Gallipoli & Western
Front ANZAC Day Tour
& optional Normandy Extension
(ANZAC Day at Gallipoli)
Day 1 Wednesday 22nd April 2009
Istanbul (D)
On your arrival in Istanbul you will be met and transferred
to your accommodation.
Day 2 Thursday 23rd April
Istanbul (B)
This morning you are taken by coach on a city tour of Istanbul.
The tour will include Topkapi Palace, the Sultanahmet Imperial
Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque because of its magnificent
interior decoration of blue Iznik tiles and also the Hippodrome.
In the afternoon you visit the Spice Bazaar.
Day 3 Friday 24th April
Istanbul - Gallipoli (B D)
This morning your air-conditioned coach will depart Istanbul
for Gallipoli. It takes just under 5 hours to reach Gallipoli,
on arrival you have lunch and then begin your tour of the
Gallipoli Peninsula. You visit Gabatepe War Museum, Anzac
Cove, Lone Pine Australia's Memorial and Cemetery, Quinn's
Post, Turkish 57th Regiment Cemetery, The Nek, Chunuk-Bair
New Zealand Memorial and Cemetery.
This late afternoon you enjoy an ANZAC eve buffet dinner at
ANZAC Cove.
This evening you will depart for the dawn service.
Day 4 Saturday 25th April
Gallipoli - Troy - Ayvalik
At 4.30 am the dawn service begins. You can also go to the
Australian National service at 10:30, the Turkish National
Service at 11.45 and the New Zealand National service at 13:00.
Late afternoon you travel to Troy and visit the Trojan Horse
and Helen of Troy. The coach will then take you to Ayvalik
for your overnight stay.
Day 5 Sunday 26th April
Ayvalik - Pergamum - Kusadasi (B D)
This morning your coach will take you to Pergamum to see the
Asklepion, Zeus alter and Red Basilica. Bergama is the site
of the Hellenistic and later Roman city of Pergamum, ruled
for several centuries by a powerful local dynasty. Its foremost
attraction is the Kizil Avlu or "Red Basilica",
a huge edifice on the river not far from the acropolis, originally
built as a temple to the Egyptian god Osiris and converted
to a basilica by the early Christians, when it was one of
the Seven Churches of Asia Minor addressed by St John in the
book of Revelation - though sadly it's now a crumbling ruin
with a mosque in one of its towers.
This afternoon you visit a carpet weaving centre on your way
to Kusadasi.
On arrival you relax in a local Turkish Bath before dinner.
Day 6 Monday 27th April
Kusadasi - Ephesus - Kusadasi (B D)
This morning you depart for Ephesus. The city, whos wealth
and patronage supported its splendid architectural program,
was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Its enormous temple,
once considered one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World
and rebuilt several times, dates in its latest form from the
third century B.C.
The tour of the ruins also includes a theatre, gymnasium,
agora and baths, as well as the Library of Celsius.
After lunch, you will make a shopping tour and see the ancient
arts of Turkey like leather manufacturing and jewellery.
Day 7 Tuesday 28th April
Kusadasi - Pamukkale (B D)
Today your coach we take you to Pamukkale. On arrival you
will stop for lunch. In Pamukkale you will visit the calcium
terraces of Pamukkale (cotton castle) and the ruins of Hierapolis,
then walk around this natural phenomenon. You can also have
a dip in the waters of the natural springs.
Tonight you will enjoy dinner at the hotel.
Day 8 Wednesday 29th April
Pamukkale - Istanbul (B)
After breakfast you take the coach back to Istanbul. On arrival
your evening is free to relax at the hotel.
Day 9 Thursday 30th April
Istanbul - Brussels (B)
Today you are transferred back to the airport for your flight
to Brussels. On arrival you are transferred to your hotel.
This evening you have a group meeting with your guides.
Day 10 Friday 1st May
Brussels - Waterloo - Ypres (B)
This morning you board the coach to Waterloo and view the
museum before travelling on to Ypres. On arrival you are checked
into your rooms.
