Canadian War History - 1917 Return to the Western Front: London, Vimy & Paris

IX--VI2
Embark on a powerful 10-day journey through Canada’s wartime legacy in England, France, and Belgium. Walk in the footsteps of history as you visit London’s war museums, attend the 110th Anniversary Commemoration at Vimy Ridge, and explore key battle sites like Passchendaele and Beaumont Hamel. Pay tribute at the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate before heading to Paris to experience the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and historic city streets.
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Day 1 Overnight Flight to England (London)
Tour must depart April 5, 2027
Day 2 Hello London
Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Details: London city walk
Step outside your hotel for a stroll through the heart of the English-speaking world. In this city of nearly seven million, you'll see everything from 12th-century fortifications to modern skyscrapers, royal parks to street art. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the most famous sites. Walk along the Thames River. Cross Trafalgar Square. See bustling Piccadilly Circus. Pass trendy shops and cafés in Bohemian Soho on your way to Covent Garden, a 13th-century fruit and vegetable garden transformed into a maze of narrow streets and pedestrian walkways burgeoning with street performers, open-air markets and boutiques
Details: Trafalgar Square
See Trafalgar Square, often used for community gatherings and political demonstrations.
Details: National Gallery visit
Visit the National Gallery, which contains an unrivaled collection of Western art spanning seven centuries, from the late 13th to the early 20th. The largest portion of the collection is devoted to the Italians, including works by da Vinci, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and Botticelli; but the collection also features works by the Spanish giants El Greco, Goya and Velázquez. The Flemish-Dutch school is represented by Brueghel, Jan van Eyck, Vermeer, Rubens and Rembrandt; and there is also an immense French impressionist and post-impressionist collection that includes works by Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir and Cézanne.
Details: Piccadilly Circus
Visit Piccadilly Circus, a shopping and entertainment area brightly lit with video displays and neon signs.
Details: Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, which itself may be referred to as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centered on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Details: Leicester Square
Leicester Square is perfectly situated in the heart of London's West End, with Trafalgar Square to the south, Piccadilly Circus to the west, Covent Garden to the east, and China Town to the north.
Details: Classic fish & chips dinner
Nothing's more British than fish and chips-there are eight fish and chips shops ("chippies") for every McDonald's in the county. Head to an authentic pub with your Tour Director for a taste of this national food, generally served with malt vinegar.
Day 3 London landmarks
Details: London World War I guided sightseeing tour
During our 3 hour tour you will see the sites and monuments closely linked to the Great War of 1914-1918 and hear the story of the momentous events that led to a conflict that changed our world forever. The tour also focuses on the role of the Royal family, the government, the lives of civilians and parallel events such as the Suffragette movement. See the moving memorials to the Army, Navy and Merchant Navy, the Royal Flying Corps and even the Camel Corps. Hear how British Empire troops came over to Europe to fight alongside their British and European allies.
Details: Imperial War Museum visit
Explore this unique museum, dedicated to covering conflicts from World War I through the present. Tanks and aircraft, paintings, letters, films, and other exhibits trace the influence of modern war and its effects on our lives.
Details: HMS Belfast visit
Step aboard one of only three surviving bombardment ships from D-Day. The Royal Navy light cruiser ship, HMS Belfast is now a museum permanently moored on the River Thames with nine decks to explore. HMS Belfast was one of the first ships to open fire on D-Day and supported the landings of Canadian troops at Gold and Juno beaches in Normandy.
Day 4 London--Vimy
Eurostar chunnel crossing to Lille
Travel to Vimy area
St. Julien Canadian Memorial visit
Details: WorldStrides exclusive commemorative event
Join fellow WorldStrides travelers in an exclusive event to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the battles fought on the Western Front by Canadian soldiers during World War I.
Day 5 Vimy Ridge
Lunch included
Vimy Ridge Memorial visit
Details: Vimy Ridge Commemoration: 110th Anniversary Official Ceremony
Participate in the official ceremony at the Vimy Memorial, witnessing tributes and speeches honoring Canadian soldiers. Reflect on the historical significance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and its impact on World War I.
Details: Wreath laying ceremony
Lay a fresh flower wreath at a monument or ceremony of your choice that features on your itinerary. Cost of wreath is included and will be picked up by your Tour Director on tour.
Details: Wellington Quarry and museum visit
Travel twenty metres below the streets of Arras to the Wellington Quarry, where thousands of soldiers hid underground before a surprise attack on the German front lines on April 9, 1917. Learn about the Battle of Arras and the troops who built and lived in the tunnels below the town. Discover the military strategy behind the tunnels and how it helped win the First World War.
