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Somme Battlefields Tours › The Somme Battlefields, Stop by Stop: The Memorials in Driving OrderUpdated 2026-09-25

The Somme Battlefields, Stop by Stop: The Memorials in Driving Order

Hours, prices and access verified by the Somme Battlefields Tours team — last checked 2026-09-25.

The Thiepval Memorial's central arch under a blue sky, French and British flags on top

The short answer. The 1916 battlefield is a loop you can drive in a morning from Albert: the Musée Somme 1916, Lochnagar Crater, Pozières, the Thiepval Memorial, the Ulster Tower and Beaumont-Hamel. Longer days add Delville Wood to the east and the 1918 ground at Le Hamel and Villers-Bretonneux to the south. Give Thiepval and Beaumont-Hamel the most time, and the crater half an hour.

How the stops fit together

This is the order the private half day from Albert drives them, with the stops that fuller days add. Every stop below is free except the museums. The times are the ones guided days give each place, so you can judge what fits.

StopEntryTime on a guided day
Musée Somme 1916, AlbertEUR 8 adult1 hour to 1 hour 30
Lochnagar Crater, La BoisselleFree, donation welcome15 to 45 minutes
PozièresFree10 minutes to 1 hour
Thiepval Memorial and museumMemorial free; museum EUR 615 minutes to 1 hour
Ulster TowerFree15 minutes to 1 hour
Beaumont-HamelFree30 minutes to 1 hour 30
Delville Wood, LonguevalFree, donation welcome1 hour
Villers-BretonneuxFree; earphones EUR 31 hour to 1 hour 30

1. The Musée Somme 1916, Albert

Start underground. The museum sits in an old air-raid-shelter tunnel ten metres under Albert, down 62 steps, and sets out the soldier's life in the trenches. You get the picture of 1916 before you see a single field. Allow an hour; the day from Arras gives it an hour and a half. It opens daily from 9 am to 6 pm in 2026, with last entry at 5:30 pm.

2. Lochnagar Crater, La Boisselle

Just outside Albert, at La Boisselle, the crater marks the start of the battle. The 179th Tunnelling Company blew the mine at 7:28 am on 1 July 1916, the largest of 19 mines fired under the German line that morning. The pit is 100.5 metres across and 21 metres deep. It is free, open in daylight, and a donation keeps it cared for. Half an hour is enough for most people.

3. Pozières

Pozières is where the Australians fought their first great Somme battle, from 23 July 1916. Most days stop only briefly at the memorial or the British cemetery. Australian days give it an hour and walk you from the Gibraltar bunker to the Windmill site. If a relative served with the Australian divisions in 1916, this is the stop to ask your guide to extend. The story of the fighting is told on the history of the Somme battlefields.

4. The Thiepval Memorial and museum

Lutyens' arch carries the names of more than 72,000 men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died on the Somme before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. At its foot lies a small cemetery with equal numbers of Commonwealth and French graves.

Beside it, the Thiepval Museum costs EUR 6 and holds Joe Sacco's 60-metre drawing of the first day of the battle. Its visitor-centre area is free. Give the whole site at least an hour if the day allows.

5. The Ulster Tower

Close by, the Ulster Tower stands on the ground of the Schwaben Redoubt, facing Thiepval Wood. The 36th (Ulster) Division attacked from that wood on 1 July 1916. The tower opens from 1 March to 30 November, Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Thiepval Wood itself is by guided tour only, at 11 am and 3 pm, booked ahead by email.

Did you know? The Ulster Tower was the first official memorial on the Western Front, dedicated on 19 November 1921, eleven years before the Thiepval Memorial was unveiled.

6. Beaumont-Hamel

The Newfoundland Memorial keeps 30 hectares of the 1916 battlefield, 9 km north of Albert. You walk the trench lines where the Newfoundland Regiment attacked with the 29th Division on 1 July. The bronze caribou stands on its mound above them, with 820 names of Newfoundlanders with no known grave at its base. Canadian student guides lead free tours whenever the visitor centre is open.

Give it the longest stop of the day. The Canadian day from Ypres gives it an hour and a half.

7. Delville Wood, Longueval

Further east is the South African memorial. The 1st South African Infantry Brigade fought in the wood in July 1916, and the Germans held out there until 27 August. The museum is free, closed on Mondays and through December and January. Live shells still lie in the wood, so you stay on the rides, and it is locked in strong wind.

8. Villers-Bretonneux and the Monash Centre

The last stop moves to 1918. Australian brigades took Villers-Bretonneux back from the Germans on 25 April 1918, and the Australian National Memorial stands near the town. The Sir John Monash Centre sits below its tower: free, open daily, closed in February and on 1 May. Earphones for its displays cost EUR 3.

Things most visitors walk past

  • The French graves at Thiepval. The cemetery below the arch mixes Commonwealth and French burials in equal numbers.
  • The names under the caribou. The 820 names at Beaumont-Hamel include merchant seamen and naval reservists, not only soldiers.
  • The Sacco drawing. It runs sixty metres round the Thiepval Museum.
  • The New Zealand memorial at Longueval, which the historian's day includes.

The route that works

If you drive yourself, follow the loop from Albert and keep Beaumont-Hamel for when you have the most time. Check the Monday closures first. If you would rather have the background as you go, the private half day from Albert drives this loop in four hours, and the Australian day from Amiens adds Le Hamel and Villers-Bretonneux. Each site's hours and fees sit on things to do on the Somme battlefields.

Useful tip. Want the story told on the ground? A guide changes the crater and the trenches more than any other stop; see private Somme Battlefields tours for the days built round your own pace.

Where these facts come from

Every hour, fee and date here comes from the body that runs the site. Hours move with the season, so check yours before you travel.

Days that drive more of the route

Next: Put names and dates to the stops in the Somme battlefields facts. Every fare, from Paris and from the battlefield towns, sits side by side on Somme Battlefields Tours.