SOMME BATTLEFIELD TOURS LTD 

AWARD WINNING SELF-DRIVE TOURS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS OF
.
THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
 

INTRODUCTION
 This bit is quite important....

We've written this section to help anyone thinking of visiting the battlefields. 
We have tried to offer impartial advice as our main wish is to help you
decide which tour is best for you.

Battlefield tours to Ypres and Somme battlefields of the Great War WW1

Background

 This page is a bit on the long side but it's well worth reading. It tells you something about the background to battlefield tours in general, and more about the different options open to you.

As our name suggests, we organise guided tours to the battlefields of Ypres and the Somme.  We spent many, many years organising small group tours to these two most poignant battlefields of the Great War 1914-1918 but in 2010 we decided to specialise in offering just self-drive tours as we found more and more visitors wanted to have the freedom to explore the battlefields without the constraints of being tied to the fixed timetable of a coach tour (whether large or small).

Battlefield tours to Ypres and Somme battlefields of the Great War WW1   Battlefield tours to Ypres and Somme battlefields of the Great War WW1 

(Click to enlarge)
Left above - the 'Schlieffen Plan' invasion of Belgium & France by Germany in 1914.  Right - the stagnation of the 'Western Front' of 1914 - 1918.

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The first battlefield tours
Almost as soon as the Great War came to an end in November 1918 visitors flocked to the battlefields; either out of curiosity or to visit the grave of a loved one, or even sadder, to visit the general area where a loved one fell and whose remains had not been found. Some even made the journey whilst the war was still being fought.

The Michelin Tyre Company was one of the first commercial companies offering guided tours to the battlefields of France (Somme) and Belgium (Ypres).  They published a guide to the battlefields in 1919 (yes – 1919!) with fascinating pictures of the recently abandoned battlefields with all the material of warfare still littering the battered shell pocked landscapes such as shown below - have a look at the landscape, not to mention the editor's car!

Battlefield tours to Ypres and Somme battlefields of the Great War WW1

Battlefield tours to Ypres and Somme battlefields of the Great War WW1

 Battlefield tours to Ypres and Somme battlefields of the Great War WW1 Battlefield tours to Ypres and Somme battlefields of the Great War WW1

The Michelin guide book to the Ypres battlefield 1919

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Visiting the battlefields today

The two most visited battlefields today are the Somme in northern France and Ypres in Belgium.  Ypres is now spelt the Flemish way ‘Ieper’ - and that's with an 'i' not an 'L' as some often think).

It’s best for the moment to stay focused on these two hugely significant battlefields and perhaps venture further afield later in your travels.  The closest English Channel crossing route for both the Somme and Ypres (Ieper) is Dover/Folkestone–Calais.

Visitors to the battlefields today are basically faced with one of two choices, namely:

  1. Doing your 'own thing' by making your own arrangements from scratch. 
     

  2. Take advantage of a conducted tour such as those those offered by coach companies (small or large groups). 
     

  3. Have the freedom to explore the battlefields at your own pace using our self-drive battlefields guides/maps etc
     

Let's look at these three options in more detail in the following sections.

Option 1 - Making your own arrangements

Those who are familiar with crossing the English Channel by either Eurotunnel or ferry and driving on the 'wrong side' may feel confident in making their own way to the battlefields. Ypres is about one hour's drive (east) from Calais.  Albert (Somme) is just over one and a half hour's drive (south east) from Calais. 

By far and away the biggest drawback to visiting the battlefields under one's own steam is that it can be very difficult to relate the battlefield today to the battlefield of 1914-18, unless you have a detailed guide book accompanied by equally detailed trench maps (i.e. maps produced by the military cartographers during the war showing the battlefield in detail, especially the position of trenches etc).  The battlefields of today look pretty much the same as any other part of rural France or Belgium – with the exception of the hundreds of Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries that now punctuate the landscape.  If you know what to look for it's there to be seen, but not at all as easy as many think. 

