European Battlefield Tour
June 3rd - 13th, 2009
65th Anniversary Tour
Join us on one of the most comprehensive European Battlefield tours available. We will be touring the main battlefields of Europe of the First & Second World Wars. We will also be visiting the newly dedicated memorial at Vimy Ridge, Somme, Beaumont Hamel, Passchendaele (Crest Farm) as well as the battlefields of the Second World War in Normandy, Dieppe and Holland. Special events include the official Veterans Affairs Canada dedication ceremonies at Juno Beach, Normandy, commemorating the 65th Anniversary of D-Day.
Day One - June 3rd: Meet your tour manager at Toronto’s Lester B Pearson International airport for your flight to Paris. Dinner and breakfast will be served onboard.
Day Two - June 4th: Upon arrival you will be met by your coach and begin your journey to Normandy. You will visit Pegasus Bridge where the 6th British Airborne landed, captured and liberated the first house in Europe, Café Gondre. You will then make your way to your hotel for some rest and relaxation before your "welcome dinner" and the opportunity to get to know your travelling companions. Overnight - Bayeux(D)
Day Three - June 5th: You will begin your day with a visit to the Battle of Normandy Museum in Bayeux. This museum, which was recently re-opened, is presenting entirely new displays that offer the visitor a better understanding of the decisive actions taken in the liberation of Western Europe. Your next stop will be Verrieres Ridge to view the area where the Black Watch suffered severe casualties during "Operation Spring". You will then travel to the Juno Beach Center, dedicated to the 3rd Division landings as well as Canada’s full involvement during World War II. Before heading back for dinner, you will visit the Canadian Military Cemetery - Beny-sur-Mer. Overnight - Normandy (B,D)
Day Four - June 6th: Todays schedule may change as we find out more about the timing of the Dedication Ceremonies at Juno Beach, however our goal is to attend the ceremonies as well as a visit to Point du Hoc in the late afternoon where you can still view the cratered landscape and the German battery taken by the US Rangers. You will continue to Omaha Beach to the American Military Cemetery to get an overview of the appalling challenge of landing on Bloody Omaha. Overnight - Normandy (B,D)
Day Five - June 7th: This morning you travel through the Normandy countryside to Dieppe. You will visit the Dieppe Canadian Cemetery, Green Beach at Pourville and the main landing beaches of Red and White on the Dieppe seafront. You will explore Blue Beach in Puys to view the gun emplacements on the cliff tops, which were responsible for the terrible Canadian casualties. After leaving Dieppe, you will travel to Amiens for check-in at your hotel and dinner. Overnight - Normandy (B,D)
Day Six - June 8th: After breakfast, you will tour onto Albert and visit the Musee de Arbris to give you a perspective on the Somme. You will then tour the Somme Battlefield and visit the Memorial to the Missing at Thiepval as well as one of the only surviving intact First World War battlefields at Beaumont Hamel. The park, maintained by Canada, remains as it was during the Battle of the Somme, now dedicated to the Newfoundland Regiment who lost so many men on the first day of the Somme. Overnight - Arras (B,D)
Day Seven - June 9th: Today you will be able to tour Vimy Ridge. It was on Hill 145, April 1917, that Canada truly became a nation in the eyes of the world. It's troops combined and stormed Vimy Ridge after other allied forces had failed to do so for the previous two years. You will tour the tunnel, trenches and memorial. You will then tour the short distance to Ieper (Ypres) for the Ypres Salient Battlefield and a visit to John McCrae's Essex Farm, the place where John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields" before dinner and your overnight accommodations. Overnight - Ypres (B,D)
Day Eight - June 10th: This morning you start with a visit to the Passchendale museum at Tyne Cot. This afternoon, a visit to "In Flanders Fields" museum. This evening after dinner, you will be able to attend the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony at 8PM, led by the Ieper Fire Department. Overnight - Ieper (B,D)
Day Nine - June 11th: After breakfast you will begin your tour to Nijmegen for the opportunity to visit the Canadian Military Musuem at Groesbeek as well as the Hartenstein Hotel, then the command centre for Operation Market Garden, now the Museum to the Airborne. Overnight - Nijmegen (B,D)
Day Ten - June 12th: Your first stop today will be Arnhem, where the Airborne Division received heavy casualties during Operation Market Garden, known as the "Bridge to Far", and also the area where the Canadian Second division liberated in 1944/45. This afternoon you will explore Appledoorn, as well as Holten Canadian Military Cemetery. Tonight - your "farewell" dinner will be at a local restaurant. Overnight - Nijmegen (B,D)
Day Eleven - June 13th: This morning after breakfast, you will transfer to Amsterdam airport for your flight back to Canada. (B) Dinner served onboard.
$3685 CAD per person based on double occupancy
$ 580 CAD single supplement
$2885 CAD LAND ONLY per person based on double occupancy
INCLUSIONS:
- Round trip air transportation from Toronto
- First Class Tourist hotels
- Breakfast & Dinner Daily
- All entrances as per your itinerary
- Experienced tour manager
- Porterage at hotels
- Luxury motor coach transportation
EXCLUSIONS:
- Air transportation taxes
- Gratuities to tour manager / driver
- Travel Insurance
- Drinks with meals
CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL SOURCE / CONNECTION TOURS
101 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 305, Toronto, ON M3B 1Z3
Tel: 416-449-0931 Toll Free: 1-800-265-2817 Fax: 416-449-9965
email: kkettle@carlsonwagonlit.ca
www.connectiongrouptours.ca