Canadian Battlefield Tour

On arrival meet with your professional tour guide for the journey in to central Paris and experience an introductory tour of some famous landmarks of this captivating city with bustling street life, cosmopolitan cafes and some of the most spectacular buildings and monuments in Europe. Check in to the hotel before enjoying a welcome dinner at a local Paris restaurant. Overnight stay in Paris.

Today enjoy enjoy a visit to The Louvre, the most famous and prized museum in France, relax on a leisurely cruise on the River Seine and with enough prior notice ascend by lift to the summit of the ever popular Eiffel Tower. Overnight stay in Paris.

Leave Paris this morning and journey to Giverny. Visit the home and of course the gardens associated with Claude Monet. Experience the Japanese bridges and the lakes and ponds associated with the water lilies and the site of some of the most romantic paintings ever created. Continue to the city of Rouen and its amazing cathedral with the tomb of Richard the Lionheart and association with Joan of Arc. Overnight stay in Rouen.

After breakfast it is a short journey to the beaches of Normandy. Juno Beach and The Juno Beach Centre will be visited as will the fascinating exhibition at Arromanches 360, located on a cliff above a beach with a remaining Mulberry Harbour. We will pay our respects at the major Canadian Military Cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer. Overnight stay in Caen.

This morning visit the Caen-Normandy Memorial Centre for History and Peace. Nearby is the Canadian Memorial Garden which will be visited, this site is permanently staffed by members of the Canadian Battlefield Foundation. A short journey takes us to the area around Dieppe where the key locations of this action will be visited. Overnight stay in Dieppe.

Heading inland the tour goes back further in time to World War 1. The actions and sites on around The Somme will be visited as will the small town of Albert where the Somme Trench Museum will be visited and nearby Beaumont-Hammel, forever associated with Canada and Newfoundland in particular of course. Overnight stay in Arras.

Spend this morning in nearby Vimy Ridge to learn more of these events and experience the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, an official Canadian National Park. A guided tour of the tunnels and trenches will be made usually lead by Canadian students who are permanently based at the site. In the afternoon travel the short distance to Belgium and the small town of Ypres/Ieper. Those who wish can experience the Last Post which is still sounded every day in the town. Overnight stay in Ypres.

After breakfast visit the wonderful In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres Old Cloth Hall. Very sensitively set up this museum is highly recommended. Find out more about Lieutenant Colonel John Macrae the Canadian author of the poem In Flanders Fields and visit the Canadian Battlefield Memorial of Crest Farm in Passchendaele. Staying in modern day Belgium we return to the battles of World War 2 to arrive in Antwerp to learn more of the significant Canadian involvement in the Battle of the Scheldt. Overnight stay in Antwerp.

Canada had a massive involvement in the end of World War 2 and more especially in the Liberation of the Netherlands. Today we retrace the Canadian Army route and visit Nijmegen, Arnheim and Apeldoorn. The Canadian cemetery at Groesbeek will be visited as will the National Monument to the Canadian Liberators and The Holten Canadian War Cemetery. Overnight stay in Apeldoorn.

This morning drive direct to Amsterdam for a panoramic sightseeing tour of the city and of course a canal boat cruise. The afternoon is free for personal exploration, visits can be made to The Van Gogh Museum or the amazing collections of The Rijksmuseum. Overnight stay in Amsterdam.

An executive motor coach is provided for the transfer to Amsterdam Airport.