Day 1: Early morning departure from North Wales and travel to Dover for the ferry crossing to Calais. We continue our journey into Belgium and our hotel in the town of Ypres for a 4-night stay. Enjoy dinner at the hotel this evening.
Day 2: Today we have a busy day ahead, our first visit is to Artillery Wood to see the grave of Hedd Wyn. We will also view the memorial to the Welsh poet, Hedd Wyn at Hebegos Wall followed by a visit to the Welsh Memorial. Then we visit Passchendale village with an optional visit to Passchendale museum.
We continue to Poperinge where you can visit Talbot House, the safe house for first World War Soldiers and visit the newly refurbished Town Hall and see the execution cell and firing post. We return to the hotel for our evening meal.
Day 3: This morning, enjoy a two-hour guided walking tour of Ypres. We will visit many of the locations associated with the Great War in and around Ypres. See the Menin Gate, with so many names of those who have no known graves. The Cloth Hall built in 1260 holds the tourist office and museum. Alongside is the 13 century St. Martins Cathedral, where most of the works of art were lost in 1914. We will also visit The Flanders Field Museum and the battlefields and graveyards of Essex Farm.
In the afternoon we will visit Tyne Cote Cemetery, the biggest British Cemetery in Europe. On the return journey to Ypres, we’ll stop at the site of the famous armistice during Christmas 1914, when Allied and German soldiers put down their weapons and played football.
Upon our return to Ypres there will be time for you to get something to eat in one of the local restaurants or eateries before ending the day by attending the Last Post service at the Menin Gate in Ypres at 8.00pm.
Day 4: After breakfast, we travel to Bruges – the ‘Venice of the North’. It is regarded as one of Europe’s finest preserved medieval cities. Bruges boasts a network of canals, crossed by pretty humpback bridges and winding, cobbled alleyways leading to beautiful squares, lined with magnificent guild houses – a true architectural gem. We return to the hotel for our evening meal.
Day 5: Depart the hotel after breakfast and make the journey to Calais for the return ferry crossing to Dover. Upon arrival we complete the journey home to North Wales.