either Somme or Somme & Ypres).  All we need for now is a deposit of £80 per person, with the balance payable six weeks prior to departure.  Please see the 'Booking Form' page for more details...

Please note - Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd fully complies with the provisions of the UK Tour package, Tour Travel etc Regulations 1992.  We are fully insured in accordance with these regulations (especially Tour Liability, and comprehensive 'Private hire' vehicle insurance, a crucial legal requirement  which not all small tour operators have), as well as all provisions regarding the handling of clients' monies.
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The regulations provide that such monies be held in a separate Trust Account which can not be released to our company until the tour has been provided (see Terms and Conditions). Full details of our trustees (Barclays Bank) are available upon request.  We also operate as a fully registered Limited company and as such our accounts are open to inspection by any person (upon payment of a small fee to Companies House).