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
Helpful Advice Helpful Advice Get a Quotation Get a Quotation Approx Cost Approx Cost Tour Itineraries Tour Itineraries Helpful Advice Helpful Advice Get a Quotation Get a Quotation Approx Cost Approx Cost Tour Itineraries Tour Itineraries Amazing account of exploring the battlefield in 1919! Amazing account of exploring the battlefield in 1919!
One of the very first self- discovery tour guides, produced by the Michelin Tyre company in 1919! (click pages to enlarge)
terms & Conditions terms & Conditions terms & Conditions terms & Conditions
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.
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
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.
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Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd Tel: 07776 195773 or 01202 840520 info@battlefield-tours.com
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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.
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'
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 to share with others 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! Click the poppy…
Battlefield location map (click to enlarge)
One of the very first self- discover tour guides, produced by the Michelin Tyre company in 1919! (click images book and pages to enlarge)
A quick reminder of what’s included with our Self-Drive tours: Channel tunnel ‘LeShuttle’ vehicle crossing Folkstone-Calais with LeShuttle (just 35 minutes!) En-suite selected hotel accommodation including breakfasts 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.
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
Above - example ‘Part I’ navigational pages
Above - example ‘Part II’ main guide pages as outlined on our Itinerarries page
Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd Wimborne Dorset BH21 1EJ +44 (0) 7776 195773 or +44 (0) 1202 840520 info@battlefield-tours.com
Getting to LeShuttle terminals click here We recommend Le Shuttle Channel tunnel crossing (included with our Self-Drive tours). YouTube If this is your first time using LeShuttle then just click the above YouTube link to see a helpful 9-minute dash-cam video showing the procedure for arriving at the LeShuttle complex near Folkstone. My special thanks to Craig Rogers for creating this most helpful video. Also, checkout for a mixed bag of other short videos uploaded by travellers.
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Clients who have booked a LeShuttle Channel crossing: Please click here for our guide to completing your Eurotunnel Advanced Passenger Information (API)
Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd Tel: 07776 195773 or 01202 840520 info@battlefield-tours.com

Our Self-Drive

Tours

We recommend and include LeShuttle Channel tunnel crosing (formerly known as Eurotunnel Le Shuttle) - the fastest and easiest way to cross the Channel!
Museums 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.