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School trips to WWI Battlefields

Our First World War battlefields tours programme covers the events of the war in considerable historical detail, particularly in the Ypres Salient and Somme regions. 

Give your pupils an inimitable insight into the events of the First World War which will allow them to understand the sheer scale and sacrifice involved. 

NST’s Educationalist Guides for history groups

Our expert guided study tours are hugely popular with history groups, with thousands of pupils taking a guided trip with us each year. All of our guides are professional academics, historians and writers, with incomparable knowledge of their subject area and an ability to communicate their learning in a way that will enlighten and stimulate your pupils.

Whilst on tour, your guide will be with you to provide both local knowledge and educational support – helping you to get the most from your time outside of the classroom. They’ll discuss your learning objectives and build an itinerary that matches your requirements, enabling your group to get the most out of every day.

NST’s Château d’Ebblinghem

NST’s exclusive school group accommodation on the Opal Coast in Northern France is ideally located for WWI Battflefied visits and will make your role as group leader that bit easier!

Get in touch with NST today for more information and advice on planning your ideal WWI battlefield school trip, or take a look at some of our most popular options below.

First World War battlefield trip highlights - our groups love...

In Flanders Field Museum
 

In Flanders Field Museum

This superb state-of-the-art, interactive museum is now an even richer experience with the updated larger museum. Covering most aspects of the war in Flanders, each visitor will receive a wristband that will take them on a journey in the museum through the eyes of someone who was there. Educational worksheets and study resources and workshops are available www.inflandersfields.be/en/educational-new

Sanctuary Wood Museum & Hill 62
 

Sanctuary Wood Museum & Hill 62

Located close to the original front lines, this fascinating visit shows well preserved original British trenches and covered passageways, as well as a section of the underground tunnel system. The museum consists of two rooms housing many artefacts removed from the battlefields plus a large and rare collection of three dimensional photo images inside special viewing boxes.

Passchendaele Memorial Museum
 

Passchendaele Memorial Museum

Commemorating the 1917 Battle of Passchendale, this museum has been enlarged, with a new underground exhibition focusing on the battle, a network of open air trenches and a new remembrance gallery. A full day interactive platoon experience also available, please call for details.

Hooge Crater Museum and Trenches Experience
 

Hooge Crater Museum and Trenches Experience

Offering groups a unique tour - original artefacts & full scale reconstructions of battlefield scenes can be found in the Museum Hooge Crater. With an extended collection of weapons from the period 1914-18, war equipment of all armies that fought during those four years of intense battles and photos, make this museum a true must-see! 

New for 2018 - Offering groups a unique tour - original artefacts & full scale reconstructions of battlefield scenes with newly completed trenches to depict a German and British trench in the exact original position between April – July 1915.  We can reserve a time slot in the trenches just for your group, so you can explore them on your own. 

Newfoundland Park
 

Newfoundland Park

Undoubtedly one of the largest and best-preserved trench memorials on the Western Front. Just outside the park lies Hawthorn Crater, and within it are the ‘Danger Tree’ and remains of the British Front Line. The German Front Line can be seen across No Man’s Land. 

Thiepval Memorial & Visitor Centre
 

Thiepval Memorial & Visitor Centre

This is the largest memorial to the British missing on the Western Front, containing the names of over 73,000 men who died in the Somme section before 20th March 1918 and have no known graves. The visitor centre houses an informative exhibition designed to aid understanding of the history of Thiepval during WWI.

Ypres Walking Tour

Ypres Walking Tour

This tour of the city includes: The Cloth Hall, St George’s Anglican Church, The Menin Gate - Britain’s major memorial to its missing - and The Lille Gate Cemetery, a beautiful example of the work of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Your group will then return to Ypres for an evening meal and attend the daily Last Post Ceremony at The Menin Gate to witness a moving act of remembrance by the people of the city.

Vimy Ridge
 

Vimy Ridge

The scene of fierce fighting in 1917, when the Canadians successfully took the ridge from the Germans. Students can take a tour of the tunnels, trenches and the cemeteries.

Menin Gate & Last Post Ceremony
 

Menin Gate & Last Post Ceremony

The largest and the most important of the British memorials to the Missing in The Salient, The Menin Gate holds the names of 54,896 soldiers of the British Empire. This memorial marked the start of one of the main roads out of Ypres towards the Front Line. Following a meal at a local restaurant, your students will witness the moving ‘Last Post Ceremony’ which takes place every evening at 8pm.


First World War Battlefields school trip experts

We've been arranging First World War battlefield trips since 1996 and take over hundreds of students on battlefields tours each year. Members of our team regularly visit Ypres and The Somme to really get to know the ins-and-outs of the area, from logistics and visits to our range of student-friendly accommodation.
  
Your dedicated Tour Co-ordinator will use their knowledge to create an itinerary that’s tailor-made, perfectly timed and meets your exact school travel needs.

They’ll be able to share their first-hand experience, suggest options you might not have considered and give you insight into the feedback other teachers have given us too.

Explore the WWI Battlefields with our history guides

We offer the chance to take one of our expert history guides on your battlefields trip. 

Our guides are former teachers with detailed knowledge of the current curriculum. They are selected to meet your exact tour requirements, helping your group to get even more from their time outside the classroom. Our guides are passionate about their subject areas, meaning they're well prepared to meet your group's needs.

Planning your first school trip?

If you're planning your first school trip, our essential guide will take you through each step of the process...

