Somme Battlefields Tours
Somme Battlefields Tours › How to Get ThereUpdated 2026-09-25

How to Get to the Somme Battlefields

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

The Somme battlefields lie around Albert, north-east of Amiens. You get there in one of three ways: a day from Paris, a train to Albert, Amiens or Arras, or your own car. Your Somme Battlefields ticket prices are really the price of a guide and a car, so where you start decides the hours you spend on the ground.

From Paris: the early kerbs and the hotel pickups

The shared days leave from a kerb, not a hotel. Most meet outside Café Dada Ternes on avenue des Ternes in the 17th, 15 minutes before a 7 am start, and the driver-guide arrives in a grey minibus. The Australian shared day meets at the Lido on the Champs-Élysées at 6:30 am.

The private days from Paris collect you from your hotel instead, one of them at 7:30 am. The drive takes about two hours each way, so your day runs 11 to 13 hours. The shared and private days are compared on Somme battlefield tours from Paris.

By train to Albert, Amiens or Arras

Albert has its own railway station, a short train journey from Amiens. Arras station is a meeting point too, and the guides who meet there describe both as easy to reach from Paris and Lille. Train times change with each timetable, so check the current ones with TER Hauts-de-France before you book the guide.

If you take the train, you meet your guide at the station, and every hour of the day is spent on the battlefield. Pick a train that arrives before your guide's start time, usually 9 am.

Albert station and the Musée Somme 1916

The private half days start in Albert. One meets at the main doors of Albert station on place du Général de Gaulle. Another meets in the reception of the Musée Somme 1916 on rue Anicet Godin. Both run for four hours and bring you back where you started.

The museum is 62 steps underground and not wheelchair accessible. If that matters, the day from Albert station starts above ground and stays there. The Albert tourist office is at 7 avenue de la République, open Tuesday to Saturday.

From Amiens

The private Australian day collects you from your Amiens hotel at 9 am and brings you back there after nine hours. You see Lochnagar, Pozières and Thiepval, then Le Hamel and Villers-Bretonneux. The Amiens choices, and why most of them begin in Albert, are on Somme battlefield tours from Amiens.

From Arras, Lille and Ypres

Arras is the northern gateway. One private day meets opposite Arras station at 9 am, at a minibus with a "Battlefield Guided Tours" sign. A private full day offers Arras or Albert station as its start. Each brings you back to where you met.

The Canadian days pick you up at 8:30 am in Lille or Arras, or at your hotel in Ypres in Belgium. They go to Vimy Ridge first, in the Pas-de-Calais, then south to Courcelette and Beaumont-Hamel. Lunch is in the fare.

Every meeting point in one table

Find the town you will wake up in, then read across. A "Yes" in the last column means the guide comes to your door.

The dayWhere you meetTimeHotel pickup
Shared day from ParisCafé Dada Ternes, 12 avenue des Ternes, Paris 17e7 amNo
Private half day from AlbertReception of the Musée Somme 1916, AlbertMorning or afternoonNo
Private Australian day from AmiensYour Amiens hotel or address9 amYes
Private full day from Arras or AlbertArras station or Albert station, or an agreed hotel9 amOn request
Shared day from ParisCafé Dada Ternes, 12 avenue des Ternes, Paris 17e7 amNo
Private half day from AlbertMain doors of Albert stationAgreed when you bookOn request
Private day from ArrasOpposite Arras station, place du Maréchal Foch9 amOn request
Australian shared day from ParisThéâtre du Lido, 116 bis avenue des Champs-Élysées6:30 amNo
Private day from ParisYour Paris hotel or addressAgreed when you bookYes
Canadian day from Lille or ArrasYour hotel or the station in Lille or Arras8:30 amYes
Historian's day in your own carThe guide's B&B, Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre9 amNo: your car
Canadian day from YpresYour hotel in Ypres (Ieper), Belgium8:30 amYes
Private day from Paris, with VimyYour Paris hotel or address7:30 amYes

Three ways in, three starting points

Driving yourself, and the gaps between the sites

You can drive the Somme alone. The memorials are free, and the Beaumont-Hamel car park never closes. From Albert, the Ulster Tower is reached by the D50 north, then the D20 and D151 through Authuille to Thiepval, then the D73. From Arras, take the D917 towards Bapaume, the D929 to Pozières and the D73 to Thiepval.

There is parking at the Ulster Tower gate and at Lochnagar Crater. The lanes are narrow and the signs are small, so bring a map that works offline.

No bus runs between the memorials. Once you are in Albert, you need a car, a taxi or a guide who drives. That is why even the local half days collect you and drive you round.

The Beaucourt day turns this around. The historian from Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre rides in your own car and tells you where to go. It suits you if you have hired a car and want a guide for the day at a per-group fare.

The early start is fixed. The shared days from Paris leave at 6:30 or 7 am and do not wait. If you cannot make a kerb that early, a private day collects you from your hotel: see private Somme Battlefields tours.

Frequently asked about getting there

How far are the Somme battlefields from Paris?
Far enough that the day tours from Paris allow about two hours' drive each way, so their days run 11 to 13 hours. Around four or five of those hours are spent at the sites. If you want more time on the ground, stay a night in Amiens or Albert and start there.
Where do Somme battlefield tours start?
The shared days from Paris meet at a kerb: outside Café Dada Ternes on avenue des Ternes at 7 am, or at the Lido on the Champs-Élysées at 6:30 am. Private days collect you from a hotel in Paris, Amiens, Lille, Arras or Ypres, or meet you at Albert station, Arras station or the Musée Somme 1916. One historian meets you in Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre.
Which tours pick you up at your hotel?
The private days from Paris, Amiens, Lille, Arras and Ypres collect you from your hotel. The shared Paris days meet at a kerb at 6:30 or 7 am, and the Albert days meet at the station or the museum. The private day from Arras meets opposite the station.
Can you drive yourself round the Somme?
Yes. The memorials are free and open every day, and the Beaumont-Hamel car park never closes. One private day pairs your own car with a local historian who rides with you and reads the ground as you go.

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.

Next: see what each stop holds in things to do on the Somme battlefields, check the season on the weather page, or compare every day on Somme Battlefields Tours.