ANZACs on the Western Front

Follow in the footsteps of heroes with an expert guide as you trace some of the most significant battlefields in Australia’s wartime history.

Tour Highlights

From the trenches at Ypres to The Somme, the Back-Roads ANZAC Tours map Australian and New Zealand troops’ movements in WWI.

This five-day tour runs on selected dates throughout the season.

April’s five-day ANZAC tours also include the moving Villers-Bretonneux ANZAC Day Dawn Service.

ANZAC WESTERN FRONT – FULL ITINERARY

DAY 1: LILLE – YPRES

Our first day takes us to Ypres via the Messines Ridge and the city itself. Rebuilt post war, there was no more a hated location than the Ypres Salient across the Western Front for the ANZAC’s. After lunch at the Hooge Crater Café and Museum, we will spend time around the Passchendaele battlefields, including Polygon Wood, the Gravenstafel Ridge and Tyne Cot Military Cemetery. We’ll also visit the shell scarred area of Hill 60, before dinner in Ypres. The final part of the day includes attendance at the daily playing of the Last Post under the Menin Gate at 8.00 pm.

Overnight: Kasteelhof’t Hooghe (or similar)

DAY 2: YPRES – AMIENS

Leaving Belgium, we cross into French Flanders and spend time at Fromelles, focusing on the disastrous attack of 19th July 1916, including a visit to Pheasant Wood Cemetery and the new exhibition nearby. Lunch in Arras is followed by a visit to the Wellington Quarries, fashioned from existing medieval quarries by New Zealand Engineers in 1916/17 as part of the preparations for the Battle of Arras. Australia’s role in this battle is remembered at Bullecourt, with a stop in the village at the Digger Memorial. (B,D)

Overnight: Hotel le Prieure (or similar)

DAY 3: AMIENS – THE SOMME – AMIENS

The Somme still captivates the soul and it is here that the ANZAC’s first saw major action in the middle of 1916. Engrained upon their very being were the names of Pozières and Mouquet Farm, for Australians, and Longueval and Flers for the Kiwis. We’ll also remember the colossal loss experienced by Great Britain with a visit to the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. (B,D)

Overnight: Hotel le Prieure (or similar)

DAY 4: AMIENS – VILLERS-BRETONNEUX – LILLE

Villers-Bretonneux is central to Australian commemoration and memory, being the location of the National War Memorial. We’ll spend most of the morning in the town, including a visit to the Victoria School and Museum. The final day focuses primarily on the final year of the war, 1918, with success at Le Hamel, which we will visit before we begin the journey back to Lille. (B)

Pick-Up & Drop-Off

This tour commences from Lille Europe Station, The Meeting Point, Gare de Lille-Europe, 59800, Lille at 8.30am. Please ensure you are at the meeting point at least 15 minutes prior to departure.

The tour finishes at 6.00pm at Lille Europe Station, The Meeting Point, Gare de Lille-Europe, 59800, Lille.

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