Canadian Battlefields

Travel Dates: September, 2019

To reserve your spot on this tour please contact Gillian@tyw.ca / 780-739-2245

Limited Space Available for 18 participants.

Applications with deposit payment will be accepted on a priority basis

Through the power of travel you’ll be transported back across time to discover the privilege and passion behind our Canadian heritage; to take your place as an ambassador of ‘the true north, strong and free’. Once you’ve experienced your Canadian Battlefield abroad, you will forever be changed.

There’s no time like the present to discover your past.

Itinerary

Day 1

International Departure

Day 2 - Welcome to Flanders!

Arrive in Brussels where you will be met by your private battlefield tour guide, who will escort you to our coach and driver before we tour the short distance to West Flanders, Belgium.

Day 3

This morning we will begin with an orientation of the Ypres Salient Battlefields with visits to the German Cemetery of Langemark, and the 'Brooding Soldier' at St Julien. We end our introduction with a visit to Essex Farm, the place where John McCrae wrote the famous poem “In Flanders Fields”. Lastly, we stop in the medieval city of Ypres, also known as the 'City of Peace', for a brief orientation tour, before continuing back to Kortrijk for our welcome dinner together and an early night’s rest. Overnight at the Peace Village or in Ypres

Day 4 - Exploring the Ypres Salient

We begin our day with a visit to the Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery, then we will explore the Battle of Passchendaele, with visits to the Passchendaele Museum, in Zonnebeke, the Crest Farm Memorial, in Passendale, the Hooghe Crater, and Hill 62. In the late afternoon, enjoy the chance to explore the historically rich city of Ypres at your own pace. We come together again for an early group meal in the heart of the medieval Ypres' Grote Markt. Tonight, we will witness the iconic and historic Last Post Ceremony, at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, led by the Ieper Fire Department & the Last Post Association.

Day 5 - Exploring the Last 100 Days of WW1

This morning we depart for the Northern battlefields of France , we will make a stop at the St. Symphorien Cemetery near the city of Mons on the way. We continue our story of the Last 100 Days with a visit to the city of Cambrai, where we will stop for lunch and an orientation of the deeply rooted Canadian action. We continue further still, to Bourlon Wood, to see the memorial which commemorates the Canadian Corps’ crossing at the Canal du Nord on November 11th 1918. We finish our day in the city of Arras, where we will enjoy a group dinner together before our overnight.

Day 6 - The Battlefields of 1917: Vimy Ridge & Hill 70 B

Today we take a tour to Vimy Ridge Memorial Park. Enjoy a locally prepared picnic lunch en-route. In the afternoon, we continue to see the new Canadian Memorial at Hill 70, where we will visit the brand new, and state of the art museum in Loos-en-Gohelle, which opened in the Summer of 2017 for the 100th Anniversary. Here we will be discussing the Battle of Hill 70 - sometimes dubbed as “Canada’s Forgotten Battle”.

Day 7 - Exploring the Somme Battlefields B

We will depart from Arras this morning, journeying through the Somme region en-route to the city of Amiens. Our day will be spent exploring the Somme - making visits to the Memorial to the Missing at Thiepval, as well the preserved battlefield memorial park at Beaumont Hamel. After enjoying a locally made picnic lunch at the Old Blighty Cafe we will continue on to view the Lochnagar Crater, among one of the largest craters on the battlefields of the Western Front. We will also visit the city of Albert, where we will explore the Somme 1916 Museum, hidden deep underneath the city’s Romanesque Basilica. We will then head out to the gothic city of Amiens, for our dinner and overnight.

Day 8 - Dieppe

Saying our farewells to the Somme region, we shift our focus from the First World War to the Second, heading for the French coast to the seaside resort town of Dieppe. We will first explore the Blue Beach at Puys, where we can view the gun emplacements on the cliff tops. We will then visit the Dieppe Canadian Cemetery before travelling to the Green Beach at Pourville. We will also view the main landing beaches of Red and White on the Dieppe seafront. Overnight in Bayeux.

Day 9 - Normandy Beaches

Today we will focus on the D-Day Normandy invasion. We will begin our morning with a visit to Pointe du Hoc where the cratered landscape of the German battery, taken by the US Rangers in 1944, can be observed. We will continue to Omaha Beach and the American Military Cemetery to discover the appalling difficulties required for landing on Bloody Omaha. After leaving Omaha, we visit La Chaos, the German offshore battery. This afternoon, we visit the Mulberry Harbors in Arromanches before heading back to Caen for another evening meal together. Overnight and dinner in Bayeux.

Day 10 Juno Beach & The Battle of Normandy

We will begin our day with a visit to the Battle of Normandy Museum in Bayeux. With a refreshed perspective, we head to the Canadian battlefields & beaches of Normandy. Our first stop will be to Verrieres Ridge to view the area where the Black Watch suffered severe casualties in “Operation Spring”. We continue on to the Juno Beach Center. Our day will end with a solemn visit to the Beny-sur-Mer, Canadian Military Cemetery. Overnight in Bayeux.

Day 11 - Journey to Paris

After checking out of our hotel this morning, we will finish our tour of the Normandy region with visits to see the Canadian Memorial Garden in the Abbaye des Ardennes, as well as Pegasus Bridge. We will then take the journey down to Paris.

Day 12 - Paris

Day 13 - Paris

Project Description