Somme and Ypres Battlefield Tours Avis 34

We were inspired by the 4 nights and 3 full days in YPRES and the SOMME. Our admiration and amazement for the content and detail which arrived in the booklets well before our tour enhanced our enjoyment enormously. They really allowed one to imagine how it was back then in the WW1 battlefields and how marvellously so many are remembered in the cemeteries.

James's experience in organizing the tours is evident when you receive the information pack and guides. On arrival we followed them to the letter and this helped to enhance what turned out to be a profoundly moving experience. I would have no hesitation in recommending him. Thank you James.

We recently sought out my husbands grandfathers WW1 grave and also his brothers WW1 and WW2 graves. The information pack that James provided was absolutely superb, we saw much more than we had originally set out to see. Seeing our family graves was very poignant but also driving around you cannot fail to be over awed by the amount of war graves there are. Driving in France was such a pleasure and the maps and assorted information guides made finding things very easy.The Menin Gate last post ceremony was deeply moving and we were lucky to have stayed in the Ariane Hotel in Ypres/Ieper which James booked for us it was so convenient and a truly welcoming place to return after a busy day out and about. I would definitely recommend booking the self drive Somme tour James listened to what we wanted and booked our hotels, ferries etc we just had to sit back and enjoy the drive and marvel at the awesome memorials as you remember our fallen soldiers.

I purchased the self drive tour from James Power for my husbands 60th birthday present. To say he loved it would be an understatement.
James helped me with everything I needed from the very beginning. He is extremely patient and kind and answered every question I had. James then spent time informing my husband about everything on receipt of his gift.
The tour itself was superb, down to the very last detail.
I cannot thank James enough for helping me organise this gift for my husband and my husband could not have enjoyed it more.
If you love history, please visit and remember the soldiers that gave their lives for us. So many soldiers from many different countries that lost their lives in battle so we could enjoy ours.
Thank you James. It was a trip we will remember forever.

Superb organisation all round. You can tell that this is a real labour of love which is conveyed through the detailed, erudite notes that are provided to accompany each site/sight. The readiness to accommodate our needs and requests has also been faultless. Excellent accommodation too. Whether this is your first or fiftieth visit to the battlefields of the First World War, battlefield-tours.com is definitely worth considering.

The depth of James's research and the quality of its presentation in the form of maps, navigational aids and detailed historical information is amazing. Clients are given almost turn-by-turn driving directions to a meticulously curated selection of sites in the area/s they choose and informed comments about minor points of interest along the way.
With this material in hand you can be confident that you will be able to get the absolute most from your time on the battlefields. We showed it to several American WW1 aficionados we met along the way who were astounded by the quality and content of James's material and said they would recommend this service to their friends when they got home. James deserves to have his product recognised wherever there is interest in visiting the WW1 sites and I wish him every success.
I recommend Battlefield Tours without any reservations, my only suggestion being that you do your homework so as to do justice to both James's material and the heartbreaking, inspirational sites he guides you through so expertly.

I've never written a review before but felt after the trip we had I just had to. To thank James and to also highly recommend battlefield-tours.com.
Just a quick message to let you know that my family and I had a great visit to Belgium last month on the Ypres Battlefield tour and to thank you for your organisation, it was superb.
Great tour. Perfect length, informative and easy to follow maps, instructions and directions. Visited places that we would not have discovered ourselves so that really added to our tour and history surrounding the battlefields. We followed the journey of our ancestor, Pte Wallace Hedge, who is remembered at Tyne Cot. With your maps and directions we followed his journey through Ypres and into the Salient, right up to Passchendaele where unfortunately he met his fate. We were at the Menin Gate the exact time & date his battalion – The 7th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, – marched through the city 107 years prior at 10pm on 6th August 1917, so this really added to the tour!
Ypres, loved the city, so central (and pivotal) to the whole of the Ypres Salient tour, great base to come back to each day.
The Albion was perfect, in a nice quite side road, 2 minute walk to the Menin Gate and main square. Excellent food, warm, friendly staff/owners who couldn’t do enough for you.
We couldn’t have achieved a fraction of what we did without your tour package, hotel and tunnel bookings. Thank you so much!

