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Protect your Investment with Travel Safe |
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Click link for full info. Make secure, online credit card payments. NOTE:Transactions attract a 3.5% fee. Please add the transaction fee to the total amount entered. Thanks. *Personal checks accepted with no transaction fee. |
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Tours by Destination: |
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Tours by Theme: |
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Self-Guided Europe Programs: |
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Special Group Tours Toll Free: 1 866 725 5250 |
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Battlefield Tours |
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Folks seeking to discover the experiences of a loved one may find our small, intimate journeys the way to go. Our guides are retired military and/or historians with a personal interest in the tours that they lead. Back-Roads can boast leading many authors and researchers for their novels/histories on the subject of both WW1 and WW2. We don't pretend to be a specialist Battlefield tour company but we do know that we deliver excellent tours based on the seminal events of the two twentieth-century World Wars in Northern Europe. |
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Our scheduled Battlefield tours begin either from London or from Lille, France. We have a special rate for a Eurostar (channel tunnel) train journey from London to Lille. Further details are listed on the individual itineraries. Multi Day Tours: *Verdun & the Doughboys: Special 90th Anniversary of USA Entry Departures. 4 days, selected dates Mon - Fri; Verdun and the great forts such as Douaumont and Vaux, Belleau Wood, Chateau Thierry, Vaux, Saint-Milhiel, Meuse-Argonne and the mediaeval town of Rheims *D-Day Beaches: 5 days, selected dates Mon - Fri; Gold, Sword, Juno, Omaha Beaches, Bayeux, Agincourt, a bit of the Western Front and the splendid Normandy countryside *Forging of a Nation, Canadian Battlefields: 8 days, Mon - Mon; This tour visits some of the most memorable and important sites where young Canadians fought and died for their new county's honour and the countries of their ancestors. Vimy Ridge, St Julien, Juno Beach, Coucellette are but a few sites... *In Search of Winston Spencer Churchill: 3 days; NEW! Explore the legend and the man himself who lead Britain through the tumultuous events of the 20th Century - Leader, warrior, politician, orator, painter, Nobel Prize winner for literature and an inspiration for generations. *Bond...James Bond: 4 days; NEW! This is a fun romp through film sites, Ian Fleming’s life, and the world of espionage from its modern day inception through to the cold war era. Visit London, Dover, Bletchley Park, the war and air museums of Cosford together with the quiant and peaceful scenery of Kent and Buckinghamshire as a backdrop.
*The Home Front, North Country 1939 - 1945: New! 4 days, from/to Manchester UK; You think of war, you think of battlefields...but what about the ‘Home Front’? What kind of life did people live during those dark days between 1939 and 1945 when the World was engulfed with war...
Day and Weekend Tours: *The Somme Day Tour: weekly, Saturdays; Exploration of events from July 1st to Nov 1916 encompassing the French battlefields *Ypres Salient Day Tour: weekly, Sundays; trenches, battlefields and memorials *TRIUMPH AND DISASTER: Mondays; Loos, Arras and Vimy Ridge *Weekends on the Western Front: Make it a weekend! Combine the above Ypres, Somme and Triumph & Disaster (Arras/Vimy Ridge) tours for a special price
General Sightseeing Tours from London/Lille: *Medieval Belgium: New! 4 days, selected dates; the best of Belgium - Bruges, Brussels, Ghent and other mediaeval towns in the ancient land of Flanders
*Private, Tailor-Made Battlefield tours: Please click here for general information on custom designed tours. All of our tour itineraries can be modified for private groups.
For some ideas for private groups, listed below are some Battlefield tours we have run previously: *Britain at War, WWII Over 60 Years Later: 9 days from London; The Home Front. Life in the 1940s. Air raid shelters, POW camps, air fields and naval stations, espionage and more *Battles for France: 9 days from London; Battles through the centuries. D-Day Beaches, Agincourt, the Somme *Battle of Britain: 5 days from London; The Few. Visiting museums, airfields and miscellaneous relevant sites of Battle of Britain and the Blitz |
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Here are just a selection of recent feedback from the Battlefield tours with Back-Roads Touring Co Ltd. They can't be beaten for enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment to making these tours work for you... "...It was my father who served four years with first Cdn Division WW 1. He was seriously wounded at Ypres, slightly a year later at the Somme and on a list "not expected to live" after Vimy. I was the first of his siblings to have the opportunity to visit the region where the actions took place. Upon meeting your guide Jon Halperin at Harwich you can imagine our surprise and pleasure to be handed a large sheaf of papers documenting my fathers regiment's struggle, attacks, counter attacks and losses during this war. Jon had in his own personal time gathered all this information for us It was not, however, until we returned home that we had the time to thoroughly read all the material. It described in detail comments and incidents mentioned in my fathers journal which he wrote from memory when in his eighties. It was only then we fully realized Jon's effort on our behalf and are very grateful to him and from this came to more fully appreciate his knowledge,, dedication, humor and even his much needed assistance in handling the luggage." Dave and Jean (Marion) McGowan, 2007 "Seeing the white cliffs of Dover was an unexpected extra added bonus of the trip. I have been reading about and watching film of the Great War for fifty years but seeing the ground where the fighting occurred, the towns destroyed by it (and the amazing rebuilding of these towns, theYpres Cathedral, etc.) and the many cemeteries gave me a feeling for the Great War that you just cannot get from books, film and photographs. I very highly recommend this tour to people who are seriously interested in learining about the war. Your highly