WWI battlefields experience to Belgium & French Western Front

Bring your students on an immersive tour of the French & Belgium battlefields, staying at Voyager's own Moulin centre. They will develop a profound understanding of the events and experiences of the Great War. Includes a tour of important WWI sites along the Western Front, on-site history activities with a Voyager instructor, and a history workbook.

Voyager owned

Oct, Nov, Feb

Evening entertainment

Workbooks

Experience WW1 on the Western Front

Combining onsite history activities and immersive visits, this unique 3-day stay at Voyager's Moulin centre will enhance your students’ understanding of the history and experiences of the First World War.

Visits to Wimereux Cemetery (the burial place of John McCrae, writer of In Flanders Fields) and Tyne Cot Cemetery, where the dead of Passchendaele were laid to rest, give students a sense of the scale of the vast human cost of this war. The interactive displays and historical collections at the In Flanders Fields and Passchendaele 1917 and Museums bring trench warfare to life.

To help students make a real connection with the events that took place in the area, they take part in the incredibly moving Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate, with the opportunity to lay their handmade wreath in remembrance of fallen soldiers.

WW1 Battlefield Experience Workbooks – devised by History teachers

All students will receive our exclusive workbooks which provide overviews of the causes of the war, the Western Front, military technology and the peace treaty. More detailed exercises focus on interpretation, propaganda, the experience of soldiers and recruitment and conscription. There are also activities to complete, based on the following visits:

Passchendaele Museum 1917
Tyne Cot Cemetery
In Flanders Fields Museum
Menin Gate & The Last Post Ceremony
Wimereux Cemetery

While staying at Voyager's own Moulin accommodation in northern France, our instructors will lead a wreath-making session and WW1 history quiz to create an engaging and immersive stay. They can also introduce some French vocabulary to the group - providing a well-rounded cross-curricular trip that combines history, culture and language.

Contact us for availability or a bespoke quote for your group.

Itinerary

Please talk to our school trip specialists to create a bespoke itinerary to meet your teaching objectives.

Limited availability - this tour only runs Mon-Wed or Wed-Fri during October, November and February. Contact us for availability.

Day 1

Arrive at Calais
Visit Wimereux Cemetery due to the sandy soil, the headstones are unusually laid flat over the graves. John McCrae, writer of In Flanders Fields, is buried here. His poem inspired the annual Poppy Day tradition.
Arrive at our Hotel Moulin
Dinner with French vocab
Instructor-led Activity Missions

Day 2

Breakfast
Instructor-led poppy and wreath making
Coach transfer to Passchendaele on the Western Front
Visit the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917. Focusing on one of the bloodiest battles of WWI, this museum offers a fully immersive student experience to help students comprehend the lives of soldiers, including the impact of war on mental health, and whether shell shock was treated effectively.
Visit Tyne Cot Cemetery - the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world and includes the servicemen who died in the Battle of Passchendaele.
Visit In Flanders Fields Museum: its interactive displays cover propaganda, military technology and hardware, medical treatment and hygiene and much more.
Leonidas Chocolate Shop
Visit Menin Gate
Dinner in Ypres
Attend the Last Post Ceremony and lay handmade wreath
Coach transfer to Hotel Moulin

Day 3

Breakfast and Instructor-led quiz
Visit Etaples cemetery. During WW1 this was a huge Commonwealth training camp and hospital base, remote from the fighting but easily reached by railway lines. The cemetery was designed by Lutyens and as well as British soldiers, identified casualties buried here include soldiers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and India.
Transfer to Calais for your channel crossing
Arrive back at school

Based at Voyager's Moulin Centre

Hôtel du Moulin aux Draps
Rue de Cremarest
62240 Desvres, France

Set in 18 acres of beautiful French countryside, our Hôtel du Moulin residential centre is the perfect safe environment for all school groups.

Desvres

The village played its part in the Great War. The image above is of the 8th Light Trench Mortar Battery (Australian) in 1918 taken in Desvres. Also, in Desvres Communal Cemetary you will find four Commonwealth burials of soldiers who fought in World War One.

Excursions

passchendaele museum — Passchendaele Museum

last post ceremony — The Last Post Ceremony

Learning outcomes

Gain first-hand understanding of trench warfare and life on the Western Front
Analyse historical sources such as artefacts, photographs and battlefield sites
Understand the human stories behind the conflict through cemetery and museum visits
Links to KS3 National Curriculum, including:
- helping pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.
- inspiring pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past
- understanding follies of mankind
- contrasting different interpretations of the past
Links to key GCSE specifications, including:
- AQA GCSE History – Conflict and Tension: The First World War, 1894–1918
- Edexcel GCSE History – The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18

Included

This trip to our Moulin aux Draps centre includes:

All off-site excursions as outlined in your itinerary
On-site history activities with a Voyager instructor
History workbook for each student
Full board and lodging
Free teacher to student ratio approx 1:8
Private teachers’ lounge areas
24-hour emergency support
Full time coach and ferry crossing
Comprehensive travel insurance
Subsidised centre inspection visit for you and a colleague

Extras to budget for

Meals on journeys
Visa charges and EU travel permits
Supplements for small parties, single rooms and additional adults

Resources

Ready-made resources to get your trip off the ground

These ready-made trip resources are designed to reduce your admin and help speed up the process of planning, promoting and getting approval for your trip: