How do we do this?
Our itineraries are designed to put the battles in the context of the wider conflict. The individual places we stop at, and the order in which we stop at them, are selected for their importance in the key phases of the battle or campaign. At each site you will be told in a clear and concise way why the particular site is important and what happened there.
We also attach great importance to our guides. An excellent guide is, in our opinion, the key to the guest's enjoyment of the tour experience. The ‘In the Footsteps’ guides who will lead you through the stories of each battle are all professionals. Each is selected for the depth of their knowledge, their enthusiasm and their ability to tell the story in an entertaining and engaging way. Most are members of the prestigious Guild of Battlefield Guides.
When selecting hotels, we choose them not only for their convenience for the sites but also for their ambience – some are actually on the battlefields. We also organise meals for the group in places selected for their relevance to the tour. It is extremely evocative to take dinner looking out over the Cloth Hall in Ypres or have lunch in the cellars where the ‘Wipers Times’ was printed!
And finally, we learn! Every tour is different and even though we may be visiting the same places each time we never assume we know it all. We encourage guests to contribute their own family stories if they would like to and we can visit particular family graves close to the tour routes and organise individual acts of remembrance.
When we get back, there’s always that next piece of research we need to do to answer that question from a guest that stumped us at the time!
The itineraries here are only a guide and can be altered to suit what you want to achieve and your budget. We are flexible on dates and the type of accommodation used subject to availability.
