Somme battlefield tours from Paris take you to the Somme battlefields and back in one long day. You meet at 6:30 or 7 am, or at your hotel, ride about two hours each way, and spend three to six hours at the memorials.
Meet outside Café Dada Ternes at 6:45 am for a 7 am start in a grey minibus, with eight guests at most. Half an hour each at Thiepval, Lochnagar and Beaumont-Hamel, lunch at Le Tommy, then Villers-Bretonneux, the Monash Centre and Amiens Cathedral.
From $266 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The 6:30 am day from the Lido on the Champs-Élysées follows the Australians: Villers-Bretonneux, the corps memorial at Le Hamel, Pozières, then an hour in the Historial at Péronne with entry in the fare. Seven guests at most, and no hotel pickup.
From $289 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Meet outside Café Dada Ternes on avenue des Ternes for a 7 am start. Twelve hours with entrance fees in the fare: Thiepval, Lochnagar, the Newfoundland trenches, Pozières, Villers-Bretonneux and Amiens Cathedral. Eight guests at most; food is extra.
From $261 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A private car collects you at 7:30 am and brings you back about 8 pm. Ten stops, from Villers-Bretonneux and the Musée Somme 1916 to an hour at Beaumont-Hamel and ninety minutes at Vimy Ridge. Two to book; lunch is not included.
From $637 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your own driver and guide from your Paris hotel or any address you choose. Villers-Bretonneux and the Monash Centre, Lochnagar, Pozières, Thiepval and Beaumont-Hamel, then the Historial in Péronne, with every museum and memorial entry paid. Meals are extra.
From $563 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Meet outside Café Dada Ternes at 6:45 am for Thiepval, Lochnagar, Beaumont-Hamel, Villers-Bretonneux and Amiens Cathedral, with eight guests at most.
Check availabilityIt is a long day with the battlefield in the middle. You leave Paris at 6:30 or 7 am, drive about two hours north, spend three to six hours at the memorials, and drive back. The whole day runs 11 to 13 hours.
The shared days use a minibus with seven or eight guests and a driver-guide. The private days send a car to your hotel. Either way you see the Thiepval Memorial, Lochnagar Crater and the Newfoundland trenches at Beaumont-Hamel, plus the Australian memorials or Vimy.
There is no bag to pack and no night to book in Picardy. You are back in Paris the same evening, which matters if the Somme is one day in a longer trip.
The shared days cost $261 to $289 a person, so a solo traveller pays one seat, not a car. You meet at a named café or theatre at a set time.
Every day from Paris visits Villers-Bretonneux. The Lido day is built around the Australians and ends in the Historial at Péronne, with entry in the fare.
The private days collect you from your hotel. The private day with Vimy leaves at 7:30 am and brings you back about 8 pm.
This is the choice that decides how much of the ground you see. Here is how a day from Paris compares with taking the train north and meeting a guide in Albert or Amiens.
| A day from Paris | Train and a local guide | |
|---|---|---|
| Start | 6:30 or 7 am at a Paris kerb, or 7:30 am at your hotel | A train to Albert or Amiens, then the guide's start |
| Time on the ground | About 3 to 6 hours | 4 hours on a half day, all of it at the sites |
| Time in a vehicle | About 4 hours on the road | The train, then short drives between sites |
| Length of the day | 11 to 13 hours | 4 hours, or 9 from Amiens |
| Fare | $261-$289 a person shared; $563-$637 private | $289 or $301 for up to 3, plus your train |
| Lunch | Not in the fare | Not in the fare |
| Suits | One day, one hotel, no car | A night in Albert or Amiens |
If you have one day and no wish to move hotels, go from Paris. If you can sleep a night in Albert or Amiens, the train buys you more hours at the sites; see Somme battlefield tours from Amiens.
Meet at the Lido at 6:30 am for Villers-Bretonneux, Le Hamel and Pozières, then the Historial in Péronne with entry in the fare.
Check availabilityAnyone with two days. Sleep in Albert or Amiens and start on the battlefield: a private half day from Albert station costs $289 for up to three and spends all four hours at the sites.
Anyone who wants Delville Wood or Thiepval Wood. Neither is on a Paris day. The full private day from Arras or Albert gives Delville Wood an hour, and the historian's day from Beaucourt includes Thiepval Wood.
Canadians who want Vimy in depth. The private day with Vimy gives it ninety minutes. The Canadian days from Lille, Arras or Ypres give it three hours; see private Somme Battlefields tours.
Young children. A 12-hour day with four hours on the road is a lot to ask of a small child. The avenue des Ternes day takes children from age 7.
Days from Paris, from Amiens and private, every Somme tour sits side by side on Somme Battlefields Tours.