There are a select number of battlefield tours that every military history enthusiast should experience. Here we list five of the finest, most reasonably priced, worldwide tours available.
Entente Cordiale Battlefield Tours
Entente Cordiale Battlefield Tours grew out of the passion to preserve the memory of the World War I battlefields and of those who fought. The business has been performing well because of the highly personalised and bespoke nature of our battlefield tours. We have welcomed guests from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the USA. So if you are planning a World War I battlefields tour of the Somme and Ypres, either in the near future or during the Centenary Commemorations beginning in August 2014, then contact us for details. Places are already being reserved for the Centenary Commemorations so please book early to avoid disappointment!
Tours can be planned, arranged and tailored around your party’s requirements. We will visit places of special interest and locations off the beaten track as well as the most popular sites on the Somme and Ypres. Your guide will help you to interpret the landscape and look for evidence of World War I battles. World War I battlefield tours last for 1-6 days. There is a friendly and informal atmosphere, and you will stay in quality accommodation enjoying good food and hospitality.
TEL: 01244 341920 / 07974 420730
WEB: www.ententecordialetours.co.uk
AVAILABLE TOURS:
In The Footsteps of The Early BEF – The Retreat to Mons and the Battle of The Marne
Harry Patch ‘the Last Tommy’ – Ypres, Passchendaele and Poperinge
The AEF – Australian sites including Fromelles
The Canadians – Vimy Ridge, The Somme and Ypres
Kitchener’s Pals – The Somme
The Americans in France
Victory – The Last Months of World War I in France and Belgium
Historical Trips
Historical Trips was founded to fill a gap in the Battlefields Tour Market. Co-founders, Oxford History graduate Mike
Ivey, and historian and journalist Nigel Jones saw that there were many firms, large and small, who took clients to visit
the sites of battles, but almost none who explained why those battles were fought. We set out to do just that: Historical Trips uses top historians rather than battlefield guides in order to put the 20th century’s great military clashes within their political and cultural context.
Our first tour, ‘The Face of Evil’, set out to explain the rise and fall of the Third Reich within the compass of a week’s journey through modern Germany. We followed a chronological path, from the smoky beerhalls of 1919 Munich, where the Nazis were born, to the smoking ruins of Berlin where the nightmare ended, via the concentration camp of Dachau, Hitler’s mountain playground Berchtesgaden, and Nuremberg, city of the giant party rallies and the postwar trials.
In 2013, we are running eight tours ranging from the First World War Western Front to a ‘Great Escapes’ tour to Colditz and Stalag Luft III.
Another hallmark of Historical Trips is the small group size, typically 5-15 people. This ensures participants do not feel swamped by numbers whilst also enabling constant access to our experts. Our current team includes Roger Moorhouse, an authority on Nazi Germany; Patrick Bishop and James Holland, bestselling authors of numerous books on the Second World War; Colditz Legacy and Real Great Escape writer Guy Walters; and Jason Webster and Marc Rattray, experts on Moorish Spain and the Spanish Civil War.
We stay at comfortable hotels throughout and aim to entertain as well as inform our clients, never forgetting that a Historical Trips tour is a holiday as well as hopefully an unforgettable learning experience.
TEL: 020 7993 6540
WEB: www.historicaltrips.com
AVAILABLE TOURS:
‘The Face of Evil’ – The rise and fall of the Third Reich
Great Escapes – Colditz and Stalag Luft III
The Great War – Introduction to the Western Front
The Longest Day – The D-Day Landings
Berlin At War – Life and Death in Hitler’s Capital
Bomber Boys – Bomber Command in WWII
The Road of Resistance – The Maquis, SOE, and SAS in Occupied France
Andalucian Adventure – Culture and Conflict in Southern Spain
Holts Battlefields and History Tours
Although much has changed in the world of travel since the first Holts Tour, more than 30 years ago, visiting places of historic interest remains a most rewarding experience. Our 2013 programme is packed with the usual wide variety of tours. As always, popular regular tours such as It’s A Long Way To Tipperary, Dunkirk to D-Day and Waterloo are featured, as are anniversary tours Napoleon In Germany, Gettysburg, Dambusters, Kursk and Sicily. These days it is often not clear what you are getting for your money; we have always thought it important that there are no hidden costs, and so much is included in the price that each tour represents excellent value for money. We are fully bonded with ABTA and ATOL for your protection. If you would like to receive our 2013 Battlefields and History brochure, please telephone our office or request a brochure via our website.
