Behind the Front Lines
5 days from £649pp
About the tour: Behind the Front Lines
Tour Introduction
Life behind the lines was an important part of a soldier’s experience in the First World War. On this new tour we look at three key areas to get an understanding of what medics, padres, nurses and soldiers did out of the trenches. We’ll explore a range of significant battlefield sites in the Somme and Flanders, and along the Crimson Coast, including Vimy Ridge, Bailleulmont and Bellewaarde Ridge, before attending the move Last Post Ceremony.
Tour Includes
- 4 nights hotel with continental breakfast
- Specialist Battlefield Guide
- Convenient local joining points
(Deposits from £150pp)
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your battlefield tour either online, or by telephone (), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can -
- Use our balance payment facility online to make and track your card payments. You can pay as much as you want up until your final due date or pay it all, the choice is yours.
- Send payments via online banking.
- Send payments via cheque.
- Call us and make a card payment, either a small amount or as lump sum until your final due date.
Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.
Tour Itinerary
For customers living outside of the UK, if you want to make a booking you will need to provide a UK postcode on our online booking system. If you are not able to provide a relevant UK postcode then you can enter the postcode for London Victoria Coach Station – SW1W 9TP. You should then be able to proceed to complete your booking.
If you do encounter a problem then you can speak to one of our friendly advisors who will be happy to help.
Please Note : After completing your booking, a member of our Customer Service team will be in touch to make sure everything is okay.
Either e-mail our Reservations Department or call on 01709 830 333 and they will check to see whether you can visit a particular cemetery on any of our Battlefield Tours, if we are not able to fit it into our itinerary then you could take some time out of the tour and do this independently by taxi or public transport.
Day 1
Local departure by coach, then to our hotel in Northern France for a four-night stay.
Day 2 - Crimson Coast: Etaples to Vimy
Our tour begins along the coast belt of Northern France where the main military hospitals were located, often called the ‘Crimson Coast’. We visit Wimereux Communal Cemetery to hear the story of Canadian poet John McCrae who wrote ‘In Flanders Fields’, and then travel to Etaples for the story of the ‘Bullring’ Training Camp, also seeing the vast Etaples Military Cemetery. After lunch we we head to Saint Pol for the story of the selection of the Unknown Warrior in 1919, and then follow a route to the front line via Mont St Eloi, where British and Canadian soldiers gathered for the Battle of Arras in April 1917. Our final visit of the day is the battlefield at Vimy Ridge, having followed a typical route of soldiers from the coast to the front during the war.
Included meals: Breakfast
Etaples Military Cemetery (6)
Key Visits
- Vimy Trenches
- Etaples Military Cemetery
- Wimereux
- Vimy Ridge Memorial
- Saint Pol
- Mont Saint Eloi
Day 3 - Behind the Lines on the Somme
Today we travel to the Somme battlefields and begin with a look at the story of men who were ‘Shot at Dawn’ for military crimes in WW1. At Bailleulmont we see the graves of the men executed, including Albert Ingham, whose father used the ‘Shot at Dawn’ phrase on his headstone. We uncover the details of the evacuation and treatment of the wounded at Bagneux British Cemetery, Gezaincourt, and then have lunchtime in Doullens with a visit to the Town Hall, which was used as a Headquarters in March 1918. In the afternoon we travel to Vignacourt, where a museum displays a unique collection of images of Great War soldiers taken by a local photographer. We then visit Puchevillers British Cemetery, before ending the day in Henencourt – a typical village where soldiers were billeted on the Somme and did their training.
Included meals: Breakfast
Doullens Town Hall (7)
Key Visits
- Doullens Town Hall
- Puchevillers British Cemetery
- Bagneux British Cemetery
- Vignacourt Museum
- Shot At Dawn – Bailleulmont
- Henencourt Chateau
Day 4 - Behind the Lines in Flanders
We start at Bailleul, one of the main towns used by the British Army in Flanders, and visit the Military Cemetery here, which is close to the site of Casualty Clearing Stations and the Royal Flying Corps aerodrome. We then look at Godewaersvelde – ‘God Wears Velvet’ to the soldiers – and pay our respects at the grave of a nurse killed in Flanders. After lunchtime in Poperinghe, we look at those Shot at Dawn with a visit to the ‘Death Cells’, afterwards heading to Talbot House, a Belgian townhouse opened by padres for the use of all soldiers as a place to escape the war. We then follow a route to the front line via the site of the army camps up to the battlefield at Bellewaarde Ridge. After free-time in Ypres for dinner, we attend the moving Last Post Ceremony.
