Top Arras Historical & Heritage Tours

Discover the trenches and terrible story of World War I’s Battle of the Somme on a full-day battlefield trip from Arras with an expert guide. Traveling to key battle sites and memorials by minivan, learn about the planning, execution and human cost of the infamous 1916 Western Front campaign. Visit must-sees including Pozieres Ridge and the Beaumont Hamel trenches; pay homage at Thiepval and other memorials; hear soldiers’ individual stories; and explore the grim events further at the Thiepval visitor center. Numbers are limited to eight for a small-group experience, and lunch, entry fees, and round-trip transport from Arras train station are included.

Explore the battlefields of France on this 9-hour Canadian World War I Somme battlefield tour from Arras or Lille. Travel into the WWI battlefields of the Somme with your guide. Explore the tunnels from which Canadian troops attacked German lines in the Battle of Vimy. Walk through Canadian and German trenches as your guide details the struggles the soldiers faced. Visit the Canadian war cemetery at Neuville-Saint-Vaast and admire the Courcelette Memorial to fallen Canadian soldiers. Visit the Thiepval Memorial after lunch, then finish at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial Park.

Visit key World War I battle sites on this 12-hour Fromelles and Ypres day tour from Arras. Travel by minivan through the killing fields of Fromelles as a guide shares the fallen soldiers’ stories. Discover WWI command posts, bunkers and tunnels, and learn of the war’s legacy at the Fromelles Museum. Pay your respects at the Cobbers Memorial, Tyne Cot and the V.C. Corner Memorial, then head through Flanders Fields to Ploegsteert Wood for lunch. Afterward, attend the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres.

Delve into World War I history on this 9-hour Australian and New Zealand Somme Battlefield tour from Lille or Arras. See Le Hamel Australian Memorial, the Jean and Denise Letaille Museum and Thiepval Memorial, the largest WWI memorial bearing the names of more than 73,000 soldiers. Lunch, entrance fees and round-trip transportation from your hotel are included.

If you want to honor the sacrifices of Australian and New Zealand forces in Europe during World War I, the 25 April ANZAC Day dawn service at the Villers-Bretonneux Australian Memorial is a must. This full-day tour from Arras and Amiens takes you to the service before crossing the Somme battlefields to attend the afternoon service at the Bullecourt Australian Memorial Park. Air-conditioned coach transport with live onboard commentary, picnic brunch, and entrance tickets included.

Commemorate the New Zealand Corps that fought in Flanders during WWI on this full-day tour from Arras. Follow the path of the ANZAC troops as you walk the battlefields, peer into mine craters and visit key WWI sites like Polygon Wood, Passendale and Tyne Cot Cemetery. Visit the poignant Messines Ridge memorial; tour the Nine Elms Cemetery, where former All Blacks Captain David Gallaher is buried; and attend the moving Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres. This small-group tour is limited to 8 people for a personalised experience.

Learn of Northern France’s World War history on this full-day Northern France World War II tour from Arras or Lille. Travel along the Opale Coast and see part of the famous Atlantic Wall. Visit either the Todt Batterie bunkers or Ambleteuse Museum with your guide. After lunch, head on to Eperlecques and discover one of the Nazis’ largest WWI bunkers — once a V2 bomb launching base. Stand before the Esquelbecq Memorial, where British soldiers fell during Operation Dynamo. Discover a V1 launching site at Morbecque, then return to your accommodation.

Designed specifically for visitors from New Zealand, this World War I tour from Arras to the Somme takes you to sites from the Western Front related to New Zealander soldiers. You'll see trenches, memorials, and battlefields, and end back in Arras to see the underground tunnels created by the New Zealand tunnelers during the war. You might also be able to visit a cemetery; contact the guide in advance to find out more.