9 OF THE BEST... Battlefield trips
It’s 100 years since end of WWI... we take a look at tours of some of the world’s biggest battle sites
1 WORLD WAR I Four days from €1,213pp This year sees the centenary of the end of the Great War on November 11 1918. Insight Vacations has put together a trip through Northern France and Belgium, taking in many of the battlefields, war cemeteries and memorials. From Paris, the tour heads for Flanders Fields and Ypres Salient battlefields, with visits to Hill 60, Polygon Wood, the Canadian war memorial and Passchendaele Memorial, together with Tyne Cot Cemetery. The poignant Last Post can be heard at Menin Gate and trenches at Vimy Ridge. And you can pay your respects at the Thiepval Memorial. THE DEAL: Insight Vacations runs the four-day WWI Battlefields (Summer 2018) from €1,213pp with three nights’ B&B, travel by luxury coach and VIP transfers. Paris flights. insightvacations.com, 0044 800 533 5622
2 BATTLE OF WATERLOO Four-hour trip from €96pp Before the Duke of Wellington set out for the battle that was to change to course of history, Tsar Alexander of Russia said to him: “It is up to you to save the world.” And after emerging the victor, Wellington said: “By God! I don’t think it would have done if I had not been there.” On this Viator private tour from Brussels, a guide will reveal the British strategy, and you can explore the hideouts where Napoleon and Wellington planned their attacks. There are visits to the battlegrounds and sites including La Belle Alliance, Papelotte Farm, Lion Hill and Hougoumont Farm. THE DEAL: Four-hour Private Tour: Battle of Waterloo from Brussels through Viator from €96pp with transfers. Fees extra. viator.com
3 VIETNAM WAR 16 days from €3,948pp Also known as the Second Indochina War, this infamous conflict was defined by the sombre fact that it was the longest US combat
force participation (over 17 years), allied with the South against the communist North. This Leger tour tempers trips to the harrowing battle sites with the breathtaking scenery of this South East Asian country. The tour begins with a two-day stay in Hanoi taking in the private War Remnants Museum and the notorious “Hanoi Hilton” prison. Other significant places include the former DMZ at Hue and the Cu Chi tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City. THE DEAL: Leger’s 16-day Vietnam War tour starts at €3,949pp including 12 nights’ B&B, three lunches and two dinners, a night on board a junk in Ha Long, UK flights, internal flights and coach travel. leger.co.uk, 0044 1709 787463 4 WORLD WAR II 5 days from €506pp The Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 were to be instrumental in turning the tide of the Second World War. The battle for Caen began on D-day and the capital of the Calvados departement is the base for this Shearings tour which takes in the Caen Memorial. In the American sector there will be visits to the Sainte-eglise Airborne Museum, dedicated to the memory of the soldiers who lost their lives during the D-day landings, Omaha Beach, the largest of the landing beaches and the scene of D-day’s fiercest fighting and the American Cemetery at Collevillesur-mer. And a full day will be devoted to the British and Canadian sectors. THE DEAL: Shearings’ five- day D-day Landing Beaches tour starts at €506pp including coach travel, breakfast, three dinners and two excursions. shearings.com
5 GALLIPOLI Day trip
from €90pp Also called the Dardanelles Campaign, the battle on the Gallipoli peninsula in northwest Turkey was notoriously one of the most terrible of the First World War, resulting in the tragic toll of some 58,000 allied military, 87,000 Turkish troops and around 300,000 seriously wounded on both sides. Mustafa Kemal, who commanded the 19th Turkish Division, and went on to be the founding father of the Turkish republic, famously told his men: “I don’t order you to attack; I order you to die.” This Viator day trip from Istanbul takes in the sombre sites where Australian, New Zealand and Turkish soldiers fought. THE DEAL: Full-day Gallipoli Tour by coach from Istanbul costs from €90pp including hotel transfers, entrance fees and lunch.
6 viator.com CENTENARY GREAT WAR CRUISE Eight days from €1,466pp
MS Princess sails from Antwerp on this Saga river cruise of the French and Belgian waterways. Ghent is the first stop for a city tour and visits to Messines Ridge, the Pool of Peace, Spanbroekmolen Cemetery, Australian Memorial and Ireland Peace Park. From the Belgian city Kortrijk, travel to the Menin Gate for the Last Post. Then set sail for Lille, mooring at Comines for Ypres and Passchen- daele Museum. Visit the world’s largest French military cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette, along with Vimy Ridge en route to Arras. The last two full days are spent in Saintomer with full days at the Somme and Dunkirk. THE DEAL: Saga’s Remembering the Great War – A Centenary Cruise from €1,466pp including coach travel (Eurotunnel or ferry) meals, trips and travel insurance. saga.co.uk/cruises, 0044 800 051 3355
7
BATTLEFIELDS OF KWAZULU-NATAL
15 days from €4,062pp
Follow in the footsteps of Louis Botha, Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi on this
Titan tour which combines visits to historic battle sites with game drives. The three future leaders all took part in the Battle of Spion Kop, one of the most ferocious battles of the AngloBoe War, 40km from Ladysmith. Rore’s Drift and Isandlwana, the wo main battle sites of the 1879 Anglo-zulu War, are also on the itinerary. THE DEAL: Titan’s 15-day Battlefields of Kwa Zulu-natal tour starts at €4,062pp including BA flights from Heathrow on November 7, 12 nights in a hotel, most meals, 12 excursions and VIP door-to-door travel service. titantravel.co.uk , 0044 800 988 3587 8 THE PENINSULA WAR 14 days from €1,635pp Sir Arthur Wellesley’s victorious campaign on the Iberian Peninsula may have been overshadowed by the Battle of Waterloo but spawned the Sharpe series starring Sean Bean. Walk in the footsteps of the First Duke of Welling- ton on battlefields such as Salamanca, Badajoz town and Orthez, and visit the Palace of Fontainebleau where the famous treaty bringing Napoleon’s rule to an end in 1814 was signed. THE DEAL: Leger’s 14-day At War with Wellington – The Peninsula War tour from €1,635pp includes 11 nights’
B&B, 9 dinners, flight to Madrid, coach travel (including back to UK). 9 leger.co.uk, 0044 1709 788463 AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 14 days from
€2,700pp America’s deadliest war – over 600,000 soldiers lost their lives between 1861 and 1865 – brought about the defeat of the Confederacy as well as the abolition of slavery. Bon Voyage offers a self-drive trail through Virginia and Mary-land with 600 sites to choose. Highlights include the Gettys-burg National Military Park, Shenandoah Valley, and the National Battlefield Park. THE DEAL: 13-night A Civil War Journey with Bon Voyage from €2,700pp. Two days in Washing- ton DC with Heathrow, Glasgow or Manchester flight, car hire and hotels. bon-voyage.co.uk