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School History Trip To The Ypres & Somme Battlefields Request a quote
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School History Trip To The Ypres & Somme Battlefields

A school History trip to the Ypres & Somme Battlefields will deepen your students’ understanding of the sacrifices and implications of WWI.

BelgiumFranceSommeYpresSchool TripsHistory
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Highlights

01

The moving Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate

02

The interactive In Flanders Fields Museum

03

The imposing Thiepval Memorial

04

The enormous Lochnagar Crater

Please contact us for a price
Schools - The Somme, Battlefields

Our top three excursions were to Parc Astérix, Beaumont Hamel and the Musée Somme 1916. The students found Tyne Cot and Beaumont Hamel the most inspiring.

North Berwick High School

Suggested itinerary

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
Depart school in your coach Channel crossing to Calais - journey time from Calais to Ypres about 1.5 hours without excursion stops Visit Poperinge and the Yorkshire Trench and Dugout Arrive at your Ypres Salient accommodation - evening meal
Breakfast and packed lunch Visit WWI battlefield sites, including the In Flanders Fields Museum, Essex Farm Cemetery, Hooge Crater, Hill 60 and 62 and Sanctuary Wood Visit the Tyne Cot military cemetery and the German cemetery at Langemark Attend the Last Post Ceremony - evening meal
Breakfast and packed lunch Depart for the Somme, stopping at Vimy Visit WWI battlefield sites of the Somme, including Thiepval Memorial, Lochnagar Crater, Beaumont Hamel, the Ulster Tower, Delville Wood and Pozieres Arrive at your Somme accommodation - evening meal
Breakfast and packed lunch Visit the 1916 Museum in Albert, with option to handle WWI memorabilia and try on army uniform Depart for Calais and Channel crossing - Arrive school

What's included*

Travel by British touring coach
Return Channel crossing
Accommodation, full board
1 teacher place for every 8 students
Insurance
24/7 support during your tour

*Please note, entrance fees where applicable are not included in typical price – contact us for more details

Recommended excursions

01 Poperinge
02 Yorkshire Trench and Dugout
03 Menin Gate and The Last Post Ceremony
04 In Flanders Fields Museum
05 Hill 62 and Sanctuary Wood
06 Essex Farm Cemetery
07 Langemark Cemetery
08 Hooge Crater Museum
09 Passchendaele Memorial Museum
10 Tyne Cot Military Cemetery
11 Vimy Ridge
12 Wellington Quarry, Arras
13 Historial de la Grande Guerre-Peronne
14 Thiepval Memorial
15 Historial of the Great War – Thiepval Museum
16 Beaumont Hamel
17 Lochnagar Crater – La Boisselle
18 Ulster Tower
19 Delville Wood
20 1916 Museum, Albert
21 Memorial 14-18 (Notre-Dame-de-Lorette)
22 The CWGC Visitor Centre
01 Poperinge

This town in the Flemish Region of West Flanders has a medieval history and is famous for its hops and lace production. Known as “Pops” to the British soldiers in the First World War it was the gateway to the battlefields of the northern Ypres Salient for thousands of British troops. Talbot House was established as a club in 1915 for British soldiers and is now a fascinating museum. Photo  Bernt Rostad.

1- 2 hours See on map
02 Yorkshire Trench and Dugout

This British trench wasn’t discovered until 1992 by a group of archaeologists who went on to excavate tunnelled dugouts and soldier remains. One of the few sites with original trenches on the Ypres Salient, the location exhibits very narrow networks with recreated fire steps and loopholes. Students can get a real sense of the space the soldiers occupied.

1- 2 hours See on map
03 Menin Gate and The Last Post Ceremony

This moving tribute to the courage and sacrifice of those who fell defending their town is an imperative experience for students connecting with WWI. Each night at 8pm the traffic stops around the Menin Gate memorial – six buglers from the fire brigade play the Last Post, Reveille and silence is upheld.

45mins See on map
04 In Flanders Fields Museum

This outstanding museum aims to preserve our connection with World War I through character-led experience and the story of the land. Exhibitions blend interactive installations with relics allowing students to explore history on a peer-related level. A permanent exhibit traces the invasion of Belgium with educational programmes to delve deeper into the war past.

