Day 1 4 November Paris

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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

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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

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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

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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