Full Day Private New Zealander Battlefields Tour from Arras

5.0 (2 reviews) 8 hours Free cancellation Private tour

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2 reviews

5.0

Full Day Private New Zealander Battlefields Tour from Arras — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

The trenches — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

This tour will take you in the footsteps of the New Zealanders on the paved streets of Arras, down 20 meters deep tunnels beneath its magnificent squares; walking in trenches, and visiting moving WW1 sites in the Somme whilst learning all about the experience of the Kiwis on the Western Front.

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At a glance

Duration: 8 hours
Confirmation: Instant confirmation
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Your group only
People per booking: 1–3
Operated by: WW1 Battlefields guided tours: Brigitte De Cuyper from Get a Guide

What is included

Included

Included: helmet

Not included

Not included: WELLINGTON QUARRY ENTRANCE €6.30ADULT
Not included: Entrance fees: Carriere Wellington

Itinerary

Place des Heros

20 min Admission included

Arras is blessed with a very rich architectural heritage as its two Flemish Baroque style squares : « La Place des Heroes » and « La Grand Place » will confirm. It is also a place full of history going from Roman times and across the centuries including the first world war. During these 20 minutes, your guide will take you on a journey through time.
Carriere Wellington

1 h 30 min Admission not included

The Wellington Quarry in Arras is a remarkable network of underground tunnels built, mostly by 500 miners from the New Zealand Tunnelling Company in 1917 before the Battle of Arras. This network of tunnels will accommodate 24,000 soldiers before the surprise assault on the 9th of April.

The tunnels are accessed via a glass-walled lift down the twenty meters to the quarry floor. The tour consists of both guided and audio-guided tours on a planned path accessible for wheelchairs.
Stop 3

30 min

Although never captured by the enemy, Mailly-Maillet was in continuous use by troops resting from the front line. When the Germans launched their massive Spring Offensive, the New Zealand Division was hurried to the Somme and fought near the village. Our visit will take us by La Signy Farm and the Dressing Station in Mailly-Maillet.
Memorial Terre-neuvien De Beaumont-hamel

45 min

The Newfoundland Memorial Park is the largest battlefield site in the Somme and a memorial dedicated to all Newfoundlanders who served during the First World War.

The Battle of the Somme was the first major engagement of the regiment where they suffered staggering losses on the 1st of July 1916. The ground, purchased in 1921 by the women of Newfoundland and their government has become the symbol of sacrifice and a source of identity of the island.
Memorial de Thiepval

45 min

The “Memorial of the Missing” The “Memorial of the Missing” is the largest British War Memorial in the world. This imposing monument overlooks the surrounding rolling countryside. On its walls are engraved the names of over 72 000 soldiers who are rather missing or whose bodies were found but not identified. Here we will talk about military tactics and also about the notion of being “missing” and what it meant for all the families of those soldiers.
Caterpillar Cemetery

30 min

The cemetery is named after Caterpillar Valley which was the name of the the long valley which rises eastward. In 2004, the remains of an unidentified New Zealand soldier was exhumed from this cemetery and is now resting in Wellington.

This site is also the site of the New Zealand Memorial to the Missing , recording the names of 1205 New Zealand soldiers who were killed during the Battle of the Somme and have no known final resting place.

From this point you will see the ground from which the New Zealand Division started during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette and an ideal place for your guide will tell you all about it.
Stop 7

15 min

From this point you will see the ground from which the New Zealand Division started during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette and an ideal place for your guide will tell you all about it.

Meeting point and pickup

You can be picked up from your accommodation or go straight to the meeting point.

Meeting point

I will meet guests on the platform of their train at Arras station or at the hotel they are staying at in Arras

End point

I will meet guests on the platform of their train at Arras station or at the hotel they are staying at in Arras

Pickup points

Astoria Hotel Carnot
B&B HOTEL Arras Centre Les Places
Hotel Mercure Arras Centre Gare
Hotel de l’Univers
Hotel Diamant
Hotel Moderne
Hotel Les Trois Luppars
Holiday Inn Express Arras By IHG
Hotel d'Angleterre Arras

Your guide will pick you up at your hotel in Arras or at Arras station, on the platform of your train, if you get there by train, and take you back there at the end of your day.