End of the Western Front


7 days from £1,149pp

About the tour: End of the Western Front


Tour Introduction

Join us as we travel the Western Front, which ran for over 450 miles, to the often forgotten ‘end of the line’, where the trenches ran beyond Verdun down to the Vosges mountains. Alongside a Specialist Guide, we find hidden bunkers, trenches carved from rock, and fascinating museums.

Tour Includes


  • 6 nights hotel with continental breakfast
  • Specialist Battlefield Guide
  • Convenient local joining points
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(Deposits from £50pp)

Once you have booked your battlefield tour either online, or by telephone (), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can -

  1. Use our balance payment facility online to make and track your card payments. You can pay as much as you want up until your final due date or pay it all, the choice is yours.
  2. Send payments via online banking.
  3. Send payments via cheque.
  4. Call us and make a card payment, either a small amount or as lump sum until your final due date.

Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.

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Tour Itinerary

Day 1

Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to our hotel in Reims for an overnight stay.

Day 2 - Reims and the Argonne

This morning, we begin at Fort la Pompelle just outside Reims. The fort sat on the front line for four years and was constantly bombarded. Today, it houses a superb museum, and we have an included visit to see the remains of the fort and the exhibits within.

We then travel through the Champagne to the Argonne Forest, discussing the French battles here, and continue to where American forces made their advance in 1918.

After lunch, we pay our respects to the American dead at the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery, the largest American War Cemetery in Europe with over 14,000 graves. We then continue to the Vosges for a four-night stay.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Fort la Pompelle

Fort la Pompelle (3)

Key Visits

  • Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery
  • Fort la Pompelle

Day 3 - Great War in the Vosges

The Vosges was a mountainous region where the Western Front crossed some incredible terrain. Today we look at the French attacks here from as early as 1914, seeing the preserved trench system and museum at Le Linge, and also the nearby cemetery.

After lunch, we then travel to the high point of Hartmannswillerkopf and see the Historical Museum (included visit), preserved battlefield and memorials. Here both sides fought up in the mountains in one of the most stunning battlefields of the First World War.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Trenches at Le Linge

Le Linge (2)

Key Visits

  • Le Linge
  • Hartmannswillerkopf

Day 4 - The End of the Western Front

We start at Jonchery this morning, seeing the memorial to the first French soldier killed in the Great War, and then travel to Pfetterhouse on the border with Switzerland. Here the front lines ended at the junction of three countries, and we see the border area as well as bunkers and battlefield sites.

We then go into Altkirch for the last ‘Demarcation Stone’ which marks the end of the Western Front, and also visit the impressive German Cemetery here with original memorials and graves that cover the whole war in the Vosges.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Altkirch

Altkirch (4)

Key Visits

  • Altkirch
  • Pfetterhouse
  • Corporal Peugeot Memorial

Day 5 - Alsace-Lorraine at War

Today we look at nearly a century of conflict in this region of France, discussing the Franco-Prussian War, the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, the fighting in the Great War and the events here in World War Two. We travel to territory that was German soil in 1914 to Fort de Mutzig, or Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II, one of many largest fortifications built in this area before the Great War. Here we get an included guided tour of this well-preserved fortification. Please note: this site requires some walking and has uneven ground and steps.

In the afternoon, we look at the tragic events of the Holocaust in France in WW2, seeing the site of the Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp and included visit to the Memorial here, and later we travel to Colmar, looking at the Battle of the Colmar Pocket in 1944/45 and seeing the memorials and the Colmar Pocket Museum.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Sherman Tank, Colmar

Colmar (2)

Key Visits

  • Fort de Mutzig
  • Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp
  • Colmar

Day 6 - Les Eparges and Verdun

We depart the Vosges and travel to the high ground of Les Eparges where both sides met in 1914, and it became an area of intense mining activity. We see the mine craters, remains of trenches and the memorials. We then travel into Verdun for lunch and drive through the battlefield here before departing for an overnight stay in Northern France.