TEL: 01293 865000
WEB: www.holts.co.uk
AVAILABLE TOURS:
The Zulu War: 19th April – 2nd May 2013
The Making of London: 27th – 29th April 2013
Dambusters 70th Anniversary: 15th – 19th May 2013
Walking the Five Battles of Ypres: 7th – 10th June 2013
The American Civil War 1863 – Battle of Gettysburg 150th Anniversary: 1st – 9th July 2013
The Battle of Kursk – 1943: 10th – 15th August 2013
The Eastern Front 1914-1921: 24th – 30th August 2013
Napoleon in Germany 1813: 18th – 22nd October 2013
Spirit of Remembrance
Battlefields have always been a focus for pilgrimage. Stand on the ridge line, bridge, castle, or beach where young men have faced the ultimate test of courage and stamina and where sometimes in an afternoon the fate of nations has been changed and you cannot help but be moved.
Make this journey with a guide or historian who can take you to the very spot where the commander stood and took the decision that shaped the fighting, go with him or her to the cemeteries and look at the memorials and neat lines of headstones and the experience can be overwhelming.
Battlefield tours allow us to connect with our past and consequently who we are today and where we will be in the future. They will take us to the beaches of Normandy, the muddy fields of Flanders, the mountains of Italy, deserts of North
Africa and the jungles of Malaysia.
Come with us and make this special journey.
Will Fowler
Guide and Researcher
Spirit of Remembrance
TEL: +44 (0) 1634 233758
WEB: www.spiritofremembrance.com
AVAILABLE TOURS:
We arrange tours worldwide and can provide expert advice on veterans’ and war widows’ grants to assist with the costs. Whether they be group or individual tours, we tailor journeys for our customers against the backdrop of history.
The Battlefields Trust
The Battlefields Trust is the UK charity dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Britain’s historic battlefields. It is perhaps best known for its recent ground-breaking work in locating the true site of the Battle of Bosworth and readers may well have seen some of the information boards it has helped to erect at battlefields all across the country. But what is less well-known is the fact that the Trust also organises a wide range of battlefield walks, talks and tours, many of which are led by acknowledged authorities in their fields. Next year’s programme includes walks around the Anglo-Saxon battlefield of Maldon, the Wars of the Roses battlefields of Barnet and Towton, the Civil War battlefields of Newbury and Naseby, and a conference at Durham including a coach trip to Flodden to mark the 500th anniversary of this decisive battle. Overseas visits are also arranged from time to time. The Battlefields Trust normally charges £5 per person for its walks, which are open to everyone, but members go free and also receive discounts on other activities as
well as a quarterly colour magazine. Please seriously consider becoming a member – as well as enjoying the above benefits, including a choice of over 30 events all around the country, you’ll also be making a real contribution to the protection and preservation of Britain’s battlefield heritage. Annual membership starts at only £18.00 per person.
For a membership form, to join online and for more information on the work of this excellent organisation visit our website.
WEB: www.battlefieldstrust.com
AVAILABLE TOURS:
Walks with The Battlefields Trust range from the Roman period, up to and including the WWII period. There are also many exciting upcoming events such as:
The Mercia Region AGM and Battle of Edgcote 1469: 10th of November
A new look at Bosworth: 17th of November
London During WWI 1914-1918: 17th of November
The Battlefields Trust Conference in April 2013 will be held in Durham and will include a coach trip to Flodden to mark the 500th anniversary of this battle.
To see the feature as it appeared in MHM 27, click here.