Self-Drive tours to the Somme & Ypres battlefields of WW1

We are one of the longest-standing companies specialising in small-group tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields. Having taken over 300 groups on tours to the battlefields of WW1 we have now transferred that expertise to a Self-Drive format so that you can explore these battlefields on your own or with family or friends, without being tied to a coach tour. Unsure? Maybe see what travellers said when they returned! In a nut-shell you chose when you wish to travel and for how long. You take your car and we arrange your hotel accommodation, Channel crossing and, most importantly of all, we provide you with our acclaimed self-drive Somme and/or Ypres battlefield guides - your ‘window to the past’, including all the directions, maps etc you’ll need. No other self-drive guides have so much detail and are so easy to follow! Please read on. . .

Battlefield tours - Self-Drive tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields of the Great War First World War 1914-1918

As you may already have found, there are many companies offering battlefield tours, especially at the centenary of the Great War spanning 2014-2018. Our tours however are quite different. It’s only when you receive our guide pack that you realise just how different and how detailed our self-drive guides are (a comment we receive time after time). Our self- drive guides are also much more detailed and easier to follow compared with other self-drive options. From my personal experience, visiting the battlefields of the Great War is quite a moving experience, an experience best appreciated in the company of close friends or family (or alone), without any restrictions such as the rigid timetable of a coach tour dictating the pace. It can be quite frustrating to see the battlefields passing before your eyes without being able to stop wherever and whenever you want to stop, and to explore where you want to explore. The freedom to truly comprehend the impact of the battlefields at your own pace, equipped with your own detailed ‘then and now’ guide(s), is what I always set out to achieve, and perhaps what today sets our tours apart. Rather than me clutter up this page (as I tend to do…), please follow the menu links at the top (left) of the page to find out more about the Self-Drive tours we specialise in organising, so that you just ‘pack and go’ leaving us to make all the arrangements and to provide you with the best Self-Drive guide available. Thank you for visiting our website which we designed and built ourselves so it’s completely free of all the tracking ‘cookies’, adverts and other nonsense which bedevil us today. James Power Managing Director and owner Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd (Established 1996) James Power is an Associate Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides and Western Front Association

Vanity Fair Best Battlefield Tour

From Diane Kenwood Editor Women's Weekly It was a profoundly moving and fascinating trip, which, thanks to your stunningly detailed and thorough organisation went without a hitch. . . Your attention to detail is astonishing. . . You really did bring every location to life in the most fantastic way. (I loved your personal remarks dotted through the commentary). It was so marvellous to be able to do everything at our own pace and spend however long, or short, a time as we chose at the places we stopped. Thank you so much for everything - for your help in the early stages sorting out what the best itinerary and approach would be, for organising all the bookings and for the brilliant support packs. I have raved about your company to everyone I've spoken to since my return (and will definitely write about it in the magazine) and I know at least one person who's definitely going to book through you as a result. I hope you get inundated with bookings!

Country Life "If you're fiercely independent, you could do no better than to sign up for the highly acclaimed self-guided tours provided by James Power. His painstakingly researched itineraries are the work of a master logistician"

Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd Wimborne Dorset BH21 1EJ Tel: +44 (0) 7776 195773 or +44 (0) 1202 840520 info@battlefield-tours.com

Site map

The Sunday Telegraph The only Self-Drive company to be nominated ‘Best Battlefield Tour’

Please click the poppy to hear one of the most moving readings of Col John McCae’s 1915 poem ‘In Flanders Fields’

We’re in the process of adding 360 degree images of the sites our Self-Drive Ypres and Somme guides will take you to. Look out for the below logo on our Itineraries page for the first few (click this example to see the Menin Gate). More will be added as whenever we get to visit the battlefileds.

You take your car and we arrange everything else - hotels, Channel crossing and all the maps & directions you'll need, as well as our Self-Drive guide(s) to the Somme and/or Ypres battlefields - your 'window to the past'

Example page from Part I (navigational) Ypres guide. You turn to Part II of our guide to learn more about each of the main sections shown on our 'Tour Itineraries' page

Example page from Part I (navigational) Somme guide. You turn to Part II of our guide to learn more about each of the main sections shown on our 'Tour Itineraries' page

some example pages - the battlefield revealed!

The background is a trench map of the Somme battlefield 1916 included with our Self-Drive Somme and Ypres guided tours (German trench defences in red) Click above to enlarge (also the poppies!)

