SOMME BATTLEFIELD TOURS LTD

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

 
 


.
 .

PERSONAL CONDUCTED TOURS
to the battlefields of the

.
GREAT WAR 1914-1918

 

PLEASE NOTE...

We have decided to focus solely on providing our Self-Drive tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields and so  will not be able to offer conducted tours for 2011-2012.

People who wish to visit the battlefields of the Great War understandably first think of a conducted tour starting from the UK.  However, for those truly seeking to reveal the 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. You travel when you want to and for as long as you want to.  Please have a look at our Self-Drive tours page as you can now combine a Self-Drive tour with the luxury of a personal guide to meet you at your hotel to take you (and just you...)  where you wish to visit.

If you have your heart set on a conducted tour 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.

 

This page will tell you all about our bespoke conducted tours. First of all some background.
 

Our Personal 'bespoke' conducted tours are just that - we take you, and just you (maximum of 3 persons) on a tour, and at a time, of your choosing.

 

We remain ever mindful that it is our long-standing reputation which allows us to stand out from other tour operators offering similar tours (please see our testimonials). This is why organisations such as Working Title Films, the BBC, Coldstream Guards, Dorset Police and Queen Mary University have turned to us for help in exploring the battlefields, as well as our company featuring in many national newspapers articles about battlefield tours, such as the Daily Telegraph and the Independent.

Our company is our pride and joy. We do not employ guides and we have no wish to grow any bigger (quite the opposite) as providing a truly personal friendly service, which we enjoy as much as our clients, lies at the heart of what we do.

 
Just one of many letters we
have received. Click here
to see others

Why a personal tour?

Basically you have the option of joining a coach group - whether small or large - in which case you have to follow a pre-set itinerary on pre-set dates. There are many companies offering these tours, with some being better than others (we have been arranging such tours for over 12 years).

 

Over recent years we have found there are more and more people wishing to follow the history of a distant relative who served (and may be died) in the Great War, or who may be just wish to see some of the most poignant places on the Western Front today. These  tours are best undertaken individually, that is with your own group of family and friends, as opposed to having others with you who you do not know, and who may have a different agenda to follow, no matter how small the group size.

 

With effect from 2009 we are therefore switching over to just providing personal or 'bespoke' tours where we get together with you, and just you, and plan a tour of your choosing - and on dates that are best for you!

 

The benefits of a Personal tour

Visiting the battlefields of the Great War is a unique and very moving experience, an experience which demands careful consideration when it comes to who you travel with. It's not like taking an ordinary sight-seeing coach tour. Visiting the battlefields is a very moving experience requiring careful consideration of who you trust to take you on such a special journey. 

 

Breadth of knowledge and a passion for this subject, coupled with a proven ability to explore the legacy of the Great War in an 'un-stuffy' but compassionate manner, lies at the heart of our tours.  This informal and relaxed approach allows us to take you on a journey to see the tranquil landscape of today through the eyes and experiences of those who were there and, in so doing, a very different and very tragic landscape soon becomes apparent.  This is where our journey begins.

 

The informality of travelling with just people you know may cost a little more, but in return allows for much greater flexibility, as well as being far more suited to the informal exchange of questions and answers as we explore some of the most poignant battlefields of the Great War.

A moment I will always remember

A tour with us can be anything from a one or two day tour to Ypres and/or the Somme, to a four-day tour covering a wider area. We'll b e happy to take you to where you want to go. We'll also be pleased to advise you based on the time you have available, so please don't feel you have to have a pre-planned list!  We are here to help.

Our personal tours are so very different to the 'set' itineraries offered by most other companies.  This way we well and truly do get 'off the beaten tack' to visit places few people ever get the chance to see.

Our 'bespoke' personal tours offer just about the ultimate in one-to-one guiding.  The main advantages are:

  • You choose the dates you wish to travel (subject to our availability) - and for how long.  Your group size can be anything from one to three persons.

  • Personal service - James Power, the owner of Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd, will be with you to show you around the battlefields.  We do not employ guides so you can be guaranteed of our personal commitment at all times.
     

  • Personal itinerary - we will discuss your wishes with you and suggest an itinerary based on your preferences - or you can just leave it to us to take you to some of the most poignant places on the battlefields of the Great War. We can take you to any cemetery in France or Belgium, and/or any battlefield, such as Ypres, the Somme, Verdun - or indeed any part of the Western Front.  The choice is yours and we are here to advise you on how best to plan your visit.
     

