WW1 Battlefield Tour Companies and Guides: Starting in Belgium & France
There are a number of guides offering tours starting from within Belgium and France. Some provide daily tours by minibus or car which will be bookable from a local tourist office or museum, and those same guides will usually also offer to create a bespoke tour especially for you as an individual, family group or group of friends. Others may operate as a guide from the Bed & Breakfast accommodation they run and will arrange the tour according to your stay with them on the battlefields. Or guides may offer their services privately and can be contacted via their website for individual one-to-one tours or as a guide for leading a group that you may wish to organize.
In most cases you will be able to ask to visit particular locations to personalize your tour so you can see places of specific interest to you. Be sure to give your guide plenty of notice as last minute requests may be difficult to include if research needs to be carried out. Guides will often be happy to carry out research on your behalf, but do be aware that some may require payment for this if only to cover their costs and time.
Guides will usually be able to help with travel information for your independent travel to the battlefields and to join with their tour.
The guides and companies listed below are either known to greatwar.co.uk or if they are not, have asked to be listed on this website. All tours and guides are listed here in good faith that they will provide a professional, fully insured and high quality service for battlefield visitors. You are advised to contact the tour guides listed below directly about the tours, the services they offer and, most important, the licenses and insurance they hold for guiding in France and Belgium. They are responsible for informing you that they comply with travel, package holiday and package tours regulations as appropriate. Greatwar.co.uk cannot be held responsible for a guide or tour company failing to comply with package holiday travel regulations, French and Belgian regulations for vehicles carrying passengers and public liability cover.
Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG)
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greatwar.co.uk is proud to be a Supporter of the International Guild of Battlefield Guides. The aim of the Guild is to raise the understanding and promote best practice for guiding on the battlefields.
Badged Guides, Members and Supporters are highlighted in our list of guides and tour companies below.
Somme Battlefields' Partner, France
The Somme Battlefields' Partner is a network for visitors to the Somme including organizations and individuals involved in tourism and the history of the Somme battlefield.
Battlefield Tour Companies and Guides based in Belgium and France
The following guides and tours are are based in Belgium or France on or near the WW1 battlefields. These tours can provide English, Dutch or French speaking guides. Tours can be booked directly with these operators through their website, email or telephone contacts.
1916, Une Page D'Histoire
Somme Battlefields' Partner
Telephone: +33 6 62 29 01 00
Email: [email protected]
Véronique Pereira Bon: Guide for tours of the Somme battlefield based in Aveluy on the Somme battlefield. (Tours start in France.)
2xplore Flanders Fields
2014-18 Remembrance Partner Flanders Fields
Telephone: (Belgium) 0475 51 98 28 ; (International) +32 475 51 98 28
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.2xplore.be
WW1 battlefield tours on “Flanders Fields”. The tours are run by an English-speaking guide, Patrick, who served in the Belgian Armed Forces for over 20 years and saw active service in different war zones. Tours are arranged for a maximum of 8 persons, with pick-up and drop-off at your hotel or B&B as arranged with you.
Tours offered by 2xplore Flanders Fields feature:
- Tours of the Ypres Salient, Messines Ridge, Fromelles, Vimy Ridge and the Somme, visiting main battlefield sites and other interesting sites “off the beaten track”.
- Evening tour from 18.00 hours: Includes a visit to Tyne Cot Cemetery and the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing.
- Custom designed tours are possible (by notification in advance) to include visits to places of action, graves and special interests as required. Retracing the footsteps of an ancestor.
Battlefield Guides Vic and Diane Puik
Somme Battlefields' Partner
Telephone: +33 3 22 85 14 56
Website: www.lesalouettes.net
Highly recommended guides based in Hardecourt-aux-Bois in the heart of the Somme battlefield. Tours are arranged for individuals or for groups. Vic and Diane run well established, high quality B&B and self-catering accommodation at Les Alouettes. For further details see Vic and Diane's website or see Les Alouettes listed on our page:
Les Alouettes: Bed & Breakfast and Self-catering Accommodation on the Somme Battlefields
The Battlefields Experience
Somme Battlefields Partner; fully compliant with The Package Tour Regulations 1992; Fully Licensed & Insured; Registered French Company
Telephone & Fax: +33 32 27 62 960
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.thebattleofthesomme.co.uk
The Battlefields Experience is a battlefield tour company formed in 2000 by Jackie and Rod Bedford. Both Rod and Jackie have served in the British Army and have many years of guiding experience. Rod is Chairman of the Royal British Legion Somme Branch. They are based at Mailly-Maillet on the Somme battlefield and offer a wide range of highly researched scheduled tours and bespoke tours. Accommodation can be organized on your behalf as part of the tour, ranging from B&B to luxury chateaux.