Welcome to Somme & Ypres Battlefield Tours Ltd Explore the battlefields at your own pace with our acclaimed

Self-Drive tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields of the Great War 1914-1918

Full menu

Covid-19 update October 2021 Please also see important advice for clients at the bottom of this page regarding Eurotunnel updates and documentation required for staying at hotels etc whilst in France and Belgium. A Self-Drive tour where you tour the battlefields in the safety of your vehicle, and where you do not have to mix with fellow coach travellers, is probably the safest way to explore the battlefields. The more stable outlook for travel to France and Belgium is resulting in an increase in bookings for late 2021 and (especially) in to 2022. Whilst not having a crystal ball, our advice is to consider booking ASAP as decent hotel accommodation on the battlefields is limited. Please also remember that we will refund all monies paid if we have to cancel your tour if a service provider, such as your Channel crossing and/or hotel, is not operating, or travel to France and/or Belgium is not permitted by either UK or French/Belgium Governments due to Covid-19 restrictions on the dates you are due to travel. Please also see our Terms & Conditions . Unlike larger tour companies, all tour payments for our Self-Drive tours are protected in a separate Trust Account (by law) which cannot be released to us until your tour has been completed, thus making refunds very straightforward - one of the very real benefits of choosing a small specialist company!

Below are just some of our testimonials - click above photo to see them all

Testimonials

Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd. Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 1EJ, UK. Tel: 07776 195773 or 01202 840520 info@battlefield-tours.com

IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR TOUR CLIENTS TRAVELLING TO FRANCE AND BELGIUM It shall remain the responsibility of the individual traveller to ensure that he/she complies with all Eurotunnel/P&O Ferries and French and/or Belgium Covid-19 rules and requirements for the duration of their tour. Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd will not be responsible for any consequences arising from the failure or inability, for whatever reason, to comply with prevailing Eurotunnel, P&O Ferries, French and/or Belgium Covid-19 rules and requirements. The below links provide helpful advice regarding the requirements for travelling to and within France, i ncluding staying at hotels . please note that links we have provided below may not be the current/definitive advice, as such can change with little warning. Travellers should always check the most up to date requirements prior to departure. ABTA advice for travel to EU countries re Covid-19 please click here ABTA advice for travel to EU countries post-Brexit please click here Eurotunnel & P&O Ferries requirements for travelling to France Clients travelling to France by way of either Eurotunnel or P&O Ferries should first check for the latest travel requirements, such as proof of vaccination and advanced the submission of information/documentation, as failure to follow required procedures and/or have the necessary documentation may result in not being able to travel. Eurotunnel - for Covid-19 updates (especially the documentation and procedures you will need to follow in order to travel) please click here P&O Ferries - for Covid 19 updates (especially the documentation and procedures you will need to follow in order to travel) please click here Belgian and French COVID-19 requirements (‘Pass Sanitaire’ document) for travelling and/or staying within France (including staying at French hotels and visiting other public places) The below links are of particular importance with regards to the proof of Covid-19 vaccinations. France’s ‘pass sanitaire’ (showing your proof of vaccination or negative Covid-19 status) came into force on 21 July 2021 for entry to public venues for more than 50 people – these include museums, cinemas and zoos. From 9 August 2021, the scheme will be rolled out to encompass more leisure venues such as restaurants and hotels, as well as long-distance transport. Link (2-3) below gives particularly helpful advice, including the consideration of downloading the ‘TousAntiCovid’ app in order to convert your NHS app QR vaccination code for use in France. France - for Covid-19 travel & general access requirements please click here and for more about ‘pass sanitaire’ (if still required) please click here France - for details about the French ‘TousAntiCovid’ app, and how to link with your NHS vaccination details, please click here Belgium - for Covid-19 travel & general access requirements please click here

Welcome to Somme & Ypres Battlefield Explore the battlefields at your own pace with our acclaimed Self-Drive tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields of the Great War 1914-1918 (click a poppy…)

We are one of the longest-standing companies specialising in small-group tours to the Somme and Ypres battlefields. Having taken over 300 groups on tours to the battlefields of WW1 we have now transferred that expertise to a Self-Drive format so that you can explore these battlefields on your own or with family or friends, without being tied to a coach tour. Not sure? Maybe see what travellers said when they returned from a Self-Drive tour! In a nut-shell you chose when you wish to travel and for how long. You take your car and we arrange your hotel a c c o m m o d a t i o n , Channel crossing and, most importantly of all, we provide you with our acclaimed self-drive Somme and/or Ypres battlefield guides - your ‘window to the past’, including all the directions, maps etc you’ll need. No other self-drive guides have so much detail and are so easy to follow! Please read on. . .