Included meals: Breakfast
Talbot House (7)
Key Visits
- Last Post Ceremony
- Poperinghe
- Talbot House
- Mine Crater at Bellewaarde
- Bailleul Communal Cemetery
- Godewaersvelde British Cemetery
Day 5
Return home.
Included meals: Breakfast
Specialist Battlefield Guides
All of Leger’s battlefield tours are accompanied by specialist guides. Their individual in-depth knowledge of warfare will be informative, as well as enhance your overall experience, as they recreate a fascinating perception of the history and factual events of each battle. Discover the actual catalysts for war, the strategies employed and the final, inevitable outcomes, as well as experiencing the emotional human side of the front line.
Please note: On certain tours, you may get tour guides other that the ones listed below.
Hotel
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
All hotel rooms benefit from private bathroom facilities.
Some hotels have tea and coffee making facilities. Please check the tour pages for more information or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333
Most hotels have a lift, please call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 for more information.
Some hotels have ground floor rooms. Please email for information on individual hotels or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333.
Your hotels will supply towels in your room.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
Travel Options
Departure times given for each region are approximate. Please check your travel documents to confirm the actual timings.
Front row seats can be reserved for £14pp (up to 6 days duration), £22pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £25pp (9 days duration and over) on all European tours. In addition to this seats on the second row can be reserved for £7pp (up to 6 days duration), £14pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £15pp (9 days duration and over). This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on the front row and is subject to availability. Guaranteed front/second row seats cannot be reserved on feeder journeys to/from the U.K. port. Children under 15 years cannot occupy a front row seat due to French Law. Central view seats are free.
Please note: On some coaches the legroom on front seats may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled for any reason and front/second row seats are not available on your new tour you will be refunded the supplement. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
We guarantee that all passengers on the same booking will be seated together on the main tour coach. Seats on the transfer coaches to and from the U.K. port are not allocated.
Hot and cold drinks are served on the main tour coaches. Prices are approximately £1 or 1.25 Euro per drink. Prices will be confirmed by the driver. Drinks may also be served on the transfer coaches but this is not guaranteed.
Transfer vehicles are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure and will depend on where passengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 two weeks before you are due to travel.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
All main tour coaches have on-board toilets. Transfer vehicles to and from the U.K. port may not have on-board toilets. When non-British coaches are used on transfers and tours (air holidays only) an on-board toilet may not be available. However, comfort stops will be made during long journeys.
All coaches feature air-conditioning. Should the air-conditioning system break down for a period exceeding 12 hours, compensation will be awarded up to a maximum of £10 per fare-paying passenger per tour.
Depending on the location of your pickup point, you may be picked up by coach (not necessarily the on you are touring on), minibus, taxi, National Express or Megabus service. You may then be taken to another centralised pickup location or service station. We operate a passenger interchange at Stop 24 Services, where you will meet the tour coach you are holidaying on and then continue on with your outbound journey. Similarly, on the way home, you may also change transfer vehicles at another location, to take you to your final drop off point.
One medium sized suitcase per person, which should weigh no more than 20kg when full. We may refuse to carry larger or heavier cases. Hand luggage can be stored in the overhead racks aboard the coach.
It could be either - This will be confirmed in your travel documents.
When it comes to getting to the Battlefields, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you choose from.
Silver Service Coach
+ View more
Silver Service Features
- Sit back and relax in specially-designed, deluxe reclining seats, with leather headrests, footrests and more legroom than standard coaches.
- Enjoy the perfect temperature onboard with climate control.
- Relax and have a chat in the spacious rear lounge.
- Servery on board offering a range of refreshments.
- Porterage* at most hotels, so you really don’t have to lift a finger.
- Time flies with our onboard entertainment system.
- With free personal headphones you can tune into the music channel, listen to the radio or watch DVDs.
- Onboard toilet
Silver Service Seating Plan
Silver Service Virtual Tour
Travel Extras
With an overnight stay or the option to meet us at the interchange, our travel extras allow you to create a travel experience to suit your needs...
Join coach at Interchange
+ Find out moreJoin your tour coach at the interchange.
On most tours if you’d prefer to join your tour coach at Stop 24 services, you can park your car in the car park which is accredited by the Park Mark safer parking scheme and is monitored 24 hours a day by CCTV. Payment for the parking is made on arrival using the self-service machines.
Excludes tours to Ireland and the U.K. and tours travelling via Brittany Ferries.
