WW1 The Western Front with Ronan McGreevy

4 Days / 3 Nights Per Person

Best Value
Staff Pick
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From €799

Available Dates

Why Book with us?

  • We are Irish owned & operated and have been in business since 2003
  • All of our team are experienced and have a professional approach
  • We operate a 24-hour emergency service
  • GTI Travel only uses professional guides
  • Licensed by the Commission for Aviation Regulation, TA 0533

Minimum Deposit of 250 Required

The Irish on The Western Front

Embark on an impactful WWI tour along the Western Front with Ronan McGreevy, starting with your arrival in Brussels and hotel check-in. Your journey begins at the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Messines, where you’ll reflect on the Battle of Messines Ridge and the Pool of Peace. Visit the Wytschaete Military Cemetery to honor the 16th (Irish) Division and see memorials for both the 36th (Ulster) and 16th (Irish) Divisions, including the Willie Redmond and John Meeke memorial.

Next, visit the Ring of Remembrance at Notre-Dame-De-Lorette, which lists the names of 576,000 troops who lost their lives in northern France. Continue to Le Touret Memorial to pay respects to the Royal Irish Regiment members with no known graves, and view Portuguese and Indian war memorials. You’ll also visit Lieutenant John Kipling’s tomb and the Loos Memorial to the Missing, recognizing the sacrifices made during the war.

On your Somme trip, visit key memorials and cemeteries, including the Tyneside Irish Memorial and Tyne Cot Cemetery, with free time in Ypres before returning to Dublin.

Departures from:

dublin
13.07.2023

Morning Paula,
Thanks for the mail.
I’ll give you a run down now & recommendations:
1. Aer Lingus: brilliant at both Dublin & Düsseldorf. Professional in every way.
2. Coach Company: excellent too. There as scheduled no issues.
3. Accomodation: overall very good quality. Rooms perfect, food good. Would I stay there again ? The answer would be no. Two big rooms sitting idle there after asking could we use one for a quiz. That was poor. No area such at... Read More

D.H. – 2023 Rhineland GL
13.04.2023

The hotel was brilliant and I would stay there again. I could even recommend it for families! The coach was excellent and very comfortable, and Johann was great.

The visits went well. We were late for Montparnasse because of the traffic, so I called them and they were very nice about it. Same for Versailles castle, although we left the hotel really early. They were fine on the phone. Something that got sorted quite well but could have been worse is the fact that we had 3 reservation... Read More

C.M. 2023 Paris GL

Our Sample Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival

Once in Brussels, check into your hotel. You will then go to Messines to pay a sobering visit to The Island of Ireland Peace Park. View the Battle of Messines Ridge and the Pool of Peace. Visit the Wytschaete Military Cemetery in Wijtschate, Belgium to see the memorial to the 16th (Irish) Division.

Visit the two neighboring road markers to be reminded of how the 36th (Ulster) and 16th (Irish) Divisions cooperated throughout the conflict.
Visit the new Willie Redmond and John Meeke memorial that is next to Wytschaete Cemetery.

Day 2: Notre-Dame-De-International Lorette’s WWI Memorial

Today you will go to Notre-Dame-De-International Lorette’s WWI Memorial, known as the Ring of Remembrance. Check out the names of the 576,000 troops from all lands who lost their lives in northern France during the conflict. Visit the adjacent French national memorial to the 1.4 million country’s fallen as well.

From Herlies, travel to Rue Du Bois. Visit the Le Touret Memorial to see the memorialised names of the 127 members of the Royal Irish Regiment whose remains were never discovered. Visit the Portuguese and Indian war memorials before going to the location of the Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois. Visit the monument to the Irish fallen at the Battle of Le Pilly.

Visit Lieutenant John Kipling’s tomb and see how his passing influenced his father to pen a book on the Irish Guards’ history. visit to the London Irish Rifles’ New Memorial and The Loos Memorial to the Missing which has the names of thousands of Irish soldiers who lost their lives in that terrible fight.

Day 3: Somme, Tyneside Irish Memorial at La Boisselle

On this day you travel to the Somme, Visit the Tyneside Irish Memorial at La Boisselle. Visit the Loughnagar Crater, which was destroyed on July 1, 1916, in the morning. Visit the Ulster Tower, a monument honouring the 36th Ulster Division’s soldiers. View actual frontline trenches from the Battle of the Somme at the Newfoundland Memorial. Additionally, check out the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. Keep going to the 16th (Irish) Division memorial in Guillemont, which commemorates some of the most brutal combat throughout the whole Somme campaign.

Also visit Ginchy & Guillemont Road Cemetery and see the grave of Major Raymond Asquith, the son of the British Prime Minister Herbert Asquit. Also pay visit Herbert Lemass’s tomb; The cousin of former Taoiseach Sean Lemass.

Day 4: Ypres Museum

Free time in the morning to visit Ypres museum or do some shopping. Afterward, meet your guide and head to Poelcappelle Cemetery and visit the grave of John Condon and learn of the real story of the teenager from Waterford who the Commonwealth War Graves Commission claim is the youngest British soldier to die in the First World War. Visit to the Ledwidge Memorial and see the memorial to the poet and nationalist Francis Ledwidge on the exact spot where he fell.

Visit to the New Irish Memorial, the monument commemorates the last time the 16th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) Divisions fought side by side during the Battle of Passchendaele, when both divisions were utterly destroyed. Visit Tyne Cot Cemetery next, which is the world’s largest cemetery for Commonwealth war burials.

Afterwards travel to Brussels Airport and depart for Dublin Airport after a jam packed tour.

  • Return flights from Dublin to Brussels including taxes & charges
  • Professional historian guide, Ronan McGreevy
  • 3 nights accommodation in the superior Novotel Ieper Centrum Flanders Fields hotel located in the heart of Ypres with breakfast
  • Guided visits to key sites of the Flanders Battlefields including the Island of Ireland Peace Park, Willie Redmond’s Grave, the 16th Irish Division
  • Memorial at Wytschaete, John Condon’s Grave, Francis Ledwidge Memorial, Tyne Cot & Passchendaele
  • Visit to the The Lille sector including the Ring Of Remembrance and the French national memorial at Notre-Dame-De-Lorette. See the grave of John Kipling, the location of the Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois, the grave of John Kipling and the site where the Irish were gassed on the Western Front during Easter Week 1916.
  • Meet the locals who maintain the Irish memorial in the village of Le Pilly.
  • Visit to the Somme Battlefields to include Memorial to the Tyneside Irish, Loughnagar Crater, The Ulster Tower, Thiepval Memorial, Ginchy & Guillemont.

Please note all balances are due
10 weeks before departure

  1. Price based on 2 sharing including all airport taxes & charges
  2. Single room supplement €149pp. If you are travelling alone and are willing to share a twin room with another group member of the same sex, we will do our best to accommodate this request although it cannot be guaranteed
  3. Non refundable / non transferable deposit of €250pp required at time of booking
  4. Balance due 10 weeks before departure
  5. Price includes 1 standard piece of hand luggage. Checked-in luggage is available to purchase prior to travel – prices may vary
  6. Optional insurance available (terms & conditions apply)
  7. More WW1 Battlefield Tours Available from Dublin & Cork.
  8. City taxes may apply, payable locally at your hotel
  9. Flights, taxes, prices & itinerary subject to change

To be announced.

Contact info@gtitravel.ie for more information.

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