To find out more about the tours and your guides visit the website:
Website: www.thebattleofthesomme.co.uk
Battlefield Guiding: Silent Cities Battlefield Guiding & Research
Somme Battlefields Partner; Northern France Battlefields Partner; European Tour Operator Association member; Guild of Battlefield Guides member
Telephone: +33 321 15 37 70
Mobile +33 640 59 13 26
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.battlefieldguiding.com
Accredited guides John and Jennie Knight offer highly personalised tours suitable for the first time visitor, families wishing to trace a WW1 relative and those with a detailed knowledge of the battles. If you want to find out about a WW1 ancestor and visit where they were in action, where they spent time out of the line, where they are commemorated or buried, John and Jennie can carry out the research on your behalf. Tour itineraries cover the battlefields of the Somme, Ypres Salient, Fromelles and Bullecourt, but visits to other areas on the Western Front can also be considered. John and Jennie have lived on the Somme battlefield for a number of years and run the highly commended Silent Picket B&B at Martinpuich.
To find out more about the tours, testimonials and the B&B accommodation visit the website or email your enquiry.
Website Tours: www.battlefieldguiding.com
Website B&B: www.silentpicket.com
Camalou: Battlefield Tours
Telephone: +32 57 20 43 42
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.camalou.com
Annette and Christian Linthout have lived on or close to Ypres and the battlefields of the Ypres Salient for all their lives. As specialists, licenced in guided tours around the Salient since 1987 they offer a one day tour around the Salient or tours of several days. Tours include special visits to cemeteries or battlefield locations which can be arranged. See the website for further information about the tours, including specialisms in American, Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand tours.
Chemins d'Histoire
Somme Battlefields' Partner
Telephone: +33 3 23 67 77 64
Website: www.cheminsdhistoire.com
Guide based at St. Quentin, offering tours of the Somme and Artois battlefields.
Flanders Battlefield Tour
Members of the Guild of Battlefield Guides (GBG); Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence 2014
Telephone: +32 57 - 360 460
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ypres-fbt.com
Highly acclaimed licensed tour company based in Ypres, Belgium, with experienced English and Dutch speaking guides. Flanders Battlefield Tour is run by Jacques Ryckebosch and his partner Genevra Charsley, both of whom are members of the Guild of Battlefield Guides. Jacques is a former full-time Warden and guide at Toc H (Talbot House) in Poperinge. He has been a qualified guide in Belgium for over 30 years and is a Director on the Board of Administrators of the Last Post Association in Ypres.
Tours offered by Flanders Battlefield Tour:
- Daily full day and half day tours to the Ypres Salient battlefields available to book for small groups of up to 16 people and individuals. Air-conditioned minibuses are used for the tours and can seat up to 8 people. Daily tours start from the centre of Ypres (Ieper) in Belgium.
- Bepoke tours to the Battlefields of the Yser, the Ypres Salient, Artois & French Flanders, Arras, Vimy and the Somme can be arranged and tailored to meet the requirements of groups of friends or family, military and ex-military groups, and school groups wishing to visit particular places of action.
Visit the website to make an enquiry or book on a tour:
Website: www.ypres-fbt.com
Get-a-Guide Battlefield Tours
Somme Battlefields' Partnership; Siret number: 8345084000010
Address: Brigitte De Cuyper, Get-a-Guide, 29 rue des Cordeliers, 80560 Mailly-Maillet, France
Telephone: +33 3 646 005 994 (French Mobile)
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.get-a-guide.co.uk
Tours on offer include:
- In the Footsteps of my Ancestor
- The Battle of the Somme
- The Pals Battalions and Boy Soldiers
- Shot at Dawn
- Beaumont-Hamel
Tour Price: 30 Euros/hour and 50 Euros for research on your relative by request.
"Get-a-Guide" also runs a Bed & Breakfast called "Les Eglantines" based in Mailly-Maillet. A "Somme Package: B&B and Tours" is available. Please contact the owner Brigitte De Cuyper for more information.
