From Lille: WWI Battlefields Day Trip (France or Belgium)｜France

Discover the history of the First World War on a full-day battlefield tour from Lille. This flexible experience allows you to choose between two carefully designed itineraries at the time of booking: a France-only tour focusing on the French front, or an extended France & Belgium tour exploring both sides of the Western Front.

Both options begin at the remarkable Wellington Quarry in Arras, where thousands of Allied soldiers prepared underground for the Battle of Arras in 1917. Explore the tunnels and learn how engineering, planning and courage shaped one of the war's major offensives.

Continue to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, the largest French military cemetery of the First World War. Walk among the graves and memorials dedicated to the soldiers who fought on the Western Front and gain insight into how France remembers the conflict today.

Option 1: France & Belgium Battlefields

After lunch, continue into Belgian Flanders to explore some of the most iconic sites of the Great War. Visit Hill 62, discover the battlefields surrounding Ypres, pay tribute at Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth military cemetery in the world, and conclude the day at the famous Menin Gate Memorial.

This itinerary provides a broader international perspective on the war, combining French, British, Commonwealth and Belgian experiences into a single journey through the Western Front.

Please note that we also offer this option with an additional 30 mn in Ypres that allows you to assist to the bugle ceremony of "The Last Post" in Menin Gate to pay a vibrant hommage to the fallen of the WW1 (Tour Option 3).

Option 2: Northern France Battlefields

After lunch, remain in France to explore additional battlefield and memorial sites linked to the French experience of the war. Visit the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy Ridge, discover preserved trenches and battlefield remains, and deepen your understanding of trench warfare, military strategy and remembrance culture in northern France.

This itinerary offers a more in-depth exploration of the French front and the stories of the soldiers who fought there.

Whichever option you choose, this tour provides a powerful introduction to the First World War through battlefields, memorials, personal stories and landscapes that still bear the marks of one of history's most devastating conflicts.

Please select your preferred itinerary when booking:

*Option 1: France & Belgium Battlefields
*Option 2: Northern France Battlefields
*Option 2: France & Belgium Battlefields + The Last Post Ceremony in Menin Gate (+1 hour of tour)

Both options depart from and return to Lille and include guided visits to major First World War sites.