Our Self-Drive Tours
As
you
may
already
have
found,
there
are
many
companies
offering
escorted
battlefield
tours.
Our
tours
are
different
in
that
they
allow
you
to
explore
and
reveal
the
hidden
history
of
the
battlefields
at
your
own
pace,
and
at
a
time
(any
time)
of
your
choosing.
We
are
also
one
of
the
very
few
fully
registered
UK
battlefield
tour
companies
who
have
been
established
for
nearly
30
years
and
who
specialise
in
the
Great
War
(Western
Front)
and
nothing
else.
We
are
also
the
only
self-drive
tour
company
to
have
received
so
many
national
press
awards
and
recommendations,
including
Vanity
Fair's
much
coveted
‘Best
Guided
Tour'
award
a
few
years
back,
and
as
later
recommended
by
the
prestigious
'Country
Life'
magazine
-
see
our
‘Testimonials’
(main
menu above).
Our
Self-Drive
tour
'package'
is
just
that.
It
includes
your
hotel
accommodation
and
optional
Channel
crossing
(for
UK
travellers)
and,
most
importantly
of
all,
our
unique
Self-Drive
battlefield
guides,
maps,
plans,
directions
etc.,
all
dovetailed
together
by
us
so
all
you
have
to
do
is
just
pack
and
go
-
we
make
it
as
simple
as
that!
Please
note
that
our
two
Somme
1916
and
Ypres
Self-
Drive
guides
are
only
available
as
part
of
a
'package'
comprising
hotel
accommodation
(and optional Channel crossing).
You
may
be
unsure
as
to
whether
a
self-
drive
tour
is
for
you.
Our
best
advice
is
to
have
a
closer
look
at
our
many
testimonials
to
see
what
people
like
you
have
said
after
they
returned
from
a
self-drive
tour.
Unlike
some
companies,
we
don’t
just
cherry-pick
the
letters
we
want
you
to
read.
The
testimonials
you
see
on
our
website
are
exactly
as
we
received them.
People
who
wish
to
visit
the
battlefields
of
the
Great
War
quite
often
think
first
of
a
conducted
tour.
However,
for
those
truly
seeking
to
reveal
the
legacy
of
the
Great
War,
nothing
can
beat
the
freedom
of
exploring
the
battlefields
without
the
rigid
timetable
of
a
coach/minibus
group
dictating
the
pace.
How
frustrating
must
it
be
to
see
the
battlefields
passing
before
your
eyes
without
being
able
to
stop
wherever
you
want
to
stop,
for
however
long
you
want
to
spend,
exploring
what
you
want
to
explore.
The
freedom
to
explore
the
battlefields
at
your
own
pace
is
what
I
always
wanted
and
what
I
have
spent
years
putting
together.
It’s
what sets our tours apart.
If
you
intend
visiting
the
battlefield
you
need
to
be
well
briefed.
Many
visitors
just
turn
up
thinking
that
all
will
be
clear,
which
will
certainly
not
be
the
case.
For
example
you
may
just
see
cattle
munching
away
at
grass,
but
our
guide
may
well
reveal
that
the
field
they
occupy
was
once
the
Front
Line,
and
that
beneath
their
hooves
lies
the
tragic
legacy of the Great War.
This
is
where
our
Self-Drive
guide
expertise
comes
in
to
play,
expertise
based
on
having
personally
conducted
over
300
small-group
battlefield
tours
over
the
past
30
years.
Our
written
guides
are
not
just
any
old
collection
of
briefing
notes,
copied
books
or
cobbled
together
maps
as
offered
by
some
companies.
Our
self-drive
battlefield
guides
are
professionally
produced
comprising
two
parts,
so
separating
navigation
from
the
main
guide.
The
navigation
section
even
includes
a
photo
of
every
junction
you'll
encounter
with
clear
overlaid
pointers.
It's
written
as
if
we
are
in
the
car
with
you.
Have
a
look
to
the
left
here
to
see
what
our guides look like (click pages to enlarge).
Our
self-drive
guides
are
regularly
updated,
fully
bound
A4
colour
guides
which
have
been
carefully
designed
to
take
you
on
a
journey
of
exploration,
so
you
know
exactly
where
to
drive,
where
to
stop,
where
to
walk
and,
most
importantly
of
all,
what
to
look
for.
Our
guides
are
only
available
to
those
booking
a
tour
with
us
and
so
not
available
from
shops
or
sold
individually.
It
is
this
essential
combination
of
comparative
'then
and
now'
maps,
photos
and
narratives
that
have
made
our
Self-
Drive
guides
so
appealing,
especially
to
the
independent
traveller
seeking to explore the past in greater detail.
And
lastly.
.
