Small-Group Australian Battlefield Tour in Fromelles and Flanders from Lille

Lille, France

Explore Flanders and Fromelles, and delve into Australia’s World War I history on this 9-hour small-group battlefield tour from Lille. Travel through Flanders and Fromelles with a guide, and discover key sites of interest including the Cobbers’ Memorial, the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Passchendaele, and the VC Corner Cemetery — France’s only exclusively Australian WWI cemetery. Learn of the thousands of Australian soldiers who laid down their lives, and see the many ways in which the Commonwealth War Graves Commission mark their sacrifice. This tour includes round-trip travel from your Lille hotel.

Meet your guide during a 9am pickup at your Lille hotel, then take a seat in your air-conditioned minivan for the onward journey to Fromelles to begin your 9-hour tour. On arrival, visit the Pheasant Wood Cemetery and Fromelles Museum, and take in top sites of interest including the mass grave where 250 Australian soldiers were buried by the Germans.

Visit the Australian Memorial Park — home to the Cobbers’ Memorial — and the VC Corner Cemetery, the only exclusively Australian cemetery in France. Then, continue on to the Plugstreet 14-18 Experience First World War Interpretation Centre and the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing. Here, perhaps pay your respects to Australia’s fallen soldiers.

After lunch, explore mine craters around Messines and Hill 60 — where the Memorial to the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company stands — and see the 5th Australian Division Memorial in Polygon Wood. Visit Tyne Cot Cemetery in Passchendaele, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Europe.

See where John McRae wrote his famous poem In Flanders Fields, then enjoy free time in Ypres to explore at your leisure. Attend the daily Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, then depart Ypres for the return journey to your accommodation in Lille.

Traveler Reviews

Review by:   Christine C,    April 2017
This tour was amazing. Claude was a great guide. We saw everything in great comfort with plenty of time to stroll around. Highly recommend it

Review by:   Lynette T,    September 2016
We had a great day. Very informative guide. Very friendly and helpful!, would recommend Claude as a great guide!!

All Traveler Reviews...