Day 6 Vimy region
Details: Memorial Museum of Passchendaele 1917 visit
Step into the new immersive experience ‘Passchendaele 1917’ and find yourself right in the middle of the landscape of 1917. By means of powerful visualizations, appropriate music and historical images projected several metres tall, the Battle of Passchendaele is presented chronologically. A total experience in which young and old are completely immersed in the story and landscape of 1917.
Details: In Flanders Fields Museum visit
In Flanders Fields Museum presents the story of the First World War from the invasion of Belgium, to 4 years of trench warfare and peace in the region since. Visit the Museum and honor over 600,000 who fell
Details: Attend Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate
At 8pm traffic is stopped while buglers from the Ypres Fire Brigade play the Last Post and Reveille. Since 1929, this nightly ceremony has commemorated the almost 55,000 British Commonwealth soldiers who died nearby that could not be identified or found. The only time this Ceremony has not taken place was during the Second World War. Note the Menin Gate will undergo renovations from April 2023 to March 2025. During that time, scaffolding will partially cover the memorial and the name panels will not be visible to visitors. However, the names on the monument will be made accessible by means of a digital search application in the CWGC Ypres Information Center in Ypres, only a few meters away from the monument. During that time, the Last Post Ceremony will continue to take place daily at 8PM.
Day 7 Vimy--Paris
Travel to Paris via Beaumont Hamel
Somme Trench Museum visit
Details: Beaumont Hamel guided tour
Newfoundland’s most significant single military action was on July 1, 1916 at Beaumont Hamel, at the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. The day proved the bloodiest in history for the British army, and caused the greatest military loss in history for Newfoundland. To honour the regiment’s bravery, King George V added “Royal” to the regiment’s name, making it the only regiment in the British Empire to receive such a designation.
Day 8 Paris Landmarks
Paris city walk
Île de la CitéNotre-Dame CathedralÎle St. LouisLatin Quarter
Montmartre tour director-led sightseeing
Sacré CoeurPlace du TertreMoulin Rouge
Details: Paris city walk
This city was made for walking. Stroll grand boulevards with sweeping views of the city, pristine parks with trees planted in perfect rows, and narrow streets crowded with vendors selling flowers, pastries and cheese. Then head to the Île de la Cité, a small island in the Seine, to see Notre Dame Cathedral. Please note Notre Dame Cathedral is currently closed due to fire damage.
Details: Notre-Dame Cathedral
View the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Work began in 1163 on a spot that had been a holy shrine since Roman times. Over the centuries, the cathedral has been the scene of some of France's most momentous occasions, including the coronation of Napoleon.
Details: Louvre Museum visit
The world's largest art museum, the Louvre is housed in a Medieval fortress-turned-castle so grand it's worth a tour itself. You walk through the 71-foot glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and added in 1989, and step into another world--one with carved ceilings, deep-set windows, and so many architectural details you could spend a week just admiring the rooms. The Mona Lisa is here, as well as the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (the headless statue, circa 200 BC, discovered at Samothrace). The Louvre has seven different departments of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and antiquities. Don't miss the Egyptian collection, complete with creepy sarcophagi, or the collection of Greek ceramics, one of the largest in the world. (Please note the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)
Details: Montmartre tour director-led sightseeing
If you’re coming to Paris, you absolutely need to take a walk in Montmartre! This area will wake the artist in you up. Its narrow alleys, windmills, little details, and soul are some of the things that make Montmartre so unique. As you walk in Montmartre, you will quickly understand how it has inspired so many artists such as Picasso and Van Gogh. As you walk up the hill make sure to take in all that surrounds you, because in Montmartre you are likely to find surprises around every corner!
Day 9 Paris landmarks
Paris guided sightseeing tour
Arc de TriompheChamps-ÉlyséesEiffel TowerLes InvalidesOpera House
Details: Paris guided sightseeing tour
What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence and the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded) and the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater).
Details: Les Invalides and Napoleon's Tomb visit
Explore this immense complex of museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as the burial site of some of France’s greatest war heroes, including the infamous Napoleon Bonaparte.
Details: Eiffel Tower ascent
Line up to climb to the top floor of this iconic landmark for a spectacular birds-eye view of the glittering City of Light.
Day 10 Flight home from Paris
IX-VI2
Tour Includes:
  • Round-trip airfare
  • Overnight stays in hotels with private bathrooms
  • Full European breakfast daily
  • Dinner daily
  • Full-time services of a professional tour director
  • Guided sightseeing tours and city walks as per itinerary
  • Visits to select attractions as per itinerary
  • Tour Diary™
  • Note: On arrival day only dinner is provided; on departure day, only breakfast is provided
  • Note: Tour cost does not include airline-imposed baggage fees, or fees for any required passport or visa. Optional excursions, optional pre-paid Tour Director and multi-day bus driver tipping, among other individual and group customizations will be listed as separate line items in the total trip cost, if included.

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