Day 1 4 November Paris
STAR INCLUSIONS
Welcome drink and dinner
Welcome to our Western Front tour! After
checking in to our Paris hotel, we will come
together for a welcome drink and dinner. (D)
Day 2 5 November Paris
STAR INCLUSIONS
Paris sightseeing tour
Traditional French lunch
Today will be spent exploring the sights and
sounds of Paris on a guided Panoramic Tour.
We will see the city’s iconic sights – the Ei@el
Tower, Champs Elysées, Arc de Triomphe,
Louvre and Notre Dame. After lunch in a
Parisian Bistro we will have free time to
further explore this romantic city. (B, L)
Day 3 6 November Paris to Ypres
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Guided tour and tasting at a Champagne
house Australian 2nd Division Memorial
and preserved trenches
Our tour in the footsteps of the Anzacs
begins today. We depart Paris for Epernay,
the birthplace of Champagne, and enjoy a
guided tour of the cellars of a Champagne
house with a tasting. Then on to Reims where
the kings of France were once crowned.
Next we will visit the inspiring Australian
2nd Division Memorial and the remains of
trenches captured by Australian troops on the
1918 battlefield of Mont St. Quentin, before
we cross the border into Belgium and arrive
in Ypres, our home for the next four nights.
Dinner tonight is included. (B, D)
Day 4 7 November Ypres
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Walking tour of Ypres In Flanders
Fields Museum Last Post Service at the
Menin Gate
This morning we will join our Historian for
a walking tour around Ypres, visiting key
sites such as the magnificent Cloth Hall,
St. George’s Chapel, St. Martin’s Cathedral,
Ramparts Cemetery and the Menin Gate
where you will see the blank spaces that
previously listed four of the missing in Mat’s
Documentary Lost in Flanders, who now
rest in marked graves. This afternoon is free
to explore the town including a visit to the
outstanding In Flanders Fields Museum,
before we return to the Menin Gate for the
moving Last Post ceremony. The Ypres fire
brigade has performed this ceremony every
day and in all weather since 1927. Two of our
passengers will be invited to lay a wreath on
behalf of the group. (B)
Day 5 8 November Ypres Salient
STAR INCLUSIONS
Full day touring battlefields of Ypres
Salient Passchendaele Museum Lunch
at Café de Dreve
The Ypres Salient was a bulge in the front
line that curved around Ypres for most of the
war. More than a million men were killed or
wounded trying to gain control of this small
patch of ground. Today we will explore the
Australian battlefields in the Salient including
the Passchendaele Museum, Polygon Wood,
Tyne Cot Cemetery, Langemark German
Cemetery and Hill 60. We will also enjoy lunch
at Café de Dreve, where we will meet the
owner, Johan Vandewalle, who discovered
five Australian bodies on the battlefields in
2006 and who featured in Mat McLachlan’s
documentary Lost in Flanders (B, L)
Day 6 9 November Bruges
STAR INCLUSIONS
Tour to Bruges Essex Farm Cemetery
We will spend time today exploring Bruges,
Remembrance Day Centenary 2018
10 DAYS 4–13 November 2018
At 11am on November 11, 1918 the guns fell silent on the Western Front and the First World War
came to an end. Join this special tour to commemorate the 61,000 Australians killed, on the 100th
anniversary of the day the fighting ended. Our tour includes all the key Australian battlefields, and
will spend the centenary of the Armistice at a moving commemorative service at the Australian
National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
the First W W Worororldldldld W W W Warar
ia killed, th 100th
100YEARANNIVERSARY
24 Mat McLachlan BATTLEFIELD TOURS
one of Europe’s most charming medieval
cities, with free time to wander the cobbled
streets, take a cruise on one of the city’s
enchanting canals, ride through the
picturesque squares in a horse and cart or
sample the lace boutiques, chocolate shops
and cafés that make Bruges famous. On the
drive back to Ypres we will stop at Essex
Farm Cemetery, where in 1915 Lieutenant
Colonel John McCrae composed “In Flanders
Fields,” the most famous poem of the war. (B)
Day 7 10 November Ypres to the Somme
STAR INCLUSIONS
Touring of the battlefields including
Fromelles, Pheasant Wood, Vimy Ridge and
Bullecourt Preserved trenches
Today we will leave Ypres and travel south
to the battlefields of the Somme. Our first
stop is the battlefield of Messines, before
travelling to French Flanders and the moving
1916 battlefield of Fromelles. While here we
will visit the Australian Memorial Park, VC
Corner Cemetery, the site of the Australian
mass grave at Pheasant Wood and the new
Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Cemetery, where
250 Australian and British soldiers were laid
to rest in 2010. Then onto Vimy Ridge and
the maze of preserved trenches on the site.
