Offensives of 1917 – Arras & Cambrai
About the tour: Offensives of 1917 – Arras & Cambrai
Tour Introduction
The year 1917 in France saw two major offensives involving British and Commonwealth troops: Arras in April-May 1917 and the first mass use of tanks at Cambrai in 1917. This new tour looks at these two major battlefields of the First World during this important centenary year.
Tour Includes
- 4 nights hotel with continental breakfast
- Specialist Battlefield Guide
- Convenient local joining points
- Travel by Silver Service coach
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your battlefield tour either online, or by telephone 01709 385 624, 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.
Entrance fees to museums & places of interest (extra cost)
Day 1
Local departure by coach, then to Amiens for a four-night stay.
Day 2 - Vimy Ridge & War Poet Edward Thomas
We start our tour north of Arras at Mont St Eloi where the Royal Flying Corps operated an aerodrome below the ruined abbey, which is still there. We then travel to Vimy Ridge and look at the Canadian attack in April 1917, seeing the new visitors centre (due to open in early 2017). After lunch in Arras we go back out onto the battlefield and see the Scottish Memorial at Pont du Jour, look at the fighting in the Sunken Lane at Fampoux, visit the site of the Chemical Works in Roeux, seeing a large German bunker and then at Monchy le Preux look at the use of cavalry here in April 1917 and the defence of the village by the Newfoundland Regiment. We end the day at Agny, to visit the grave of war poet Edward Thomas who died on the first day of the battle.
Included meals: Breakfast
Day 3 - Arras Memorial & War Underground
We start the day at the Arras Memorial to the missing which commemorates more than 35,000 soldiers who have no known grave, and also visit the Faubourg D’Amiens cemetery with its many Arras graves. We then go underground and see the Wellington Quarry, a huge area of caves used as a shelter by the British Army in 1917. After lunch we visit the southern flank of the Arras Battlefield seeing Croisilles and Bullecourt, visiting the Bullecourt Museum and the Australian Digger Memorial Park.
Included meals: Breakfast
Day 4 - Cambrai Memorial & Flesquières Ridge
In November 1917 the newly formed Tank Corps led the first major armoured assault of the First World War on the German Hindenburg Line at Cambrai. We start at the Cambrai Memorial to the missing, which commemorates those fell in the battle who have no known grave. At Hermies we look at the story of the ‘Boy General’, Roland Boys Bradford VC, and travel through the battlefield between Havrincourt and Gouzeaucourt. After lunch in central Canbrai we see Bourlon Wood, the scene of heavy fighting in 1917, and look at the tank attack on Flesquières Ridge, seeing the tank memorial. We end in the Marcoing-Masnières area seeing where the Newfoundland Regiment fought in November 1917.
Included meals: Breakfast
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.
You will stay for four nights at the 3-star Ibis Amiens Centre Cathedrale. The hotel is situated only five minutes walk from the heart of the city with its bars and restaurants. All bedrooms have T.V. and telephone. The hotel has a bar, lift and restaurant.
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.
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.
