D-Day Netherlands and France

D-Day Netherlands and France
Learn how Canadian forces led the liberation of the Netherlands during World War II at the National Liberation Museum in Amsterdam, while exploring the hardships of its citizens during the German occupation of the country. In France, visit the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the fallen troops of Canada’s first regiment, and enjoy the culture of Paris while considering the historical impact of war upon the city.
Learn more
-
Day 1 Overnight flight to the Netherlands
Day 2 Hallo Amsterdam
Meet your tour director and check into hotel
Day 3 Amsterdam landmarks
Details: Amsterdam canal guided cruise
Canals and crocuses. Bicycles and bluebells. With more canals than Venice (and more flower merchants than perhaps any other city in the world), downtown Amsterdam is an explosion of color and light reflecting off the water. Take a canal boat ride and enjoy the best way to see the gabled houses and nearly 1200 bridges. Note that the cruise may be guided by a local guide or by pre-recorded audioguides.
Details: Anne Frank House visit
Take a tour of Anne Frank's house, where three different Jewish families hid for more than two years during World War II and where Anne’s famous diaries were discovered. See where she and her family lived before being betrayed to the Nazi’s and deported to concentration camps.
Details: Jewish Historical Museum visit
Situated in the heart of the former Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam, the Jewish Historical Museum stands as a symbol of times both troubling and triumphant. Housed in a grand 17th century synagogue complex, the museum documents the 400-year history of the Jewish people in the region. With a permanent collection that includes an 18th century Sephardic Torah Mantle and a carved wood Ark dating from 1791, visitors will be awed and inspired by the various photographs, artworks, interactive displays and other insights into the Jewish way of life.
Details: Traditional Dutch pannenkoeken dinner
Enjoy a traditional Dutch dinner of pannenkoeken, a large thin pancake similar to a crepe, that can be topped with anything from bacon to apples or raisins and finished with a drizzle of stroop, which is a dark thick syrup.
Day 4 Amsterdam--Flanders
Travel to Flanders via Arnhem
John Frost Bridge (photo stop)
Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery visit
Details: Freedom Museum visit
Formerly known as the National Liberation Museum.
Day 5 Flanders
Details: Passchendaele Canadian Memorial Park
In 1917, the Allies slogged through the swampy, rain-soaked, mud-drenched ground of Passchendaele toward heavily armed German troops, losing many lives and tanks in the process. Canadian troops were brought in at the end due to the difficult conditions -- their earlier victories had conferred an elite status -- and with their efforts the high ground was finally won. The battle was ultimately meaningless, however; the corridor opened by the action later proved unnecessary. Because of the horror of the Battle of Passchendaele, the name has come to symbolize the idea of war in its most brutal and senseless form.
Details: Talbot House Museum
In 1915, this large family home was opened as an “every man’s club,” a place for men of any rank to have some rest and relaxation during the Battle of Ypres. To the Senior Army Chaplain Neville Talbot’s protestations, this club was named after his brother Gilbert who was killed in action in July of 1915.
Details: St Julien Memorial
German soldiers fighting on the Western Front first used mustard gas during the Battle of Ypres, and the St Julien Memorial marks the spot where Canadian soldiers first confronted this new weapon of war.
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 6 Flanders--Normandy
Travel to Normandy via Somme and Dieppe
Dieppe tour director-led sightseeing
Details: Vimy Ridge excursion
Visit Vimy Ridge and the World War I trenches and tunnels. View the endless graves made famous in the poem 'In Flanders Fields'. The Canadian War Monument is the largest monument from World War I honouring the Canadian soliders who lost their lives.
Details: Vimy Ridge guided visit
Visit Vimy Ridge and the World War I trenches. View the endless graves made famous in the poem 'In Flanders Fields'. The Canadian War Monument is the largest monument from World War I honouring the Canadian soliders who lost their lives.
Details: Vimy Trenches visit
Learn the meaning of trench warfare at the reconstructed trench line at Vimy Ridge. Stand where Canadian troops fought in the spring of 1917, and see the view of how little land stood between them and their German enemies. See the frontlines of the Canadian Corps victory that helped shape Canada’s national identity.
Details: Vimy Tunnels visit
Visit the Grange Tunnel at Vimy Memorial Battlefield Park. Over six miles of tunnel were either newly built or created from existing caves and medieval mine works. Learn how these tunnels helped the Canadian Corps plan their military strategy and win the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Details: Dieppe Canadian landing beach visit
Felled by bad luck and bad timing, the Royal Regiment of Canada lost about 80% of its attacking force to enemy fire and capture on "Blue Beach," in Dieppe. Their mission had been to take out the cliff-top German artillery guarding the beach to allow other Canadian and British forces to land, but their boats were spotted and the men trapped. The military failure led to a push for vast improvements in military communication and tactics later in the war to prevent another such tragedy.
Day 7 Normandy
Details: Batterie de Merville
Before the amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy, Allied paratroopers landed behind enemy lines to take out the guns firing on the approaching troops. The Merville Battery was taken out by 150 brave British paratroopers, with protection from the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. Now, it stands a tribute to paratroops everywhere, and through the exhibit students can even experience the lights and sounds seen and heard on the early hours of June 6th 1944.
Details: Juno Beach Centre, park and bunker guided visit
The innovative Juno Beach Centre is one of the first museums dedicated solely to chronicling Canada's extensive role in World War II. The museum takes advantage of its setting near the D-Day Beaches to show visitors how the landings were accomplished, as well as detailing Canada's contributions to the entire war, both at home and abroad.
Details: Canadian Military Cemetery visit at Beny-sur-Mer
Pouring onto the beaches of Normandy, Canada's 3rd Division and 2nd Armoured Brigade represented the entire nation, with regiments from Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec. They secured the beachhead and held on against six days of counterattacks, when more troops were able to come ashore at the secured sight. The Beny-sur-mer Canadian War Cemetery contains more than 2,000 graves of the soldiers from the 3rd Division and the 15 airmen lost during these attacks.
Details: Normandy D-Day landing beaches
See the D-Day beaches where on June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied troops landed in an effort to recapture the coast from Germany. All along the beaches, deserted German bunkers have been turned into memorials and the stark white crosses and stars that mark the cemeteries are grim reminders of the war.
Day 8 Normandy--Paris
Paris city walk
Île de la CitéNotre-Dame CathedralÎle St. LouisLatin Quarter
Details: Arromanches D-Day Museum visit
Ingenious military engineering allowed the Allied forces to land at Arromanches on D-Day. Barges towed 600,000 tons of concrete across the English Channel, sinking them to create an artificial harbor, and then 33 jetties and 10 miles of floating roadways allowed the troops to land in France. Learn about this feat and other at the Arromanches Museum, where dioramas, interactive displays, and models detail the Allied landing.
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.
Day 9 Paris landmarks
Paris guided sightseeing tour
Arc de TriompheChamps-ÉlyséesEiffel TowerLes InvalidesOpera House
Optional  Versailles guided excursion (pre-book only)  $100
State ApartmentsHall of MirrorsGardens of Versailles
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).
-
Day 10 Flight home from Paris