  • Choosing your destination
  • Gaining approval from your Local Authority and/or your Head
  • Promoting your tour in school
  • Confirming your booking
  • Tailor-make your tour
  • Completing your risk assessments (including a sample risk assessment)
  • Quick reference timeline
  • Pre-tour checklist

Additional support, resources & information

Tour planning service

Tour planning service

With NST, you’ll get your own dedicated, knowledgeable Tour Co-ordinator who’ll work with you from start to finish. You’ll benefit from their unrivalled destination knowledge, and their experience gained from working with many other groups too. They’ll tailor-make your itinerary from scratch and take care of everything for you: 

  • Pulling together an itinerary that runs smoothly 
  • Planning the right balance of visits every day with realistic timings 
  • Pre-arranging and pre-booking your visits, entrance tickets, passes and meals 

 

You’ll receive your final itinerary a full 4-weeks before you travel too.

Free school trip promotion pack

Free school trip promotion pack

We’ll support you and provide everything you need to advertise your school trip around school and to parents. Our free school trip promotion pack consists of: 

  • Parents’ letter & permission slip template for you to complete A3 posters to promote your trip around school 
  • PowerPoint presentation templates which you can tailor to your own needs 
  • Online parents’ video which showcases the benefits of taking a school trip 

Risk assessment support including preview visits

Risk assessment support including preview visit

Risk assessment plays a vitally important part in the planning and organisation on any school tour.

Our risk assessment guide aims to help you understand more about your obligations and how you can more effectively manage group safety on your next educational visit and provide you with risk assessments for your trip.

Planning first school trip

Planning first school trip

Organising your first school trip can appear to be a daunting process. 

If you're planning your first school trip, our guide will help to take you through each step of the planning process, answering frequently asked questions and providing tips and support along the way. 

Our helpful guide covers the following: 

  • Choosing your destination 
  • Gaining approval from your Local Authority and/or your Head 
  • Promoting your tour in school 
  • Confirming your booking 
  • Tailor-make your tour 
  • Completing your risk assessments (including a sample risk assessment) 
  • Quick reference timeline 
  • Pre-tour checklist 

 

View our essential guide to a successful school trip here

Get live updates on your group's tour location

Get live updates on your group's tour location

Locate My Trip uses GPS technology and is the easy, convenient way for your school to follow your location whilst on tour. Specifically designed to provide reassurance to both parents and teachers, NST will know where your group are 24/7. If your schedule needs to change, we’ll put plans in place to keep your tour on track. 

With Locate My Trip your group can also share photos and videos with the school and parents, via a secure link, to keep them updated on your experience whilst you’re away.

Watch our short Locate My Trip video here

Your online school trip organiser - My Tour Manager

Your online school trip organiser - My Tour Manager

Save time and stay on track with your school trip admin with our online orgnaniser - designed to help busy teachers like you. 

With My Tour Manager, you'll be able to download FREE resources and access trip paperwork online and in one place. Your personalised checklist details what you need to do and by when, plus you'll receive fortnightly reminders too. 

What's more, you can take all your trip documents on the go whilst on your tour with our app, My Tour Manager-On-the-Go. 

Find out more and watch out short My Tour Manager video here

Free classroom resources

Free classroom resources

We've created a range of free geography resources and educational posters to brighten up your classroom!

Take a look at our downloadable posters here

Why choose NST...

Here's why hundreds of teachers choose NST each year...

  • Unrivalled knowledge

Your dedicated tour co-ordinator will use their unrivalled local knowledge and expertise of the WWI battlefields to create a tailor-made, curriculum-linked itinerary to meet your group’s exact needs.

  • Making it easier for you

With our online school trip organiser, travel app, free classroom posters to support in-school promotion.

  • FREE group leader inspection visits

We offer a free inspection visit to your chosen destination to support your risk assessment planning. 

  • Value for money

We’re committed to bringing you the best possible value trips to help make every penny count.

 

  • More than 20 years’ experience

With over 20 years’ experience, with NST you can rest assured that your group is in safe hands.

  • Risk assessment guidance

Our risk assessment guidance will help you to manage group safety on your next educational trip. 

  • Peace of mind

Your group’s location can be followed with our trip tracking device - Locate My Trip - plus you’ll have 24/7 support from us whilst you’re away.

  • Offsetting carbon emissions

For every trip taken, we'll plant a Maya nut tree in Peru to support reforestation, local communities & biodiversity. Plus, we'll offset an additional tonne of CO2 to guarantee carbon emission reductions. 

Looking for protection on your next school trip? 

Booking with a school travel company is the best way for you to protect parents’ money and give yourself peace of mind.

Financial protection from the moment you book

NST are fully bonded & licensed:

  • ABTA
  • ATOL
  • IATA
  • Commission for Aviation Regulation

 

Managing safety on school trips

For your protection, NST's independently audited Safety Management System covers:

  • 24-hour emergency cover
  • Audited accommodation & transport
  • Excursions & school visit assessment
  • Group leader preview visits to assist with risk assessment planning

Package Travel Regulations 2018

Don't forget - if your school arranges transport, accommodation and other services directly, you’ll be liable under the Package Travel Regulations – meaning you’ll have all the responsibilities of a travel company, both legal and financial. 

We're LOtC Council’s Quality Badge assured

For groups travelling from Northern Ireland... the Department for Education advises schools to always look for the LOtC Quality Badge when choosing a school travel provider.

Learn more here