Tour Itinerary
Day 1
Picking up Ebbsfleet International Rail Terminal and Dover Eastern Docks, we travel across the France via Ferry to Calais. Upon arrival in France, we trace the coast down to the town of Montreuil-Sur-Mer, headquarters of Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig. At his equestrian memorial in the town, we set the scene for the Somme and discuss Command & Control in 1916. From here we head to Arras to check in to our hotel. 

Day 2:
Walk 1:
Maricourt to Montauban – Starting on the right flank of the BEF on 1st July 1916, we begin at the memorial marking the spot where our French Allies led their advance on the same day. From here we trace the line of advance of 30th Division towards Montauban itself. We pass through the village, stopping at the Liverpool and Manchester Pals Memorial, ending the walk at Quarry Cemetery slightly to the north of the village. 4.85km
 
Walk 2:
Lochnagar to Fricourt – Beginning at the iconic Lochnagar Crater, detonated at 7.28am on the 1st of July 1916, we study the story of the 34th Division before traversing the line of advance towards their neighbours in the 21st Division who attacked towards Fricourt. On route we visit the German Cemetery before continuing south across the German Front line held by the 28th Reserve Division on that day. We end our walk at Fricourt British Cemetery which contains 133 Burials from the fighting in July. 4.9km. 

Day 3:
Walk 3:
Orvillers to Thiepval. Continuing our tracing of the Front Line of 1st July 1916 we start at La Boisselle to study how the 19th (Western) Division finally captured the village, we then cross the Albert Bapaume Road to Orvillers and ass through the ground assaulted by the 8th Division on the 1st of July and the 12th (Eastern) Division a week later. After passing a seldom visit French Memorial we head towards Mouquet Farm, itself a day one objective, but a location that would hold out against all attack until late September. 
4.5km 

Walk 4:
Aveluy Wood to Thiepval. Beginning behind the lines in Aveluy Wood, the scene of vast camps and preparation areas throughout June, we cross the Ancre River to visit the beautiful Authuille Military Cemetery and follow Campbell Avenue to the British Front lines where the 32nd Division started their advance. We venture out into No Man’s Land, through the site of the Leipzig Redoubt and into Thiepval. We end this walk at the impressive Memorial to the Missing of the battle. 4km

Day 4:
Walk 5:
Touvent Farm, Serre to The Sunken Lane, Beaumont Hamel. This walk begins at Touvent Farm, the scene of bitter fighting when the French held this sector. It is also the same location that Roland Leighton, fiancée of Vera Brittain was killed in December 1915 when British Forces had taken over the line. From here we walk through Serre Memorial Park, looking at the story of the famous ‘Pals’ units and their involvement on the day. We cross no-man’s-land and ascend the Redan Ridge, visiting numerous secluded Battlefield Cemeteries before dropping down the infamous Sunken Lane to end our walk. 4.9km.

Walk 6: 
Foncquevillers to Hebuterne – This walk follows the northern flanking diversion attack launched by the 7th Corps in an attempt to encircle Gommecourt. From Foncquevillers Military Cemetery we follow the North Midlander’s’ advance on that day, further stopping at Gommecourt Wood Cemetery with its 284 burials gathered from the nearby battlefields. We will walk through the village and link up with the area fought over by the 56th London Division, a link which the forces failed to achieve on the 1st of July due to such high casualties. Our walk ends in Hebuterne Military Cemetery on the outskirts of the village. 5.3km


Day 5:
Our final day on the tour allows us time after leaving our hotel to explore the incredible pressure put on the Casualty Evacuation Chain because of the devastating losses on 1st July. We follow the evacuation route back to the coast, stopping at the imposing cemetery at Etaples before making our way back to Calais for our Return trip to the UK.