  • Or
  • -
    Day 10 Start extension to London
    Details: Eurostar Chunnel crossing
    You're so close, why not continue to London? Take the Eurostar under the English Channel. Faster than you can say...anything, in French, you'll whiz through a tunnel and arrive in London.
    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 11 London Landmarks
    London guided sightseeing tour
    Buckingham PalaceBig BenHouses of ParliamentWestminster AbbeyTower BridgeHyde ParkSt. Paul's Cathedral
    Details: London guided sightseeing tour
    Join a licensed local guide for an in-depth look at London, from the royal haunt of Buckingham Palace (the official London residence of King Charles III) to the slightly more democratic Speakers’ Corner of Hyde Park, where anyone can pull up a soapbox and orate to his heart’s content. You’ll see the changing of the guard (season permitting), the clock tower of Big Ben with its 14-ton bell, and Westminster Abbey, where almost every English king and queen since William the Conqueror has been crowned. After a stop at the Houses of Parliament, continue on to the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral, the masterpiece of London architect Christopher Wren.
    Details: Cabinet War Rooms with Churchill Museum visit
    Explore the basement of the Whitehall building that became the air raid shelter and famous cabinet war rooms of Winston Churchill during WWII. See the fully restored Churchill Suite, where the Prime Minister and his wife lived and worked during the air raids on London and learn about the life history of this heroic man, from his childhood, to his finest hour and beyond.
    Day 12 Flight home from London
    Map of the D-Day Netherlands and France Educational Tour
    Tour Includes:
    • Round-trip airfare
    • 8 overnight stays (10 with extension) 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™
    • Local Guide and Local Bus Driver tips; see note regarding other important tips
    • 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.

    We are better able to assist you with a quote for your selected departure date and city over the phone. Please call 1.888.378.8845 to price this tour with your requested options.

    Please select a postal code
    4551.00 total fee
    Basic Options


    Estimate total number in your group, including yourself and any chaperones
    Private Tour
    Please wait while we process your request...

    This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some are essential to make our site work; others help us improve the user experience. By using the site, you consent to the placement of these cookies. Read our privacy-policy to learn more.