Day 11 Saturday 2nd May
Ypres (B L)
Commencing your tour of the battlefield and Memorials of the
Ypres Salient you visit the Ploegsteert Wood Memorial, Shot
at dawn soldier Pte McBride, Christmas Truce site, The Peace
Tower, Messines and the Mine Crater, the reconstructed German
Trenches at Bayonwald, Hill 60 Australian Tunnel Coy Memorial
and the Hooge Crater and museum. Lunch is at Mount Kemmel
and this evening you attend the Last Post Ceremony at the
Menin Gate.
Day 12 Sunday 3rd May
Ypres (B L)
After breakfast you visit Polygon Wood, the 5th Australian
Division Memorial, Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth
Cemetery in the world. You lunch at Langemark and then visit
Essex Farm, where the poem “In Flanders Fields”
was written, Poperinge, the 'Shooting Post' and 'Toc H' and
Lijssenthoek, the second largest Commonwealth Cemetery in
Belgium. You return to Ypres and later walk the ancient Ramparts
and visit the Flanders field Museum.
Day
13 Monday 4th May
Ypres - Amiens (B L)
After breakfast you depart Ypres for Amiens stopping on the
way to visit VC Corner Australian Cemetery and Fromelles Australian
Memorial Park.
Day 14 Tuesday 5th May
Amiens - Villers Bretonneux
ANZAC DAY (B)
A pre dawn wake up call will be arranged along with coffee
and tea. You then depart for the dawn service at the Australian
War Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux. You will also have the
option to part of other events in Villers Bretonneux.
Day 15 Wednesday 6th May
Amiens (B L)
Today will be a late start to allow you to recover from yesterday's
long day. Late morning you return to Villers Bretonneux to
visit the Adelaide Cemetery and Australian Memorial Park at
Le Hamel and the 3rd Division Memorial at Sailly Le Sec. You
will also walk the Battlefields where Monash`s detailed tactics
resulted in all objectives being taken in just 93 minutes.
Day 16 Thursday 7th May
Amiens (B L)
After breakfast you retrace the footsteps of the 1st, 2nd
and 4th Australian Divisions who in 45 days, launched 19 attacks
and lost 23,000 men in an area of about two square miles.
You then visit Albert and Pozieres where you will see the
'Windmill', then onto Mouquet (Mucky) Farm, Fricourt German
Cemetery and the Thiepval Memorial and visitor's centre.
Day 17 Friday 8th May
Amiens - Paris (B)
This morning you take the coach to Paris. You enjoy a half
day city tour visiting the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysee, Opera,
Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame. Late afternoon you check into
your hotel in Paris or continue your tour on to Normandy.
Day 18 Saturday 9th May
Paris (B)
Today your tour ends.
Normandy
Extension
Day 18 Saturday 9th May
Normandy (B L)
This morning is at leisure in Normandy. After lunch you visit
Ranville Cemetery, Pegasus Bridge-the site of the British
Glider and Airborne assaults, then onto Sword Beach.
Day 19 Sunday 10th May
Normandy (B L)
This morning you are off to Juno and Gold Beaches, Arromanches
and the Mulberry Harbour, lunch and a free afternoon to explore
Bayeux.
Day 20 Monday 11th May
Normandy (B L)
This morning you travel to Omaha Beach, where the casualty
rates in the early stages of the assault were some 50%. Then
onto the unforgettable Omaha Cemetery, Point du Hoc-site of
action of two ranger Battalions, then via Carentan to Utah
Beach and Ste. Mere-Eglise.
Day 21 Tuesday 12th May
Normandy - Paris (B)
After Breakfast you return to Paris and book into your hotel.
Day
22 Monday 13th May
Paris (B)
Today your tour ends.
NB:
B Breakfast L Lunch D Dinner
Additional accommodation, sightseeing,
private transfers, insurance, visa or any other travel options
are available.
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