As you may already have found, there are many companies offering battlefield tours, especially at the centenary of the Great War spanning 2014-2018. Our tours however are quite different. It’s only when you receive our guide pack that you realise just how different and how detailed our self-drive guides are (a comment we receive time after time). Our self-drive guides are also much more detailed and easier to follow compared with other self-drive options. From my personal experience, visiting the battlefields of the Great War is quite a moving experience, an experience best appreciated in the company of close friends or family (or alone), without any restrictions such as the rigid timetable of a coach tour dictating the pace. It can be quite frustrating to see the battlefields passing before your eyes without being able to stop wherever and whenever you want to stop, and to explore where you want to explore. The freedom to truly comprehend the impact of the battlefields at your own pace, equipped with your own detailed ‘then and now’ guide(s), is what I always set out to achieve, and perhaps what today sets our tours apart. Rather than me clutter up this page (as I tend to do…), please follow the menu links at the top (left) of the page to find out more about the Self-Drive tours we specialise in organising, so that you just ‘pack and go’ leaving us to make all the arrangements and to provide you with the best Self-Drive guide available. Thank you for visiting our website which we designed and built ourselves so it’s completely free of all the tracking ‘cookies’, adverts and other nonsense which bedevil us today. James Power Managing Director and owner Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd (Established 1996) James Power is an Associate Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides and Western Front Association

Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd Wimborne Dorset BH21 1EJ +44 (0) 7776 195773 or +44 (0) 1202 840520 info@battlefield-tours.com

Site map

Click some example pages - the battlefield revealed!

Covid-19 update October2021 Please also see important advice for our clients at the bottom of this page regarding Eurotunnel updates and documentation required for staying in hotels etc whilst in France. A Self-Drive tour where you tour the battlefields in the safety of your vehicle, and where you do not have to mix with fellow coach travellers, is probably the safest way to explore the battlefields. The more stable outlook for travel to France and Belgium is resulting in an increase in bookings for late 2021 and (especially) in to 2022. Whilst not having a crystal ball, our advice is to consider booking ASAP as decent hotel accommodation on the battlefields is limited. Please also remember that we will refund all monies paid if we have to cancel your tour if a service provider, such as your Channel crossing and/or hotel, is not operating, or travel to France and/or Belgium is not permitted by either UK or French/Belgium Governments due to Covid-19 restrictions on the dates you are due to travel. Please also see our Terms & Conditions. Unlike larger tour companies, all tour payments for our Self-Drive tours are protected in a separate Trust Account (by law) which cannot be released to us until your tour has been completed, thus making refunds very straightforward - one of the very real benefits of choosing a small specialist company!

IMPORTANT ADVICE FOR TOUR CLIENTS TRAVELLING TO FRANCE AND BELGIUM It shall remain the responsibility of the individual traveller to ensure that he/she complies with all Eurotunnel/P&O Ferries and French and/or Belgium Covid-19 rules and requirements for the duration of their tour. Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd will not be responsible for any consequences arising from the failure or inability, for whatever reason, to comply with prevailing Eurotunnel, P&O Ferries, French and/or Belgium Covid-19 rules and requirements. The below links provide helpful advice regarding the requirements for travelling to and within France, i ncluding staying at hotels . please note that links we have provided below may not be the current/definitive advice, as such can change with little warning. Travellers should always check the most up to date requirements prior to departure. ABTA advice for travel to EU countries re Covid-19 please click here ABTA advice for travel to EU countries post-Brexit please click here Eurotunnel & P&O Ferries requirements for travelling to France Clients travelling to France by way of either Eurotunnel or P&O Ferries should first check for the latest travel requirements, such as proof of vaccination and advanced the submission of information/documentation, as failure to follow required procedures and/or have the necessary documentation may result in not being able to travel. Eurotunnel - for Covid-19 updates (especially the documentation and procedures you will need to follow in order to travel) please click here P&O Ferries - for Covid 19 updates (especially the documentation and procedures you will need to follow in order to travel) please click here Belgian and French COVID-19 requirements (‘Pass Sanitaire’ document) for travelling and/or staying within France (including staying at French hotels and visiting other public places) The below links are of particular importance with regards to the proof of Covid-19 vaccinations. France’s ‘pass sanitaire’ (showing your proof of vaccination or negative Covid-19 status) came into force on 21 July 2021 for entry to public venues for more than 50 people – these include museums, cinemas and zoos. From 9 August 2021, the scheme will be rolled out to encompass more leisure venues such as restaurants and hotels, as well as long- distance transport. Link (2-3) below gives particularly helpful advice, including the consideration of downloading the ‘TousAntiCovid’ app in order to convert your NHS app QR vaccination code for use in France. France - for Covid-19 travel & general access requirements please click here and for more about ‘pass sanitaire’ (if still required) please click here France - for details about the French ‘TousAntiCovid’ app, and how to link with your NHS vaccination details, please click here Belgium - for Covid-19 travel & general access requirements please click here