Verdun

A 4-day tour of an incomparable battlefield

Thursday 30th May to Sunday 2nd June 2024

Verdun is different, because the atmosphere and landscapes of its battlefields are utterly unlike any others on the Western Front. The sites of the greatest battles fought by the British between 1914 and 1918 – Ypres, the Somme, Arras – have all been re-populated over the last 100 years and returned to gentle farmland. By contrast, large areas of the scarred landscape around Verdun remain untouched apart from re-forestation, leaving an indelible impression on the mind of the visitor.
Verdun is special, because of its significance to the French nation, both during and far beyond the Great War period. The peak of its notoriety came in 1916 when the Germans specifically aimed to “bleed the French army white” by attrition in this hilly salient with its strong fortifications, many of which survive and can be visited. In 1918, the Americans played a major role in ferocious fighting on the rugged terrain here.
To tell the story of heroism and attrition around Verdun in the Great War, we visit a variety of locations, including:-
*Fort and ossuary at Douaumont
*The citadel in Verdun, with its museum and underground train
*A guided tour of trenches and tunnels beneath the Butte de Vauquois
*Panoramic battlefield views at Montfaucon and Les Eparges
*The site of the lost village of Fleury
*The largest American war cemetery in Europe
*Memorials and graves of notable French soldier-authors.

The tour includes three nights in a hotel adjacent to the battlefields

Cost: £850 (includes guide, handbook, all travel, hotel, three dinners, three breakfasts and four lunches) plus £150 single room supplement.