We requested a 2 day Ypres and 2 day Somme Battlefields Self drive Tour. James maps and Itinerary Route were easy to follow, detailed and very informative. We viewed many significant battlefield sites, cemetaries and places of note.and a few extra ones we passed, of which there are many. Arianne Hotel excellant. Good food, friendly professional staff, perfect for Ypres tour. Allow a day for Ypres, a charming City, which includes Menim Gate and Museum. Menin Gate was jammed with people, arrive 2 hours prior for front row view although lots of scaffolding currently. Still worth it, a moving ceremony. Highly recommend Hill 60 and Caterpillar Mine crater, and Tyne Cot Cemetary. Both astonishing. In the Somme, Avrils guest house and cafe with makeshift hospital in her cellars,Lochnagar mine crater and Thiepval memorial particular highlights for scale of events. So much to see. Sad. shocking, and sobering, an education. We dont normally do review sites but the quality of this tour demanded it. Highly recommended.
James even arranged perfect weather, such attention to detail!

The Making of an Extraordinary Trip - 7th -14th May 2024
With other WW1 battlefield (guided and self guided) tours available, we were initially unsure who or what we should go with, but exploring more closely, the detail on James' website persuaded us to go with Battlefield Tours, and it was outstandingly the right decision. His prompt and helpful e-mail and phone responses to our initial enquiries with positive suggestions to enhance the trip, gave us great confidence of his extraordinary and detailed knowledge of WW1. After spending 6 days touring the battle sites in Belgium and northern France, we cannot praise Battlefield Tours 'package' highly enough - immense detail but easy to follow and customise - superb little photo illustrations for the navigators assistance for example, helping ensure the driver gets the correct turns then on arrival at a location, added to the detailed maps and explanations for how the battles evolved, all brought the tragic events of the front line to reality. We noticed several guided minibus tours at different locations, but they always seemed in a hurry and the visitors didn't have the time to absorb the reality of what happened at each location. But with a self-guided tour we could linger or move on at our own pace and, when we wanted try to absorb the story of what transpired there under James' package guidance.
The package James provides is truly outstanding and beyond what we could have expected
for its detail but practical guidance - we have never encountered anything nearly as professional or subtle in it's understanding of the needs of the traveller in any other tour guide - indeed we went on to Normandy for a 7 day tour of D Day locations so had the perfect comparison immediately after. Incidentally, we encountered several folk who know James (e.g. hotel staff and cafe owners) and they were universally flattering about him. So, a really nice chap, providing a brilliant service - what more could you ask for?

I've just returned from a 6 day tour to Ypres and the Somme and have to give the experience 5 stars. From start to finish James has been extremely helpful and accommodating.

The guide book was comprehensive, easy to follow and so full of detail that my travelling companion - a Great War novice before the tour - is now planning further reading and a return to the Western Front.

The accommodation at The Albion in Ieper and La Basilique in Albert was excellent and the staff in both hotels could not have been more helpful and friendly.

The whole experience was amazing and I'd thoroughly recommend to anyone interested in the Great War to book a tour though James Power

My son and I recently went on a tour of the Somme and Ypres WW1 battlefields which was expertly arranged by James Power. We opted for a self drive tour to give us some flexibility and control, rather than the fixed itinerary of a coach trip. James takes all the hassle out of organising the trip by making the Eurotunnel and hotel bookings. His website contains a mine of information, even including videos of how to get to the Eurotunnel terminals and what happens when you get there. The Ibis hotel outside Albert is very convenient and the Ariane hotel in Ypres is excellent. We did not need a guide as the incredibly detailed guides and maps provided by James means you can do it all yourself, at your own pace. The service provided by James is first class and his attention to detail is superb. The detailed guides provided in a document wallet also serve as a useful memento and source of reference after the trip. Thank you, James.

To avoid the fixed itinerary and programme of a coach trip we opted for a self drive tour where we could stop where we liked and stay as long as we wanted to.
James’s maps directions and guides were easy to follow and very informative.
The Ariane hotel was a delight and everything was well organised with the knowledge that support was always available should we need it.
Highly recommended for a trip that was both memorable and moving

Our tour was excellent in every way. The Ariane Hotel was ideal and our day with Jacques was superb. He was so knowledgeable and engaging and we could not have had a better guide for the particular locations we visited with him. Our other two days enabled us to cover a large number of places in the Ypres area to make the tour a complete success. Our channel crossings and road journeys went well and the very detailed maps, guides and other information provided by James were invaluable. Genevra was also very helpful with the arrangements and her in-depth research produced a mine of further really important material relating to family members who died in the Great War.
A humbling and unforgettable experience for us. Highly recommended!
Robert Sprawson