Included meals: Breakfast

Verdun Battlefield

Verdun Battlefield (3)

Key Visits

  • Verdun Battlefield
  • Les Eparges

Day 7

Return home.

Included meals: Breakfast

Specialist Battlefield Guides

All of Leger’s battlefield tours are accompanied by specialist guides. Their individual in-depth knowledge of warfare will be informative, as well as enhance your overall experience, as they recreate a fascinating perception of the history and factual events of each battle. Discover the actual catalysts for war, the strategies employed and the final, inevitable outcomes, as well as experiencing the emotional human side of the front line.

Please note: On certain tours, you may get tour guides other that the ones listed below.

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Hotel

You will stay for four nights at the 3-star Des Vosges in Klingenthal, near Obernai.

Overnight stays in France will be in city-style hotels.

Des Vosges

Des Vosges

About the hotel

The 3-star Des Vosges is situated only a few miles from the pretty Alsace town of Obernai. The hotel is set within pleasant parkland, ideal for a walk after dinner.

Hotel Features

  • Bar
  • English Speaking Staff
  • Lift
  • Restaurant
  • Swimming Pool
  • WiFi Available

Room Features

  • Bath and/or Shower

Travel Options

All our coaches and transfer vehicles operate a 'no smoking on board policy'. The use of electronic cigarettes is strictly forbidden.
In the interest of fellow guests, do not take hot food or ice cream on board.
alcohol can only be taken on board our vehicles at the discretion of your driver.

When it comes to getting to the Battlefields, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you choose from.

Silver Service Coach

Silver Service, refreshments
Silver Service, lounge
Silver Service, entertainment

Silver Service Features

  • Sit back and relax in specially-designed, deluxe reclining seats, with leather headrests, footrests and more legroom than standard coaches.
  • Enjoy the perfect temperature onboard with climate control.
  • Relax and have a chat in the spacious rear lounge.
  • Servery on board offering a range of refreshments.
  • Porterage* at most hotels, so you really don’t have to lift a finger.
  • Time flies with our onboard entertainment system.
  • With free personal headphones you can tune into the music channel, listen to the radio or watch DVDs.
  • Onboard toilet

Silver Service Seating Plan

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Luxuria Coach

Luxuria - Charging sockets
Luxuria - TV
Luxruia - Seating

Luxuria Features

  • Deluxe armchair-style seats with leather exterior, central arm rests with cup holders and retractable calf rests give you a more comfortable journey.
  • Every seat has its own, fully interactive, touch screen T.V. offering a wide choice of entertainment so you can control what you want to watch and when.
  • There’s also a selection of double and single seats, including four seats face-to-face with tables. And with a total of 7 single seats available, these are ideal for passengers travelling independently.
  • Plug sockets and USB points at each seat mean you can keep your devices fully charged throughout your journey.
  • Onboard toilet.

Luxuria Seating Plan

Luxuria Seating Plan

Travel Extras

With an overnight stay, a Door-to-Door pick up or the option to meet us at the interchange, our travel extras allow you to create a travel experience to suit your needs...

Join coach at Interchange

Join your tour coach at the interchange.

On most tours if you’d prefer to join your tour coach at Stop 24 services, you can park your car in the car park which is accredited by the Park Mark safer parking scheme and is monitored 24 hours a day by CCTV. Payment for the parking is made on arrival using the self-service machines.

Excludes tours to Ireland and the U.K. and tours travelling via Brittany Ferries.

Door-to-Door service

On Battlefield tours of 7 days’ duration or more, you don’t even have to think about getting to your local joining point. Our Door-to-Door Service collects you from your home and takes you to meet your transfer vehicile, then brings you back at the end of the holiday. Door-to-Door Service is available within a 20-mile radius of one of our free joining points and is from £90 per car, return (up to 4 passengers per vehicle).

If you live a little further afield, you can also take advantage of this convenient option for an additional charge – please enquire at the time of booking.

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