Canadian Battlefields in Europe
           April 26^th – May 6^th, 2008

Vimy, Somme , Beaumont Hamel, Normandy , Dieppe & Holland  
 

   Day One – April 26:   Departure on your International flight to Paris .  Dinner and breakfast
onboard.

Day Two – April 27:   Upon arrival, you will be met by your tour manager and driver and will begin your journey to Normandy . You will visit Pegasus Bridge where the 6^th 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 – April 28:  You will begin your day with a visit to the Battle of Normandy Museum in Bayeux . This museum, which was recently re-opened, are 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 3^rd 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 - Bayeux (B,D)   

Day Four – April 29: You will start your morning with a visit to Point du Hoc 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. After leaving Omaha , you will visit La Chaos, the German offshore battery still relatively intact after 60 years. In the afternoon you will visit the Disembarkation Museum and Mulberry Harbour in Arromanches before heading back to your hotel. Overnight - Bayeux . (B,D)

Day Five – April 30:   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 dinner and overnight . Overnight - Arras (B,D)     

                                                                  
Day Six - May 1:  After breakfast, you will tour to 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 - May 2:  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. You will tour the tunnels, 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, where he wrote “In Flanders Fields. You will visit Hill 62 and a small area of the original battlefield and part of the Canadian Front Line. This evening after dinner, you can attend the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony at 8PM , led by the Ieper Fire Department. Overnight - Ieper (B,D)

Day Eight – May 3:   This morning we visit “In Flanders Fields” museum - a unique exhibition in the Cloth Hall in Ieper . We then will visit the Canada Museum at Maldegem - Adagem, a war Museum dedicated to the Canadian Liberation 44/45 in the region, as well as a reception by school children at Adagem Canadian Cemetery . We will then tour through to Holland .  Overnight - Nijmegen (B,D)

Day Nine - May 4:  After breakfast you will begin your tour to Nijmegen to visit the Canadian Military Cemetery at Groesbeek as well as the Hartenstein Hotel, then the command centre for Operation Garden , now the Museum to the Airborne. Overnight - Nijmegen (B,D)

Day Ten - May 5: Your first stop today will be Arnhem , where the Airborne Division received heavy casualties during Operation Market Garden, known as the “Bridge too Far”, and also the area where the Canadian Second division liberated in 1944/45. This afternoon you will explore Apeldoorn on Liberation Day (local programme to be determined), as well as Holten Canadian Military Cemetery .  Tonight your “farewell dinner” will be at a local restaurant. Overnight - Nijmegen (B,D)

           Day Eleven - May 6:   This morning after breakfast you will transfer to Amsterdam airport for your    flight home. (B) Lunch and snacks served onboard.

$3675 CAD per person based on twin occupancy including air from Toronto
$2825 CAD per person based on twin occupancy land only
$ 495 CAD single supplement

Air add-ons available from major Canadian cities Vancouver - $257.00 Calgary - $325.00 Winnipeg - $327.00 Halifax - $130.00

 

Inclusions:

• Round trip air from Toronto
• First Class Hotels
• Entrances as per your itinerary
• Breakfast & Dinner Daily
• Experienced full time tour manager
• Luxury coach with maximum of 30 passengers

Exclusions:

·        Travel Insurance

·        Air Transportation taxes (approx. $280)

·        Items of a personal nature / drinks / lunches

·        Gratuities to driver / tour manager