Last Battles in Italy
About the tour: Last Battles in Italy
Tour Introduction
Travel with us on a journey to some of the forgotten battlefields of 1944-45 in northern Italy as we reach the 75th anniversary year of the final battles of the Italian Campaign. On this fascinating tour, we look at the fighting on the Coriano Ridge, along the Gothic Line, to the final battles around Bologna and up to the River Po.
Tour Includes
- 8 nights hotel with continental breakfast and 5 evening meals
- Specialist Battlefield Guide
- Convenient local joining points
- Travel by Silver Service coach
We offer flexible payment options
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 -
- 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.
- Send payments via online banking.
- Send payments via cheque.
- 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.
Tour Itinerary
For customers living outside of the UK, if you want to make a booking you will need to provide a UK postcode on our online booking system. If you are not able to provide a relevant UK postcode then you can enter the postcode for London Victoria Coach Station – SW1W 9TP. You should then be able to proceed to complete your booking.
If you do encounter a problem then you can speak to one of our friendly advisors who will be happy to help.
Please Note : After completing your booking, a member of our Customer Service team will be in touch to make sure everything is okay.
Either e-mail our Reservations Department or call on 01709 830 333 and they will check to see whether you can visit a particular cemetery on any of our Battlefield Tours, if we are not able to fit it into our itinerary then you could take some time out of the tour and do this independently by taxi or public transport.
Day 1
Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to northern France for an overnight stay.
Day 2
To northern Italy for an overnight stay.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 3 - Ravenna War Cemetery
We head to Ravenna for a four-night stay. Today we visit Ravenna War Cemetery and look at the battles that took place for the town, along with seeing the memorial to the Jewish Brigade.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Ravenna War Cemetery (2)
Key Visits
- Ravenna War Cemetery
Day 4 - Gothic Line
Today we look at the beginning of the end of WW2 in Italy, with the fighting on the Gothic Line in 1944. We visit the Gothic Line Museum, see Coriano Ridge War Cemetery and then examine the battle for the ridge.
We have lunchtime in Rimini and visit Rimini Gurkha War Cemetery, before following the British advance in the autumn of 1944, visiting Cesena War Cemetery and the small battlefield burial ground at Meldola War Cemetery. This is where the 4th and 46th Divisions were fighting in October-November 1944.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Coriano Ridge War Cemetery (2)
Key Visits
- Coriano Ridge War Cemetery
- Gothic Line Museum
- Rimini Gurkha War Cemetery
- Cesena War Cemetery
- Meldola War Cemetery
Day 5 - Forli and Faenza
We continue the story of the final battles in Italy by starting at Forli. Here we look at the role of Indian Army troops, visiting the Indian War Cemetery and Cremation Memorial.
We spend the rest of the day following the British advance in 1944/45 from Forli to Faenza to Imola and Bologna, including the fighting on the Senio River.
We also visit the Polish War Cemetery at Bologna, the largest in Italy, where the dead from the 1945 battles are buried, before spending time at the Bologna War Museum, the ‘Memorial Museum of Liberty’.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Forli War Cemetery (3)
Key Visits
- Forli War Cemetery
- Polish War Cemetery, Bologna
- Bologna War Museum
- Faenza War Cemetery
Day 6 - Argenta Gap and the River Po
The fighting continued into the spring of 1945 and we follow British and Commonwealth operations from Villanova Canadian War Cemetery to Argenta Gap, seeing the cemetery here.
In the afternoon we look at the amphibious operations at Lake Comacchio, and finish our battlefield tour on the River Po, where the last battle took place in April 1945.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
River Po Battlefield (2)
Key Visits
- Villanova Canadian War Cemetery
- Argenta Gap War Cemetery
- River Po Battlefield
Day 7
Today we leave Italy and return to eastern France via Switzerland, staying overnight near Colmar.
Included meals: Breakfast
Day 8 - Tank battle at Arracourt
Today we look at the fighting in the Lorraine, visiting the battlefield at Arracourt which saw one of the largest tank battles of 1944, and the Lorraine American Cemetery, which is the largest US War Cemetery in France.
We end the day in Reims for a visit to the Surrender Museum, where Allied Forces effected the German surrender in the West on 7th May 1945.
Then to northern France for an overnight stay.
Included meals: Breakfast
Sherman Tank, Arracourt Battlefield (4)
Key Visits
- Lorraine American Cemetery
- Sherman Tank, Arracourt Battlefield
- Surrender Museum, Reims
Day 9
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.
Hotel
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
All hotel rooms benefit from private bathroom facilities.
Some hotels have tea and coffee making facilities. Please check the tour pages for more information or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333
Most hotels have a lift, please call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 for more information.
Some hotels have ground floor rooms. Please email for information on individual hotels or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333.
Your hotels will supply towels in your room.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
You will stay for four nights in the Ravenna area at the 3-star Hotel Oceano Mare.
Overnight stays in France and northern Italy will be in city-style hotels.
Travel Options
Departure times given for each region are approximate. Please check your travel documents to confirm the actual timings.
Front row seats can be reserved for £14pp (up to 6 days duration), £22pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £25pp (9 days duration and over) on all European tours. In addition to this seats on the second row can be reserved for £7pp (up to 6 days duration), £14pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £15pp (9 days duration and over). This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on the front row and is subject to availability. Guaranteed front/second row seats cannot be reserved on feeder journeys to/from the U.K. port. Children under 15 years cannot occupy a front row seat due to French Law. Central view seats are free.
Please note: On some coaches the legroom on front seats may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled for any reason and front/second row seats are not available on your new tour you will be refunded the supplement. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
We guarantee that all passengers on the same booking will be seated together on the main tour coach. Seats on the transfer coaches to and from the U.K. port are not allocated.
Hot and cold drinks are served on the main tour coaches. Prices are approximately £1 or 1.25 Euro per drink. Prices will be confirmed by the driver. Drinks may also be served on the transfer coaches but this is not guaranteed.
Transfer vehicles are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure and will depend on where passengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 two weeks before you are due to travel.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
All main tour coaches have on-board toilets. Transfer vehicles to and from the U.K. port may not have on-board toilets. When non-British coaches are used on transfers and tours (air holidays only) an on-board toilet may not be available. However, comfort stops will be made during long journeys.
All coaches feature air-conditioning. Should the air-conditioning system break down for a period exceeding 12 hours, compensation will be awarded up to a maximum of £10 per fare-paying passenger per tour.
Depending on the location of your pickup point, you may be picked up by coach (not necessarily the on you are touring on), minibus, taxi, National Express or Megabus service. You may then be taken to another centralised pickup location or service station. We operate a passenger interchange at Stop 24 Services, where you will meet the tour coach you are holidaying on and then continue on with your outbound journey. Similarly, on the way home, you may also change transfer vehicles at another location, to take you to your final drop off point.
One medium sized suitcase per person, which should weigh no more than 20kg when full. We may refuse to carry larger or heavier cases. Hand luggage can be stored in the overhead racks aboard the coach.
It could be either - This will be confirmed in your travel documents.
When it comes to getting to the Battlefields, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you choose from.
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
+ Find out moreJoin 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
+ Find out moreOn 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.