What a memorable trip this turned into. Having discussed with my husband the possibility of visiting the WW1 battlefields we decided against a coach trip which would have meant rushing from one place to another which is not what we wanted. We thought of 'doing it alone' but then found this company organising a self-drive trip which left one able to spend as much time at any one place as one wished. What a joy this was and how well it worked. We spent 3 days dedicated to James's suggested route around the Ypres area and the detailed itinerary he supplied was brilliant. Using What-3-Words was a great advantage. The information pack was so explicit and left nothing to the imagination. A very powerful educational experience. James also suggested having a private guide for a day as I wanted to see the final resting place of my Great Uncle who was killed on the first day of the Battle of Loos. We took up this advice and he arranged contact with Jacques in Ypres who was a fountain of knowledge and provided me with extensive personal documents about the last journey my relative took. Extraordinary attention to detail and worth every penny. This company goes above and beyond to offer an exceptional service. The hotel Ariane in Ypres was extremely comfortable, friendly and ideally located for our trip. Well done, James!

My wife has been longing to visit the various cemeteries in Belgium and France to visit the graves of her relatives who lost their lives in the 1st World War for some time. We just never seemed to get round to it. We then found Somme and Ypres Battlefield Tours. We have just returned from a trip organised by James. The directions and advice he supplied were spot on and the tour went without a hitch. I even found some relatives of mine I didn't know I had ! We stayed at the Ariane Hotel in Ypres which is obviously a favourite of James's - and for good reason. Food, service, parking and staff were excellent and we couldn't fault them. Thank you James for making our trip memorable and informative. We did everything we wanted to do and more besides!

After several delay caused by the pandemic we finally travelled to Ypres and the Somme this Autumn using James' excellent guides and had a wonderful trip with my elderly parents. James was so kind and helped us delay the trip twice! The hotels were excellent (Hotel de la Baslisque in Albert and Hotel Ariane in Ypres) and ther guides were so detailed but so easy to use. James thought of everything and even guides you from the Eurostar terminal! Highly recdommend.

My great uncle lost his life on the Western Front on his birthday in 1916 and, after years of procrastination, this year I visited his grave on his birthday. James provided not only the detailed guides which others have referred to (and they are amazingly detailed and informative) but took the extra trouble to provide details of the, relatively obscure, cemetery and directions to it.
The Hotel Ariane in Ieper (Ypres) - recommended by James - is ideal both as a base for exploration of the city and the area. Parking is good, the situation is ideal, the restaurant excellent and the staff friendly and helpful.
James was accessible at the telephone to deal with questions throughout and the service provided was absolutely first class throughout.

My two grandsons and myself thoroughly enjoyed the trip organised by James for us to the Somme and Ypres. Transport arrangements and accommodation worked without a hitch and the detailed guides provided were an excellent base for understanding both the broader scope of the campaigns and the personal experiences of the trenches.

It was very reassuring to be able to rely on James' extensive knowledge and experience which were key ingredients in a very successful trip.

We travelled in July 2022 with my nearly 80 year old dad and teenage son, and myself doing predominantly the Somme trip and a shirt visit to Ypres. This was the most fabulous trip, organised so brilliantly. The directions were so accurate, to the hotels and memorial sites alike. It was just like an exciting treasure hunt everyday! So much fantastically well written information, we’ve all learnt so much! The majority of memorial sites were accessible to those with limited mobility. The hotels were brilliant - the Ibis in Albert, set up with fully disabled facilities, and the Ariane in Ypres. In both hotels, nothing was too much trouble, staff so friendly and helpful. Food was excellent, rooms were spacious and comfortable. We will definitely travel with you again, thanks so much James.

This is the third trip we have done with James and I cannot begin to express the emotion that is experienced. I don’t want to sound crass but it is the most wonderful trip, evocative, and meaningful! The details are organised down to the minutiae and everything works like clockwork! The hotel Ariane
is fabulous, one of the very nicest hotels I’ve stayed in anywhere. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff and after a good old weep, the garden is a soothing spot with a large g & t! The food is great and very reasonably priced for great quality. We travelled as a group of 6 and not one of us could find fault with anything! Well done again Mr Power, we shall travel again with you soon!