The Somme Offensive


5 days from £729pp

About the tour: The Somme Offensive


Tour Introduction

This fascinating tour based in the heart of the Somme battlefields, staying at Albert, takes an in-depth look at both familiar and lesser-known battlefield locations, covering aspects of 'the forgotten Somme'. We also get special access to the trenches in Thiepval Wood and have an included evening meal at Le Tommy in Pozières.

Tour Includes


  • 3 or 4 nights hotel with continental breakfast
  • 1 lunch at Ulster Tower
  • 1 dinner at Le Tommy
  • 2 evening meals (5-day tour only)
  • 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, then to our hotel at Albert in northern France for a four-night stay.

Day 2 - Battle of the Woods

We begin on the southern edge of the Somme battlefields looking at the role of the ‘Poilus’ – the French Army on the Somme. We see where the British and French units met up and look at the memorial which commemorates this.

Next, we cover the Pals battalions from Liverpool and Manchester who captured the village of Montauban, seeing their memorial.

We then learn about the ‘Horseshoe of Woods’ on the Somme, looking at the fighting for Bernafay and Trônes Wood, and the battle for the ground around Guillemont, seeing the memorial to the Irish troops who fought here.

Next, we travel to a unique part of the Somme battlefields at Rancourt where a British, a French and German cemetery from 1916 are all found in the same area – evidence of the losses of all these nations on the Somme.

Lunchtime is spent in Peronne, and in the afternoon we look at the role of South African troops at Delville Wood, visit the New Zealand Memorial near Flers, and travel via Bazentin to Mametz Wood, to learn more about the role of Welsh troops there in the battle of July 1916, seeing their Red Dragon memorial.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Mametz Wood

Mametz Wood (6)

Key Visits

  • Delville Wood
  • Mametz Wood
  • Maricourt French Memorial
  • Guillemont Road Cemetery
  • New Zealand Memorial

Day 3 - Louvencourt - Trenches at Thiepval Wood

We go behind the lines on the Somme this morning to Louvencourt, to look at one of the classic stories of the First World War – the love story between Vera Brittain and Roland Leighton, immortalised in her book ‘Testament of Youth’, and ending with his tragic death.

We visit his grave at Louvencourt Cemetery, and then travel back to the front-line area, spending the rest of the morning exploring the battlefield around the famous Sunken Lane and Hawthorn Mine Crater at Beaumont-Hamel. Here, we see the battlefield, walk up to the crater, and visit the battlefield cemeteries.

We include lunch at the Ulster Tower and look at the Ulstermen’s attack here on 1st July 1916, before our included special guided visit into Thiepval Wood to see the preserved trenches and positions, as well as the battlefield cemeteries. We end at the Thiepval Memorial to look at the story of the Missing of the Somme.

This evening, we have an included evening meal at Le Tommy Bar at Pozières, where we also have time to examine the unique collection of military artefacts here as well as a recreated WW1 Trench System.

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Thiepval Wood Trenches

Thiepval Wood Trenches (7)

Key Visits

  • Thiepval Memorial
  • Sunken Lane, Beaumont-Hamel
  • Hawthorn Mine
  • Louvencourt Cemetery
  • Thiepval Wood Trenches
  • Mill Road Cemetery, Thiepval

Day 4 - The Commonwealth on the Somme

We cross the River Somme this morning and travel to some of the 1918 battlefields to visit the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery and Australian Memorial. Here we see the burial grounds from some of the final battles on the Somme, and on the walls of the memorial, Australia’s missing from the 1916 battles. We also have an included visit to the Sir John Monash Centre which examines Australia’s role on the Western Front, before having our lunch period at Corbie.

In the afternoon, we return to the main 1916 battlefield and follow the story of the Australians at Pozières and Canadians at Courcelette, including a visit to Regina Trench Cemetery.

We end at the Butte de Warlencourt, now a memorial site, where the Battle of the Somme came to a conclusion in a snowstorm in November 1916.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Villers-Bretonneux

Villers-Bretonneux (6)

Key Visits

  • Courcelette Battlefield
  • Villers-Bretonneux
  • Pozières Windmill Site
  • Butte de Warlencourt
  • Adelaide Cemetery
  • Regina Trench Cemetery

Day 5

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 three or four nights at the 3-star Ibis Albert. The hotel is located in the heart of the Picardy countryside. Hotel facilities include a café and restaurant with comfortable bedrooms.

Ibis Albert

Ibis Albert

About the hotel

The Ibis Albert hotel in France offers a relaxed stay, conveniently located just 2km from both the Albert train station and the Le Musée des Abris-Somme 1916. Guests can enjoy their comfortable rooms, featuring free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, and en-suite bathrooms.

Hotel Features

  • English Speaking Staff
  • Guest Lounge
  • Lift
  • Restaurant
  • WiFi Available

Room Features

  • Bath and/or Shower
  • Hairdryer
  • TV

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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Travel Extras

With an overnight stay 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.

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