  • Pick up and drop off at a point mutually convenient to Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd and yourself.  This can sometimes be your own front door (south UK only) or hotel in London or Paris (especially handy for those travelling from far away). Any pick-up point considered - we are here to help!
     

  • A comprehensive pre-tour briefing package, including full colour diagrams, maps, plans etc specifically tailored to where you wish to visit.
     

  • The use of the very latest First World War trench Global Positioning System, interfaced with literally hundreds of original trench maps of the Great War, so we can locate the precise location of trenches etc as we tour the battlefields. We are one of the first tour companies to acquire this system, which has only recently become available following many years of hard work in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum archives.

A suggested 3-day itinerary
below is a suggested three-day tour of the Somme and Ypres battlefields. Please bear in mind we can easily tailor this tour to your preferences (such as just the Somme or  to include another battlefield):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We very much appreciate that travelling as part of such a small group, or even just by yourself, is more expensive than joining a  small or large coach party, but we believe the benefits are well worth the extra cost. Each tour has to be costed separately so just ask us for a quotation.

 

2008 saw the replacement of our current minibus with the luxurious and spacious Ford C-Max 'people carrier' , equipped with air conditioning and panoramic glass roof.

 

We will provide all transport requirements, hotel accommodation of whatever grade you prefer, and all meals (or whichever meals you want us to include) - in short we can provide virtually anything and everything (or will do our utmost to try!) 

 

How to make a booking enquiry

  1. Please make sure you've read and understood the basics of the tours we offer.
     

  2. Turn to our 'Tour Dates' page to see when we have availability. Please bear in mind we get booked many months ahead so consider booking early to avoid disappointment.
     

  3. Tell us what we need to know - have a look at our 'How to Book' page for guidance.
     

  4. E-mail us with what you have in mind and we'll give you an idea of cost.

For further details and costings please contact us either by phone:

James & Annette Power
+44 (0) 1202 880211

or e-mail

or write to...

Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd
19 Old Road
Wimborne
Dorset
BH21 1EJ
England

 

Thank you for visiting our website

  

What people have said
about our tours...
(click here to see all letters)

From Peter and
Margaret Darkin
(Australia)
James,

...your careful research and preparation - together with your flexibility and willingness to explore unfamiliar territory - made it possible for me to pursue my own personal itinerary (specifically developed to follow my grandfather's war service) in a way I had scarcely dared dream possible.
I have heard terribly tragic stories of Australians visiting either Gallipoli or the Western front, only to come away bitterly disappointed at having been given a standard presentation all too sadly remote from their own specific (and stated) interests. You, on the other hand, while offering the invaluable service of providing overview tours to those interested in the broader picture of WWI, go beyond even the more specialised service of "personalised tours" to your own personal involvement in retracing the steps of specific men and units. Your own personal interest and involvement in - and commitment to - the theme of the moment is what makes your tours so special.
Margaret and I both feel that your kindness, understanding and sense of humour really served to make our explorations a delightful experience and we both genuinely look forward to catching up with you and Annette when next we visit England.
Again, many thanks for everything - including the wonderful pictures.
Very best wishes
Peter and Margaret Darkin
 May 2003

The battlefields
 'then and now'

The pock-marked terrain of one of the bloodiest battlefields today.

German soldiers rescuing a French soldier during the Verdun battle.


 


 

Would those who suffered the
appalling conditions of Delville
Wood ever have imagined that
one day little children would skip
through the trenches of 1916,
seemingly unaware of the
legacy beneath their feet...


 

Fricourt German cemetery
(Somme)
 

Remnants of the Great War
still to be found today
(Warning - do not touch unexploded shells, grenades etc. If in any doubt leave well alone)

 

Average weather conditions for the Somme & Ypres battlefields:


 		 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Avg. Max.

 6°C 6°C 9°C 12°C 17°C 19°C 22°C 23°C 19°C 14°C 9°C 7°C

Avg. Min.

 1°C 1°C 3°C 4°C 8°C 11°C 13°C 13°C 11°C 7°C 4°C 2°C

Mean

 3°C 3°C 6°C 8°C 13°C 16°C 18°C 18°C 15°C 11°C 7°C 4°C

Avg. rainfall

 48 mm 41 mm 43 mm 43 mm 51 mm 56 mm 61 mm 58 mm 56 mm 64 mm 61 mm 58 mm

 


Delville Wood 2007 and 1916
(a combination of the two photos shown above right)

 

Passchendaele
 'before and after'




The aftermath.
 Footage taken by Geoffery Malins of the Hawthorn mine explosion 0720 hrs 1 July 1916 (thanks to Steve Metcalf for his help).

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.
.
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).