The problem with the many excellent books that have been written on the subject of the Great War is that they invariably lack adequate maps and plans to the detail that the battlefield visitor needs.  This is the biggest problem and one we have strived to overcome with our unique Self-Drive option.

Option 2 - Conducted Tours
People who wish to visit the battlefields of the Great War understandably may first think of a conducted tour.  However, for those truly seeking to reveal the true legacy of the Great War, nothing can beat the freedom of exploring the battlefields without the constraints of a coach/minibus group dictating the pace.

Visiting the battlefields as part of a conducted tour can be frustrating as the tour organiser has to keep to a fixed timetable and itinerary, often limiting stops to 20-30 minutes or so (and we all know how long it takes to get off and back on a coach, which eats in to valuable time).  As you look out of the coach window as you whiz along from one venue to another, you'll doubtless see things which just beg further investigation. The frustration at not being able to stop when you want and for as long as you want and 'follow your nose' can be quite exasperating!  This is why more and more battlefield visitors are choosing to have the best of both worlds by driving themselves to France and letting us arrange everything for them.  We arrange your Channel crossing (for UK based clients) and hotel accommodation, as well as providing our all-important self-drive guides/maps/plans/directions.  Our written self-drive guide will take you on a journey to see the tranquil land today as it was all those years ago.

If you have your heart set on a conducted tour, which in fairness can offer good value for money, starting from the UK then there are many companies to choose from (as you may have seen when searching the internet!), some better than others....   We will be happy to recommend a company we have known and respected over the years we have been organising tours - just email us and we'll let you have details.  Also bear in mind the saying 'in the end you pay for what you get'! 

OPTION 3 - Self-Drive Tours

Either read on or jump straight to our page dedicated to self-drive tours by clicking here.

A variation on the 'DIY theme' is taking a self-drive tour where all the Channel crossing and hotel bookings are made on your behalf by a specialist in tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields such as our small company.  This way you combine the benefits of touring at your own pace, together having  the all-important detailed battlefield guide material such as detailed maps and plans and descriptive narrative at your fingertips, crucial information so lacking in other publications.

This material includes all the maps, plans and directions you will need – so much so that you will be able to trace the exact course of the Front Line, even if it means following it across public car parks, housing estates or wherever!  We are the only company offering these unique Somme and Ypres battlefield guides.

You can now combine the flexibility of a Self-Drive tour with the added appeal of having a personal conducted tour.  We have teamed up with the few properly accredited and respected English-speaking guides living on or near the battlefields you wish to visit.  We can easily arrange for a British guide to pick you up at your hotel to take you on a tour of most battlefields of the Great War, as an additional service to your written self-drive guide.  You will not be expected to join a group as our experienced, independent guides specialise in providing a personal service, and focusing on areas of specific interest to you (such as Australian/Canadian/New Zealand battlefields). 

      

Click above maps of northern France and Belgium
 to see the location of the principal battlefields (right)
and main motorway routes/driving distances (left)

A personal tour with pick-up at your hotel costs a lot more when compared with joining a fixed-itinerary ‘public’ tour, but is by far and away the best way to see the battlefield, especially bearing in mind this may be your one occasion to make the visit you are have in mind.  A personal tour is also better suited for the quiet exploration and reflection of past events, without the possible distraction of others making up your group - and the need for the tour leader to stick to a fixed time schedule!  

This service will be included in the total cost you will pay, thus making your battlefield visit a seamless experience with everything arranged by us in advance.

For more details on self-drive tours to the Somme (including Villers Bretonneux) and Ypres click here.

Click below to download a PDF
overview of our Self-Drive tours

‘Birdsong’ by Sebastian Faulks
Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd was closely involved in the making of the 2001 BBC TV documentary on Sebastian Faulks and his acclaimed novel ‘Birdsong'. We have also been engaged by Working Title Films to help trace the original battlefields in the making of the forthcoming motion picture of the book. We are therefore pleased to be able to include visits to many of the places mentioned in the Book in our battlefield tours.


 Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd will also help those seeking details of relatives buried on or near the Somme battlefield and will take photographs of specific graves/cemeteries etc for those genuinely unable to visit the grave of a relative for whatever reason (especially those living far away).

There is no charge for this service.

Click here for further details
James Power

2011

A member of the
Guild of Battlefield Guides
and
Western Front Association
 

Project Hougoumont Marque 

Click the above logo to see the benefits of joining
 the Western Front Association


About James Power



 My wife Annette and I (left of photo) with a typical tour group

I first visited the Somme and Ypres battlefields back in 1966 when I was just eighteen. I was returning from a holiday in France, and by chance found myself to be driving through somewhere called Picardy and the Somme.

I remember stopping to see a truly massive memorial which dominated the skyline - the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing on the Somme battlefield. I was taken aback that the 73,000* plus names on the memorial were not all those British soldiers killed in the battle (as shocking as that would have been...) but ‘just’ those soldiers who were either never found or identified. I found this figure difficult to comprehend, especially as this figure got worse the more I learnt about what happened here. I could not help thinking that I was the same age (at that time) as so many of those names who were staring at me from the memorial walls.

As my then knowledge of the Great War was fairly sketchy I found difficulty, like so many casual visitors to the battlefield today, in transforming the landscape in my minds eye back to how it must have looked in 1916. I wanted to know exactly where the front line trenches were, and where exactly the many individual actions took place. More than anything I felt a need to understand what it must have been like for those who were there. What was the reality of trench warfare?

My ‘journey’ in answering these, and many other questions, has captivated my interest ever since that first visit. I must stress that I have never been one to collect military memorabilia, or have any great interest in the tactical aspects of warfare or militarism. My interest is solely from a social / humanitarian perspective, and the consequences of warfare, coupled with a perhaps somewhat naïve belief that understanding humankind's potential to indulge in such conflicts is perhaps one way of preventing a repetition.

The more I learnt about what these men endured, the more I thought that if I had been there, I would (at the very least) have hoped that future generations would take just one day or so out of their lives to try to understand what I, and countless others were experiencing. I doubt if I would have been one of those whose bravery would be remembered. Most likely I would have been just a typical nineteen year old from a town or village somewhere “back home”, almost paralysed with fear, a fear that would most likely come to an end on the hell they called the ‘Western Front’.

Since that first visit I have pursued a career in the police service (Superintendent, Dorset Police) as well as raising a family. Throughout this time my interest in the First World War, and the Somme, Ypres and Verdun Battles in particular, has continued. Over the past forty odd years I have returned to the battlefields countless times. I have also undertaken numerous private conducted tours to both the Somme, Ypres and Verdun battlefields whilst serving as a police officer, a background which served me well when I decided to establish my company after I retired in 1996.

I took the plunge and formed Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd, more as a way of sharing my interest with others as opposed to running the venture as a hard-nosed commercial business. For this reason I personally organised and accompanied all the many, many conducted tours I have undertaken since starting our small company back in 1996 (now also with my wife Annette who switched career and joined me in 2004). Annette and I have, however, always avoided the temptation to expand what we do beyond the reach and scope of our personal involvement. This way you deal with us personally and not an employee!

In 2009 we decided to focus all our energies to providing self-drive tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields, based on our many years experience of taking small groups.  Over the years we had seen so many people trying to find their war around the battlefields, then one day we though 'why not commit our tried and tested conducted tours to paper'  - and it worked.  It worked very well indeed (as you may have seen from the letters we have received).  Our much-praised self-drive tours are now extremely popular for the reasons we've outlined on the appropriate page of our website (and see the testimonials we've received).

Organising our tours is very much a labour of love with each conducted or self-drive tour taking on a character of its own. Without exception, everyone Annette and I have met has been good company and all have found the visiting the Somme, Ypres battlefields a most moving, interesting and rewarding experience.

Well I think that’s just about enough waffle about me.

Once again, thank you very much for visiting this web site.

Any comments or suggestions would be most welcome.

James