Bed & Breakfast website: www.les-eglantines.co.uk
Great War Pilgrimage Tours
Telephone: +32 476 22 96 36
Website: www.greatwarpilgrimage.com
WW1 guide, Sabine, was born and brought up near Ypres. She speaks Dutch, French and English. Sabine offers individual visitors and groups to the Ypres Salient bespoke battlefield tours from a couple of hours to a whole day.
Great War Tours
Supporter of the Guild of Battlefield Guides; Member of the European Tour Operators Association.
Telephone: +44 785 585 0889
Website: www.battlefield-guides.com
Great War Tours is a family-run tour company based on the Somme battlefields at Hardecourt-aux-Bois.
A number of experienced guides, members of the Guild of Battlefield Guides, offer a range of tours to the Western Front battlefields from the Belgian coast to Verdun. Tours for groups or individuals feature:
- Bespoke tours
- Themed tours
- Walking tours
- Tours for places of action for the ANZAC, Canadian and American military forces
- Self-drive tours tailored to the requirements of visitors to the battlefields travelling by car or on foot.
For tour options, prices and availability visit the website.
Self-catering accommodation on the battlefield of the Somme is available at Hardecourt-aux-Bois and Longueval. See either Chavasse Farm or Snowden House on our Somme accommodation page at:
Self-catering and B&B Accommodation on the Somme
Knee Deep Into History Battlefield Tours
Telephone: +1 908 451 0252
Email: [email protected]
Website: kneedeepintohistory.com
Randy Gaulke is the founder of Knee Deep Into History battlefield tours. He has been a student of military history and battlefield tours for over 40 years. Since 2017 Randy has based himself in France as a freelance tour guide. German historian Markus Klauer and Randy's son Graham join Randy in the guiding team.
The 2023 tour programme includes tours to the American battlefields of WW1 and WW2, plus private bespoke tours by special special arrangement. Tours include:
- 102nd Infantry Regiment and Yankee Division tour (7 days)
- Flanders Fields and the Somme (6 days)
- Verdun (4 days)
- Meuse-Argonne and St Mihiel (7 days)
- Ardennes/Battle of the Bulge (small group tour - 7 days)
- D-Day/Normandy (7 days)
For full information about the tours, prices and availability visit the Knee Deep Into History website.
Lost Generation 1914-1918 Battlefield Tours
Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides
Experienced battlefield guide Tim Wright offers a range of battlefield tours to suit both first-time visitors and those wishing to arrange a bespoke tour. Tim specializes in tours for individuals, families or small groups. Tim is the Chairman and a founding member of the Somme branch of The Western Front Association. Tim and his wife Gill also run Freeman Farm Bed & Breakfast in Miraumont.
For further details about tours email Tim, telephone or visit the website below.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.lostgeneration1914-18.com
Telephone: From UK 00 33 322 757 203; Mobile phone from UK 00 44 79 1914 18 08 or 00 44 7500 1914 18
Ploegsteert Sector Battlefield Experience
Telephone: +32 56 58 84 41
Telephone: (mobile) +32 477 50 01 46
Email: www.battlefieldguide.be Contact
Website: www.battlefieldguide.be
Claude Verhaege is the owner of L'Auberge Ploegsteert opposite the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing at the southern end of the Ypres Salient. For over 30 years Claude has assisted authors and historians researching the First World War with his local knowledge of the Plugstreet and Messines sector.
Claude and his team of guides are qualified, experienced and fully insured to take travellers in a comfortable 9 seater vehicle. The team specializes in tours covering the southern sector of the Ypres Salient and Ploegsteert (Plugstreet) battlefields, Fromelles and the Somme battlefields. Custom-made tours can be arranged and research can be carried out to follow in the footsteps of a WW1 relative.
Tours include:
- ANZAC Somme Tour (1 day)
- British, Irish, Canadian Somme Tour (1 day)
- Ploegsteert Sector Tour (1 day)
- American Tour (1 day)
- Battle of Waterloo Tour (1 day)
- Back areas & hospitals Tour (1 day)
- Ploegsteert Memorial, Christmas Truce 1914, Battle of Messines, lost mines, Bayernwald trenches Tour (1/2 day)
- Ploegsteert Memorial, Ploegsteert Wood, Christmas Truce 1914, Battle of Messines Tour (2 hours)
Visit the website or contact Claude by email or telephone for more information.