1 - 2 hours See on map
05 Hill 62 and Sanctuary Wood

The slopes of Hill 62 were part of the front line in 1915. The museum at Sanctuary Wood is one of few sites on the Ypres Salient battlefields where an original trench layout can be seen, relatively unchanged since the war. Most farmers returning to their plots would plough over the scarred land, but here sections of the system were left intact. Photo © Amanda Slater.

1- 2 hours See on map
06 Essex Farm Cemetery

Essex Farm was the site of an Advanced Dressing Station (ADS) and the land was appropriated as burial ground from October 1914 (First Battle of Ypres). Because of the nature of the medical outpost, very few burials are unidentified, although the cemetery layout tells of the unpredictable wave of life and death at the ADS. Original bunkers and shelters remain. Photo © R/DV/RS.

1 hour See on map
07 Langemark Cemetery

There are only four WWI German cemeteries in Flanders – the first German gas attacks happened in Langemark 1915 and over 44,000 soldiers are buried here. After the battle of France in 1940, troops withdrew to Dunkirk and Calais over these battlegrounds of World War I. Some casualties of 1940 are buried side by side with soldiers who fell not 30 years previous. Photo © Nick Townsend.

1 hour See on map
08 Hooge Crater Museum

The Hooge Crater Museum offers an extensive collection of military artefacts, uniforms, photographs and life-size recreations of scenes from the war, and offers a great insight into life in the trenches. A medical class has also been established as an advanced dressing station where a guide can discuss the stages of medical evacuation, show medical equipment from the time complete with Ford T motor ambulance. The Hooge Crater Museum also has German and British trenches. Image by Amanda Slater (CC BY-SA 2.0).

2 hours See on map
9 Passchendaele Memorial Museum

An award-winning museum on the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele. Students can explore the underground museum and the Dugout Experience to gain an understanding of the life of soldiers underground during WWI. The tour continues outside in faithful reconstructions of British and German trenches.

2 hours See on map
10 Tyne Cot Military Cemetery

This is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world with around 11,954 soldiers resting here. The British Army captured the ridge where it is set in 1917, with a German blockhouse turned into an Advanced Dressing Station thus necessitating the burial ground. Fact: There are 8,367 unidentified graves at Tyne Cot, the headstones inscribed “Known Unto God”.

1- 2 hours See on map
11 Vimy Ridge

Dominated by the statue of Mother Canada, the National Vimy Commemorative Park honours the Canadian soldiers who lost their lives during WWI. The pitted landscape recalls the shower of shells that rained down on Vimy Ridge a hundred years ago. In the visitor centre, the exhibition plunges visitors into daily life during the Great War in the company of those who lived through it, through personal items, written accounts, military letters and sound immersions.

1- 2 hours See on map
12 Wellington Quarry, Arras

From November 1916, the British prepared the spring offensive of 1917. Their ingenious idea: New Zealand tunnelers would connect the city’s medieval chalk quarries to create a network of underground barracks that could house up to 24,000 soldiers. 20 meters below the cobblestones of Arras, visitors are immersed in the intimacy of the soldiers who were stationed underground just a few meters from the front line before rushing onto the battlefield on April 9, 1917, launching a surprise attack on the German positions. (Renovated in 2021). Photo © Chris O.

1- 2 hours See on map
13 Historial de la Grande Guerre-Peronne

This is a fascinating museum of WWI history housed in a château admired for its architectural excellence. World War I is documented by comparing the three main protagonists, France, The British Empire and Germany, through the lives of soldiers, the weapons and defences, propaganda, those left behind and the aftermath and shortlived peace.

2 - 3 hours See on map
14 Thiepval Memorial

The names of 73,357 British and South African Men are inscribed here at Thiepval, the largest war memorial in the world. Having fallen on the Somme between July 1916 and March 1918, the soldiers have no known graves. Extensive wartime tunnelling beneath this structure on the Western Front has meant that 6m thick foundations were required. There is also an informative visitor centre.

1- 2 hours See on map
15 Historial of the Great War – Thiepval Museum

As an extension to the existing visitor centre, the museum at Thiepval opened in June 2016. It is dedicated to the history of the battles of the Somme, especially the Somme Campaign of 1916, and to the memory of the Missing. The 400 m2 permanent exhibition unites museum exhibits, archaeological artefacts, multimedia and large-scale installations such as the replica of Charles Guynemer’s aeroplane. The 60-metre-long mural by Joe Sacco opens an imaginary
window onto the 1st July 1916 battlefield.

