Final-year school trip to the First World War battlefields: Verdun, the Somme, Vimy and Arras (4 days)
Bookings open on 1 January 2027
To give you the best protection, Évadons-nous is finalising its membership of the Belgian Travel Guarantee Fund: your payments will be fully protected. We are using the end of the year to prepare our 2027 trips. Discover them now!
Reference RTO-04-588
- Duration 4 days
- DepartureFrom the place of your choice
- GroupFrom 20 participants
- DateOn the date of your choice
A powerful, hands-on remembrance trip: the Douaumont Ossuary, the Somme memorials, Vimy and the tunnels of the Wellington Quarry.
A century later, the landscapes of Verdun and the Somme still bear the scars of the Great War. This trip takes pupils from the Douaumont Ossuary to the craters of the Somme, from the Thiepval and Beaumont-Hamel memorials to the preserved trenches of Vimy, then into the galleries dug beneath Arras by New Zealand soldiers. An ideal journey to extend history lessons and reflect on peace. The departure date and time are set with your school in the quote; the journey is made by day, with a 30-minute break every 3 hours of driving, and the coach stays with the group on site.
Programme
Day 1: Departure from your school and arrival in Verdun
- Departure from your school early in the morning, at the agreed time, and daytime drive to Lorraine (about 3 to 3 hours 30 depending on your school, excluding stops).
- Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
- Lunch at your own expense, then visit to the Verdun Memorial in Fleury-devant-Douaumont, devoted to the soldiers’ daily life during the battle of 1916.
- A moment of remembrance at the Douaumont Ossuary and the national cemetery, then a stop at the Trench of Bayonets (free access).
- Check-in at the accommodation in Verdun for one night, dinner and supervised evening.
Day 2: Verdun, then the Somme
- Visit to the Underground Citadel of Verdun, aboard small cars that travel through its galleries (on request).
- Drive to Péronne (about 3 hours), with lunch at your own expense on the way.
- Visit to the Historial of the Great War in Péronne, which compares the experience of French, British and German soldiers (on request).
- Drive to Arras (about 45 min), check-in at the accommodation for two nights, dinner and supervised evening.
Day 3: The Somme battlefields and Vimy
- Stop at the Lochnagar Crater in La Boisselle, created by a mine on 1 July 1916 (free access).
- Visit to the Thiepval Franco-British Memorial (free access) and its visitor centre and museum (on request).
- Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial and its preserved trenches, with the Canadian student guides (free access).
- Lunch at your own expense, then the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, with its preserved tunnels and trenches (free guided tour, by reservation).
- Stop at the Ring of Remembrance at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (free access), return to Arras, dinner and supervised evening.
Day 4: Arras and return to your school
- Rooms vacated after breakfast, luggage loaded onto the coach.
- Visit to the Wellington Quarry, galleries dug by New Zealand tunnellers before the Battle of Arras in 1917.
- Walk around the Grand-Place and the Place des Héros, with a climb up the UNESCO-listed belfry (on request).
- Lunch at your own expense, then departure in the afternoon, daytime drive back to Belgium.
- Arrival at your school in the evening.
The price includes
- Coach transport from your school, with the coach at the group’s disposal throughout the stay
- The services of one driver
- 3 nights in a hotel or youth hostel (1 night in Verdun and 2 nights in Arras or their surroundings), rooms for 3 to 8 pupils and separate rooms for the accompanying staff
- Half board (breakfast and dinner), from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 4
- Admission to the Verdun Memorial
- The visit to the Wellington Quarry in Arras
- The coach tour of the battlefields of Verdun, the Somme and Vimy
- Free places for the accompanying staff (their share is included in the price per pupil)
- Accommodation for the driver
- Road costs, parking fees and tolls
The price does not include
- Visit to the Underground Citadel of Verdun
- Visit to the Historial of the Great War in Péronne
- Visit to the Thiepval visitor centre and museum
- Climb up the Arras belfry
- Lunches (not included; hotel packed lunches on request), and drinks
- Admission to museums and monuments not mentioned
- Tourist tax
- Cancellation and refund protection (optional)
- Pocket money and personal expenses
Good to know
- Valid identity card or passport, signed parental consent form for each pupil under 18 and European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), to be requested from your health insurance fund a few weeks before departure.
- Our drivers drive for a maximum of 3 hours, then take a 30-minute break, day and night.
- Supervision is provided by the accompanying teachers; each pupil signs a code of conduct based on the school rules (no alcohol for minors or on the coach, no drug use, punctuality and compliance with instructions, respectful and quiet behaviour in cemeteries and memorials, no leaving the marked paths on the battlefields, where unexploded ammunition remains).
- The pupil list and rooming list are entered in the school’s online area (Excel import possible); rooms are allocated according to your instructions.
- Recommended period: March to June and September to mid-November; the guided tours at Vimy and the Wellington Quarry should be booked early, and some sites close for a few weeks in winter. France uses the euro and the same electrical sockets as Belgium; bring warm clothes and good shoes, as it is about 10 °C in the underground galleries. Lunches are not included: allow a budget of around €10–15 per pupil per day; on request, the hotel can provide packed lunches.
Ask for your free quote
A tailor-made trip for your group
- From 20 participants
- On the date of your choice, departing from near you
- Free quote, without obligation
Free places
- 25 →+125 paying participants: 1 free place(s)
- 50 →+350 paying participants: 3 free place(s)
- 75 →+475 paying participants: 4 free place(s)
- 100 →+6100 paying participants: 6 free place(s)
Quote request
Final-year school trip to the First World War battlefields: Verdun, the Somme, Vimy and Arras (4 days)
Choose your date, your pick-up points and the options you like: we will send you a personalised quote, free and without obligation.
- Free, no-obligation quote
- From 20 participants
- From the departure point of your choice
- Free places for the group
- About 3 minutes
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