2015 ww1 battlefields tour ,sites to visit

[bth2bth2]

arras
mons
somme
verdun
bastogne (ww2)
ypres
passendaele
tyne cot cemetry
dyksmude
german cemetry

[Pirate]

Sounds good, Verdun is one of the few I've not been to. The French have preserved it as a national memorial.

[Blitz]

Bastogne (battle of the Bulge 1st airborne WW2)

[Blitz]

Passchendaele village and Ypres area

[pupster]

http://www.verdun-douaumont.com/?lang=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ruth and I visited The Douaumont Ossuary on our trip. It houses the remains of over 130,000 unknown soldiers from The Verdun battlefield. They show a film of the history of Verdun. The tower can be climbed to see parts of the battlefield. It was a deeply moving visit.

[mrpieman01]

go to the tyne cot cemetery, this is a very moving place, found four of my family who served and died in ww1. there are a great deal of places to see around leper(ypres) try the tower at diksmude or the german cemtery containing 25,000 bodies

[Pirate]

It may be an idea to have two bases and split the trip into two . To allows enough time spent at each location, from one base, means early starts and a fair few miles ridden each day. Suggest Somme and Verdun be kept in south section. Also to keep costs down (tolls) where possible avoid motorways. Means a slower journey to some of the sites but may be more interesting.

This is what we have done in the past (mrs pirate).

[bth2bth2]

i tend to agree with the two centre idea. one in the north and one south ,as you suggest. it may be a bit tricky tho. i like the idea of the first stop near arras . after a long ride to the south coast i dont fancy another long ride on the other side.perhaps a three stop may be the way to go. first night up north then second stop in the south . stopping up north again on the way back. .

brian

[Blitz]

What ports are you looking at?
Is their an option to land closer to the action or even land and depart from different ports.

[Pirate]

For 2018 I was planning to do Felixstowe across and try and follow the footsteps of the lads. I would suggest that as most of the activities are in the north, then an initial base in Belgium and then a move dow south to cover the rest. Then home via Calais.