Somme and Ypres Battlefield Tours

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Full Listing Of Somme and Ypres Battlefield Tours

Somme and Ypres Battlefield Tours

Short Description
Conducted and Self-Drive tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields of the First World War 1914-1918 (Great War)

Long Description
Background
We are a small, long-established independent company specialising in providing Conducted and Self-Drive tours to the battlefields of the Great War 1914-1918. As a trusted registered company, we have been taking people on tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields for over 12 years - and private tours for over 40 years!
Our company is very much our pride and joy. We do not employ tour guides or other support staff as we don't want to expand beyond the scope of our personal commitment. This underlying principle allows us to personally research and organise each and every tour we arrange, thereby maintaining the high standards we set ourselves.
We remain ever mindful that it is our long-standing reputation which allows us to stand out from other tour operators offering battlefield tours (please see our website for 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. We have also featured in many national newspaper articles about battlefield tours, such as The Times, The Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and the Independent.
Self-Drive Tours
One of the most enjoyable and rewarding ways to explore the battlefields of the Great War is to do so by yourself, or with friends/relatives. Conducted tours, whether small or large, understandably require you to comply with a fairly strict itinerary. The reason for this is that large coach tours tend to take you to cemeteries, memorials and museums, mainly because the battlefields of yesterday are now just fields where crops once again grow and as such are less appealing as a visitor attraction, coupled with the fact that coaches just can’t navigate the narrow farm tracks/roads etc to where some of the most poignant events took place. If you travel as part of a group you may therefore be frustrated by not being able to explore the landscape and 'follow your nose' to uncover for yourself the legacy of the Great War (what I and so many others have always so enjoyed doing!).
In my view it’s the precise sites where these battles were fought that hold the greatest interest to those seeking to follow the history of the Great War (even if it happens to be a field of cows happily passing the day munching grass!). To see the terrain of today for what it was like all those years ago requires a combination of present day and original WWI ‘Trench Maps’, as well as a clear narrative of what precisely took place where. One also needs clear directions as to where to drive, where to stop, what to look for and how to relate the landscape of today to how it was back in the Great War.
I have been exploring the battlefields of the Great War for over forty years, the past twelve of which running our specialist First World War battlefield tour company (my wife and I started our tour company after I retired from the police service as a superintendent back in 1995). Over the years I have encountered many 'DIY' battlefield visitors, most of whom have a good understanding of the main battles, but crucially lack a suitable written guide as to precisely where these events took place. There have been many excellent books written about the Great War, but such books are rarely accompanied by adequate maps and plans sufficient to allow the reader to make sense of the landscape one sees today.
To overcome this frustration I have spent many years creating written self-drive guides to the Somme, Villers Bretonneux and Ypres battlefields of the Great War (Verdun to follow late 2008). These are not just any old guides. They have been specifically designed to take you on a journey of exploration, so you know exactly where to stop, where to walk and what to look for. The comprehensive guides have been specifically written and styled for both the first time visitor, as well as those wishing to explore in greater depth. The guides also include a separate easy-to-follow route plan and laminated map, so you can easily navigate the narrow roads that criss-cross the battlefields. At the heart of the guides lies a comprehensive selection of original trench maps, linked to present day easy-to-read maps, battlefield diagrams, panoramic and aerial photographs and descriptions, all arranged in very easy-to-follow sections. Please have a read of some of the testimonials we have received from those who have taken our self-drive guided tours to judge for yourself!

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