.if
you
are
thinking
of
booking
a
Self-Drive
tour
then
please
book
as
far
in
advance
as
possible
as
hotel
rooms
soon
get
booked
and
we
only
offer
those
hotels
we
know
personally
(so
important…)
as
show
on our ‘
Hotel Options
’ page.
Where
next?
Have
a
look
at
our
Somme
1916
and
Ypres
Self-Drive
itineraries
then
simply
go
to
our
‘
Get
a
Quotation
’
page
and
email
us
(or
phone)
with
the
tour
you
have
in
mind
(there’s
some
helpful
advice
on
our
quotation
page)
and
we’ll
send
you
a
bespoke
quotation
based
on
how
many
people/nights/rooms
etc.
And
remember,
our
bespke
self-
drive
tours
allow
YOU
to
choose
when
you
wish
to
travel
(we’ll
happily
advise),
and
for
how
many
nights
away
-
and
we
do
the
rest.
You
just
pack and go!
Battlefield location
map (click to enlarge)
Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd Wimborne Dorset BH21 1EJ Tel: +44 (0) 7776 195773 or +44 (0) 1202 840520
info@battlefield-tours.com
One of the very first self-
discovery tour guides,
produced by the Michelin
Tyre company in 1919!
(click pages to enlarge)
A quick reminder of what’s
included with our Self-Drive
tours:
•
Channel crossing for
your car and all
passengers Dover-Calais
with LeShuttle Channel
Tunnel (see left)
•
En-suite selected hotel
accommodation
including breakfast
•
Our acclaimed guide
material, directions,
maps etc - without
doubt the most
important component!
•
Us being here pretty
much all the time to
help you in any way
possible (we don’t close
like other travel
agents…)
Below - example pages
from our Self-Drive
guide. Each guide
comprises a separate
navigational section with
lots of extra ‘must sees’
as you travel along the
itinerary routes, as well
as the bulkier main
section which describes
in much greater detail
the key sections shown
on our Tour Itineraries
page.
Above - example ‘Part I’
navigational pages
Above - example ‘Part I’
navigational pages
Above - example ‘Part II’
main guide pages as
outlined on our Somme
and Ypres Itinerarries
page
Please click the poppy to hear one of the most
moving readings of Col John McCrae’s 1915 poem
‘In Flanders Fields’
If you have any queries
about travelling with
LeShuttle (formerly
known as Eurotunnel
Le Shuttle), including
travel updates, arriving
at the terminal and
submitting your
Advanced Passenger
Iformation, then please
click here to go to our
Home Page where
you’ll find some helpful
guidence at the bottom
of the page.
Full menu
Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd Tel: 07776 195773 or 01202 840520 info@battlefield-tours.com
Museums worth visiting
In addition to the main battlefield sites outlined on our itineraries page, our self-drive guide route will take
you to all of the below museums, with the exception of the Historial Museum in Peronne, which is just a
20 minute detour from your self-drive guide route. The below are the ‘stand-out’ museums, though there are many
smaller but equally interesting museums and ad-hoc collections to be found as you
navigate the battlefields and towns of the Great War.
Somme
Musée Somme 1916 - Albert
Located in the centre of Albert in pre-Napoleonic tunnels beneath the streets of the town.
Home - Historial de la Grande Guerre
Located
in
nearby
Peronne
(30
minutes’
drive
from
Albert).
This
superb
museum
focuses
on
the
appalling
losses
suffered
by
the
French
army,
as
well
as
their
British
allies
to
the
north.
Best
visited
as
a
half-day
detour
(too
far
off
the
British
Somme
battlefield
to
be
included
in
our
self-drive
guide
-
but
easy
to
drive
to,
and
the
entire
route
from
Albert
is
across
the battlefields of the Great War, and Somme 1916 in particular).
Thiepval Museum - Historial de la Grande Guerre
Located
adjacent
to
Edwin
Lutyens
towering
Memorial
to
the
Missing
of
the
Somme
battlefield.
The
Thiepval
battlefield
and Memorial forms part of our self-drive guide in much greater detail.
Ypres
.
Home | In Flanders Fields Museum
Again, a superb museum located in the centre of Ypres in what used to be the Cloth Hall, with an equally superb book
shop with many publications I’ve not seen elsewhere.
Home (English) - Passchendaele museum
The name says it all. The Passchendaele Museum, which actually site right on top of the Passchendaele battlefield, has
been extensively rebuilt (re-opening March 2025) with a most realistic trench/tunnel experience.
War Museum Hooge Crater Ypres | Best private WW1 museum in Flanders Fields
Located in the heart of the Ypres battlefield and includes a most welcome café & toilets. The museum is stuffed to the
brim ‘old style’ with artefacts from the Great War.