informed and expxerienced tour guides and small group format are the only way to see these sites. Those taking such tours in the big touring buses cannot get the high quality experience that Backroads tours delivers. And my own experience as a Yellowstone Park driver and tour guide, I know that there are many places those big buses cannot go." Jeff Ward, 2007 "This is to thank you and the company staff who facilitated this tour. It was absolutely magnificent and the high point of our trip from Australia to UK so far as Val and I are concerned. Our group of seven were unanimous in our observations we could not have selected a better company to visit the Western Front with. Of course, as the representative of the company and our guide, Nora must take the lion's share of the credit. We found her attitude, knowledge, enthusiasm and thoughtfulness to be first class. Her ability to convey reality and atmosphere, her descriptive skills and uncanny sense of keeping quiet to alllow us to absorb the enormity of the historical events and locations and her encyclopaedic knowledge kept us all enthralled (and at times deeply moved) from start to finish. Thank you for providing such an excellent tour opportunity." Mick & Val Richardson, 2007 "Just thanking you for a fantastic Somme Tour. It was one of the highlights of our trip and we will never forget it. It was exactly what we wanted. We loved the hotel and the tour guide was so amazing. She had so much knowledge and stories to tell. We all learnt so much! She was amazing and we all enjoyed her company! All the best and hope to be back soon." Natasha and Trevor Carr, 2007 "I am writing to thank you very much for organizing such a memorable trip for us. Geoff and Nora, our guides, took us on a journey of the battlefields which was very informative, sad and moving and re-evoked the history of the First World War very vividly. Both Geoff and Nora looked after us very well , and their knowledge of the historical details was quite amazing, -they are a real credit to your company!Please pass on our grateful thanks to them both. We are busy recommending the trip to our friends and hope to join you again in the New year." Zarina and Shaed, 2007 "Just a brief note to thank you and your wonderful team of Jeff and Norma for the great day we had in Flanders... it was everything we had hoped for. Having visited the area in which my Dad was wounded and heard the stories of the fighting in that area, and , I suppose, having visited the War Cemetries (which I found to be a quite emotional experience) I somehow or other feel that I know my dad better than at anytime in my life. As I may have already told you, he never talked of his experiences during the Great War, so there was always a part of his background missing. And, in addition, I now have an even greater understanding of the sheer futility of war - so many young lives lost for what? Maybe we should demand that if there is to be a war, the politicians who want to wage the war should be the first ones into the front lines. Anyway, thanks for a very memorable day and please convey our thanks to Jeff and Nora as well." Terry Cole, 2007 "Barb and I have been home a week now and have been reflecting on our recent trip. We both agree that the trip, as a whole, was probably the best time away that we have ever had. While the Vimy Tour could not be described as "fun" it was certainly an enjoyable learning experience. From the very first day in Amsterdam till the final day in London we thoroughly enjoyed our interaction with Barrie and the other members of our group. The fact that Barrie was open to finding sites of special interest to each individual member of the group ( and was actually able to find the location of some out of the way spots) was very special." Dr David and Barbara Keating, 2007 "The tour was everything I had hoped it would be. The remembrance celebration at Vimy Ridge was life changing. With the help of Back Roads' office in the UK, Barrie, our guide and driver located the cemetery where my uncle, a casualty of World War 1, was buried. The whole busload helped me commemorate his death. I was the first in our family to visit his grave. It was a memorable experience." Ken Reeves, 2007 "Just a short message to say how very much we enjoyed our tour on 3-5 June, and to say thanks very much to our very obliging and helpful guide Jeff." Mary, Sonia, Meghann Lilley and Pam Carleton "What a great weekend! Exhausting but worth every moment despite the weather. Thank you so much for giving us an insight into the Western Front, or a bit of it. I will certainly try to remember what you told us and now try and add to my knowledge. Once again many thanks!" Ros Barron "Just wanted to say how much my father and I enjoyed yesterday. David was an excellent guide and really helped bringing everything to life. Being able to lay our wreath on my grandfather's grave was very special to us. It has now wetted our appetite and we are thinking about doing a similar trip with you to the Somme before we go back home …" Ivor Otley "My son, Malcolm and I recently travelled through the WW1 battlefields with your guide Bob. We would like you to know how very much we enjoyed the trip and how knowledgeable we found Bob to be. He went out of his way to make the days appropriate for us as Australians and in particular sought out places mentioned by my father in his diary written during the war. With thanks," Elizabeth Adams, 29 July 2006 "I'd swear you know where every bit of barbed wire on the Western Front is! Great couple of days. Unbelieveable knowledge you have. I was impressed by the way you managed to ensure both the Canadians and the English on board exactly what they wanted to see." Peter James "I would just like to say a massive thank you to you for a fantastic weekend. Brad and I had the best time and it will be a weekend we will never forget. Thanks again." Caroline and Brad "Just wanted to say what a great tour we had with Jeff on the Ypres and Somme tours in September. I came on the tour with my son, 16, and we both learned a lot and enjoyed it. Jeff was very knowledgeable and gave a great idea of what it was like to be there in battle and did not just bombard us with facts and figures. I am so glad we chose to do a tour as opposed to doing something self guided as we just covered so much in the two days that we would never have done on our own. Please, thank Jeff very much." Mairi and Alistair Simpson |
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