Our final stop is the battlefield of Bullecourt,
where Australia lost 10,000 men in two great
battles in 1917. A packed lunch is included
today, and we will enjoy dinner in our hotel on
our arrival in the Somme. (B, L, D)
Day 8 11 November Remembrance Day
STAR INCLUSIONS
Remebrance Day Service at Villers-
Bretonneux Touring of the Somme
battlefields Lochnagar Mine Crater
This morning we will drive to the Australian
National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
We will gather here with thousands of other
Australians to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the end of the war. Later we
will begin our tour of the 1916 battlefields
of the Somme. Our first stop will be the
imposing Lochnagar Mine Crater, followed
by the village of Pozieres, scene of the
most costly battle in Australia’s history,
and then the 1st Division Memorial and the
Windmill. We will also have time to walk the
battlefield with our historian, gaining a better
understanding of the fighting that led to more
Australian casualties than any other battle in
our history. We will return to our hotel where
our evening is free. (B, L)
Day 9 12 November The Somme to Paris
STAR INCLUSIONS
Touring of the Somme battlefields
Victoria School and Museum Farewell
Seine cruise
Our last day in the footsteps of the Anzacs
will see us return to the 1916 Somme
battlefields, where we will visit the maze of
trenches at the Newfoundland Memorial Park
and the imposing Thiepval Memorial. We will
also visit Mouquet Farm before returning to
Villers-Bretonneux to visit the remarkable
Victoria School and Museum where a sign in
the playground entreats that the students
‘Do Not Forget Australia’. We will then head
to the Australian National Memorial to spend
some peaceful time reading the names of
the missing Australian soldiers and taking
a last opportunity to pay our respects
to the original Anzacs. We then farewell
the battlefields and return to Paris. This
evening we will enjoy a farewell dinner while
cruising along the Seine River, a wonderful
opportunity to see the landmarks of Paris
bathed in light. (B, D)
Day 10 13 November Paris
Sadly our Western Front Tour ends this
morning after breakfast. The journey may be
over but the memories will last a lifetime. (B)
Please note: Itineraries are subject to change
due to operational reasons. Any changes will
be advised closer to the time of departure.
ENGLAND
BELGIUM
Bruges
FRANCE
Paris (2/1)
Somme (2)
Flanders (4)
TOUR START TOUR END
YOUR TOUR INCLUDES
Services of our expert WW1 Historian
All excursions, scenic drives and
sightseeing as described in the itinerary
Visit the Australian National Memorial
at Villers-Bretonneux on Remembrance
Day to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the end of the war
(details of commemorative events to
be confirmed)
9 nights’ 3 and 4-star accommodation
Hotel porterage
Breakfast daily, 4 lunches and 4 dinners
(including a farewell Seine river cruise
with dinner and entertainment)
Welcome drink in Paris
Champagne tasting in Epernay
Services of a Tour Manager, Driver and
experienced Local Guides
Extensive touring of the WW1
battlefields
All entrance fees as per the itinerary
Comfortable air-conditioned touring
coach
All tips to your Historian, Tour Manager
and Driver
Copy of Mat McLachlan’s definitive
guide to the Western Front, Walking
with the Anzacs
Souvenir cap, document wallet and
luggage tag
Detailed map showing the battlefields
and key sites visited
$250* per person.
Register now. Approximate price $4600
per person (land only)
*Final price will be available
approximately 12 months prior. If, at that
point, you do not wish to proceed your
$250 registration fee will be refunded
in full. Ask us about airfare deals in
conjunction with our tours.
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25Remembrance Day Centenary 2018
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