45 minutes See on map
16 Beaumont Hamel

The village was one of the fortress holds situated behind the German lines on the first of July 1916. The attack by the Newfoundland Regiment on this day is commemorated in the Newfoundland Park along with preserved trenches and a striking Caribou memorial, the regiment’s emblem. There were only 68 survivors making this one of the bloodiest battles of The Somme.

1- 2 hours See on map
17 Lochnagar Crater - La Boisselle

Many craters on the Western Front have been filled in for farming purposes, but this one was saved in 1978 to preserve the original site. 90ft deep and 300ft across, it was made on the first of July, 1917 when 26.8 tonnes of ammonal explosive tore through the earth. A remembrance service is held every year on the first of July at exactly 07.28 when the mine exploded.

30 mins See on map
18 Ulster Tower

This is a Somme battlefield memorial to the men of the 36th Division who suffered horrendous losses on the first of July 1916. The Ulster Tower is a replica of St Helen’s Tower, which sits in the grounds of the Clandeboye Estate in Northern Ireland where much of the division trained. Photo © Eoghan Olionnain.

30 mins See on map
19 Delville Wood

These well-preserved woods have visible trench remains and a moving memorial to the South Africans who fell in World War I. Also known as ‘Devil Woods’, the battle here was particularly horrific as soldiers fought hand to hand, holding on through heavy German attacks reaching 400 shells a minute. Around two thirds of the 5,493 burials here are unidentified. Photo © Kurtis Gardner.

1 hour See on map
20 1916 Museum, Albert

The network of tunnels under this town was used as shelter in World War I and II and is now home to the 1916 Museum. Descend into the tunnels where dioramas and photographs depict life for soldiers in the trenches. Many relics such as uniforms, weaponry and personal souvenirs are on display, and groups can have the opportunity to handle these by pre-arrangement.

1- 2 hours See on map
21 Memorial 14-18 (Notre-Dame-de-Lorette)

Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is home to the French Military Cemetery and the Ring of Remembrance. Engraved on this memorial are the names of the 600,000 fallen soldiers of WW1 in Artois, from all belligerent nations, in alphabetical order and without any distinction between origin, religion or rank. A beautiful symbol of peace. The History Centre gives visitors an understanding of the scale of the conflict in Nord-Pas-de-Calais during World War I.

1-2 hours See on map
22 The CWGC Visitor Centre

Located near Arras, the CWGC experience in Beaurains provides visitors with an insight into how some of the world’s most recognisable war memorials are maintained. Visitors can watch headstones being engraved and have an overview of the workings of the CWGC’s metal and carpentry workshops. There is also an exhibition showing how fallen soldiers are still recovered and identified from the battlefields today. Closed at weekends.

1 ½ hours See on map
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Typical accommodation

Image displaying the Menin Gate School Hotel
Menin Gate School Hotel See on map

Why groups like it:

Centrally located in Ypres next to the Menin Gate
Specialises in providing accommodation for student groups
Up to 55 beds with sole occupancy for groups of over 35 passengers

Facilities:

All rooms with full private facilities and Wifi
Games room with pool billiards table and drinks machine
Evening meals at local restaurants
Image displaying the Ypres Lodge
Ypres Lodge See on map

Why groups like it:

Purpose built for school parties
Free Wifi

Facilities:

Multi-bedded rooms all with full private facilities
Breakfast and dining rooms
Image displaying the Poppies d’Albert International Youth Hostel
Poppies d’Albert International Youth Hostel See on map

Why groups like it:

Purpose built school hotel with teachers’ lounge
Sole occupancy of floor available for parties of 45 or more
Located in the very centre of the 1914-18 battlefields of the Somme, near Lille, Arras, Amiens and less than 2 hours’ drive from Paris

Facilities:

Games room with pool table, table football, pinball machine and drinks machine
Free Wi-Fi access and internet suite
Evening meals in local restaurants

Learning outcomes

Subject focus

Students can:

  • See the conditions endured by soldiers in World War I
  • Examine the effects of historical trends and events on ordinary people
  • Study the history of the region and its connections to Britain
  • Learn how people respond to traumatic events
  • Understand the influence of the Great War on later events

Student outcomes

Students will have had an opportunity to:

  • Understand the events and experiences of soldiers in World War I
  • Learn how societies come to terms with traumatic events
  • Understand the after-effects of the war
  • Gain a sense of the breadth of history
  • Explore conceptions of patriotism and citizenship and consider the quest for international peace

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