See L'Auberge Ploegsteert on our recommended places to eat on the Ypres Salient battlefields at:
Cafés and Restaurants on the Ypres Salient Battlefields
Salient Tours
Telephone: +32 57 214 657
Website: www.salienttours.be
Tour company based in Ypres, Belgium, with English speaking guides.
Mickael Smith
Somme Battlefields' Partner
Telephone: +33 3 22 27 20 80
Email: [email protected]
Guide based at Pont-Remy offering tours of the Somme battlefields.
Somme 1916 Museum, Albert, France
Somme Battlefields' Partner
Telephone: +33 3 22 75 16 17
Website: www.musee-somme-1916.eu
Tours of the Circuit du Souvenir (Circuit of Remembrance) available from this museum located in Albert, France, with a combined entry fee for the museum.
Terres de Mémoire
Somme Battlefields' Partner
Telephone: +33 3 22 84 23 05
Website: www.terresdememoire.com
Tour guide based in Péronne. Half-day tours of the Somme and Artois battlefields; Guided tour of the Somme Circuit of Remembrance.
Trench Map Tours
Telephone: +32 57 - 48 61 31
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.trenchmaptours.com
Tour company based in Ypres, Belgium, with English speaking guides led by Iain McHenry. Aswell as conducting his own Trench Map Tours Iain is a guide for Leger Holidays, Rifleman Tours, Battlefield Select Tours and Somme Battlefield Tours Ltd. Iain is a founding member of the La Boisselle Study Group, is an author and has been involved with a significant number of television programmes. His special interest is 177 Tunneling Company, Royal Engineers.
Walk With Me: In the Footsteps of the Fallen
Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides
Telephone: +33 3 22 75 12 02
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.number56.co.uk
David Thomson, battlefield guide and owner of the B&B Number Fifty6 at La Boisselle, offers tours of the Somme battlefields. Whether you are staying at the B&B or not, you can book a tour with David. Tours can be personalized to visit areas of the battlefield of special interest to you and you are advised to contact David in advance so that he can prepare an itinerary for your visit.
For a video preview and more information see the Walk With Me page on the website:
Website: www.number56.co.uk Walk With Me
For accommodation at NumberFifty6 B&B on the Somme battlefield see our listing at:
NumberFifty6: B&B Accommodation on the Somme
The Western Front Revisited
Somme Battlefields Partner
Telephone: (Belgium) + 32 4 75 81 06 08; (France) +33 7 88 24 59 01
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.the-western-front-revisited.fr
Qualified guide Carl Ooghe established his battlefield tour company in 1987. He specializes in tours to the battlefields of Flanders, The Somme, The Aisne, The Marne and Meuse-Argonne. Carl operates tours for up to 7 people in a comfortable minibus on a daily basis 7/7 including public holidays.
For prices, arranging a bespoke tour to visit places of special interest to you, assistance and arrangements for travel to main rail destination stations in Belgium and France, visit the website.
Carl also offers cycling tours on the Western Front. See details on our page:
Cycling Routes & Tours on the WW1 Battlefields: Cycling on the Western Front Tours
Related Topics
Visiting the WW1 Western Front Battlefields
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Advice and useful information about travelling, accommodation and tourist information for visitors to the Western Front battlefields:
Visiting WW1 Western Front Battlefields
Battlefields of the Western Front
Pages on the battlefields by area including comprehensive listings and locations of military cemeteries, main memorials, battle remains, museums and accommodation:
Yser Battlefields & the Belgian Coast The Ypres Salient, Flanders, Belgium The Ypres Salient, Flanders, Belgium French Flanders and Artois The Somme, Picardie, FranceInternational Guild of Battlefield Guides
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The International Guild of Battlefield Guides is for guides with a specialism in battlefield history, providing an organization where guides can meet one another, share information and approaches to the subject. Members of the Guild can take part in an accreditation programme to become a “Badged Guide”. Visit:
Website: www.gbg-international.com
Somme Battlefields' Partner, France
The Somme Battlefields' Partner website is at:
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Website: www.somme-battlefields.com
Battlefield Tours
Battlefield Tour Companies and Guides (from the United Kingdom)
Cycling Routes & Tours on the WW1 Battlefields
Self-drive Itineraries & Tours of the WW1 Battlefields