Verdun & Champagne Self Drive Tour

The battle of Verdun was the longest and one of the bloodiest of the First World War. The Germans aimed to take the French out of the war by inflicting such huge casualties that they would be a spent force. This was to be done by goading them into committing more and more reserves which the Germans would destroy. However, it didn’t work out to plan as the Germans also had to throw in vast reserves as the carnage escalated.

Also visit the Champagne houses which began to spring up in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with the method used to make the beautiful sparkling wine is believed to have been invented by a monk called Dom Perignon and refined by the widow (veuve) Cliquot.

This is a bespoke tour

This is a Bespoke self-drive Tour

The cost – includes breakfast, hotel accommodation, Eurotunnel, museums and guide, but not food and drinks – is £1,350 per person.

Please note that this is the cost of a single occupancy in a single room as we wish to be open with the all-inclusive costs. A discount of 10% is available for bookings with two people sharing a room.

You are accompanied by a tour leader to ensure that your tour runs smoothly.

This is a self-drive car tour and we will be using local guides.

Itinerary

Day 1

Take the Eurotunnel and drive to Epernay. Visit the famous cellars of Mercier Champagne and learn how they add the fizz to Champagne, and understand one of the most successful drink marketing campaigns.

Day 2

Visit the battle sites of this epic battle including Fort Douamont, the Douamont Ossuary and the destroyed village of Fleury, which was captured and recaptured 16 times in two months by the French and Germans.

Day 3

Visit the Motor Museum (Musée Automobile de Reims-Champagne) and then in the afternoon visit Palais du Tau. A Unesco World Heritage Site, where French princes stayed before their coronations – and where they threw sumptuous banquets afterwards.

Day 4

On the way home visit the truly amazing V2 rocket site at La Coupole. See how forced labour built this vast structure and how it was put out of action by RAF Bomber Command.