Somme
Our tour will take you through the Somme battlefield to all the
major sites and many minor ones. Together we will explore the
opposing trenches that still silently face each other across the
shell-pocked expanse of No Man's Land, memorials, cemeteries and
silent, atmospheric, poppy splattered fields.
You will be able to pay your respects at the world's largest
Commonwealth War Memorial (an awesome structure that
commemorates the tens of thousands who are still missing). You
will see the Ulster Tower, Pozieres, and much more, including
sites such as Newfoundland Park and Delville Wood where the men
of the Commonwealth built such an enduring reputation.
The final stop on our tour is by far the most dramatic. It is to
the truly massive mine crater, the largest on the Western Front,
that was the result of 27 tonnes of explosive detonated deep
beneath the German line! Today it sits like a massive eye
staring coldly up into the clear blue sky. An eternal symbol of
the incredible destructive power of the First World War.
Note - Our tour always visits Anzac and Canadian sites. Regular
visits to Fromelles and Aubers Ridge are available.
Special Canada Day and Anzac Day excursions are regular features
of Salient Tours.
As at Ypres, Salient Tours were the first company in modern
times to offer daily minibus tours around the battlefields.
Since it's inception in 1994, our Somme tour has taken literally
tens of thousands of visitors from all around the world to the
various sites, both to the obvious ones and to the quiet, lesser
known spots that we have discovered in many years of living on
and exploring the battlefields. We know the battlefields like no one else and our guides not only live there and have English as a first language, but they are chosen from hundreds of applicants. Dealing with a subject as important as the Great War demands great sensitivity and our reputation has been built on the respect and dedication shown by these guides . We have been featured on TV and radio, the Wall St Journal, the Sunday Telegraph and the New York Times, but it is the comments in our visitors' books of which we are most proud.
We are fully registered, licensed and insured in France and Belgium for transporting the paying public.