If you are interested in history, nothing beats being in the place where the events actually happened. Better still, to visit those sites with an expert guide who can bring that history alive. The best escorted tours on historical and battlefield themes do exactly that. Below I’ve selected 10 of the best such trips, many led by high profile guides including Sir Max Hastings, Paddy Ashdown and Sir Roy Strong, and attached to major anniversaries such as the cententaries of Verdun and the Somme.
1. Verdun Centenary
Leger has arranged a new five-day tour to mark the centenary of the Battle of Verdun in 2016. Visits on the battlefield include Fort Douaumont, Fort Vaux, the French Ossuary, a cemetery that houses the bones of 130,000 unidentified soldiers and the newly refurbished Fleury Memorial Museum, which will re-open for the occasion. On the anniversary weekend, there are stops at special exhibitions and centenary events as well as visits to further battlefield locations including the Voie Sacrée, the Trench of Bayonets, Verdun Citadelle and the Froideterre fortifications. The trip is based in the three-star Ibis Metz Centre Cathedrale in Metz, which is close to the city’s cathedral and historic centre. A battlefield specialist will be on hand to give context to this war of attrition.
February 18, from £329 b&b including coach travel from a regional joining point of your choice. Leger (0844 324 9266; leger.co.uk).
French National Cemetery of Douaumont
2. Belle Époque Paris
At the end of the 19th century, Paris was arguably the most beautiful and exciting city on earth. ACE Cultural Tours has a new four-day itinerary which celebrates this golden age. It is guided by Patrick Bade, an art historian and lecturer at Christie’s, and is based at the Millennium Hotel Paris Opéra in the ninth arrondissement. The tour includes the Musée Carnavalet; Pierre Cardin’s recreated courtesan apartment which now houses his collection of Belle Époque decorative arts; Hôtel Drouot, the city’s most venerable auction house, and the lavish Palais Garnier opera house. There is also a special visit to Hôtel de la Païva, a private gentleman’s club which features a staircase made of onyx and a solid silver bathtub.
April 21, from £1,195 including Eurostar travel between London and Paris and some meals. ACE Cultural Tours (01223 841055; aceculturaltours.co.uk).
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The Marc Chagall ceiling of the Palais Garnier opera house is one of the sights on a Belle Epoque tour of Paris (AP) Photo: AP
3. The Somme with Sir Max Hastings
As well as Verdun (above), 2016 marks the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, one of the darkest chapters of the First World War. To commemorate this harrowing battle, Telegraph Tours has launched a four-day coach tour of the Somme with a special contribution by Sir Max Hastings, the eminent historian and former editor of The Daily Telegraph. He will offer an introductory lecture and join you for an exclusive dinner. Based in a traditional hotel in Arras on the site of a 17th century monastery, the tour includes visits to Newfoundland Memorial Park, the Thiepval Memorial dedicated to the Somme’s missing soldiers, Delville Wood and Pozières, as well as Flers and Courcelette and a number of memorials around the front line.
May 4 and May 6, from £1,595 including return travel by Eurostar between London and Lille and all meals with wine at dinner. Telegraph Tours (01722 713820; http://ift.tt/2288LIu).
4. Imperial Cities of Morocco
Kirker Holidays’ new six-day Imperial Cities of Morocco tour visits Meknes and Rabat with a special focus on Fez, the oldest of the imperial cities and still considered the country’s intellectual and spiritual centre. From here, there is a visit to the Roman site at Volubilis with its well-preserved ruins and mosaics. Other highlights include Hassan Tower, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the Andalucian Garden at Oudaya Kasbah, the Museum of Moroccan Arts and Fez El Bali, a labyrinth of alleyways where artisans still ply their trades. Art historian Andrew Allen will illuminate the visits with insights into the history of the cities and their influence on Morocco’s culture and politics today.
Departures between May and October, from £1,878 per person including most meals. Kirker (020 7593 1899; kirkerholidays.com).
5. The Romantic Poets of Italy
This new tour from Great Rail Journeys traces the journey made by Mary and Percy Shelley as they embarked on a new life in Italy in 1818. The 10-day itinerary starts in Venice, continues to Rome, Lucca, San Terenzo and Florence, before finishing in Vevey. There are visits to the homes of the Romantic poets, including a guided tour of the Keats-Shelley House in Rome, led by Dr Jim Watt, a senior lecturer at the University of York. Highlights include the Venice Lido, the hotel which was the basis for Percy’s poem 'Julian and Maddalo’; the Bridge of Saints, immortalised in Byron’s 'Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’; the Baths of Caracalla, the spot where Percy composed 'Prometheus Unbound’; and Château de Chillon, the castle in Byron’s 'The Prisoner Of Chillon’.
September 15, from £2,395, including first-class rail travel throughout and some meals. Great Rail Journeys (0800 140 4444; greatrail.com).
View over the rooftops of Lucca
6. The French Resistance in the South with Paddy Ashdown
The French Resistance together with the British Special Operations Executive agents fought a covert war against the German army and the SS. This secret struggle sometimes resulted in open conflict as the resistors confronted the German army. Historical Trips leads for the first time an eight-day Secret War tour that visits the places associated with this conflict. French Resistance expert, Martyn Cox leads this tour alongside Liberal Democrat peer Paddy Ashdown, whose book, The Cruel Victory, marked the 70th anniversary of the Vercors Tragedy. It takes in Oradour-sur-Glane, a town whose entire population was murdered by the SS; the battlefield in Vercors where large numbers of German troops were deployed in the biggest battle involving the French resistance in the war; and Chambon-sur-Lignon, the commune whose residents hid hundreds of Jews from the Germans.
June 8, from £2,495 including all meals with wine at dinner. Historical Trips (01722 713820; historicaltrips.com).
7. Battlefields of KwaZulu-Natal
Titan Travel is offering a new 15-day Battlefields of KwaZulu Natal tour which traces the struggles between Zulu warriors, Boer Guerrillas and the British redcoats. Led by expert lecturers, it takes in the Spion Kop Battlefield site, the Falcons Ridge Bird of Prey Centre and Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift battle sites. Other highlights include a talk on the Anglo-Boer War and Paul Kruger with a visit to his farmstead and museum; a boat cruise in iSimangaliso Wetland Park; open-vehicle drives at Amakhosi private game reserve; and a Zulu experience at Shakaland complete with foot-stomping tribal dancing by assegai-wielding warriors.
Departures between February and November, from £2,949 including most meals. Titan (0808 159 8993; titantravel.co.uk).
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8. The Cuban Revolution
Historian Alex von Tunzelmann, whose book Red Heat tackles the relationship between the United States and Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti during the Cold War, is the guide on this new Cuban Revolution tour. The eight-day itinerary takes in Santa Clara, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Old Havana and the Portages Tobacco Factory. There are talks on Cuba-related conspiracy theories surrounding the murder of JFK, Fidel’s various visits to the US - before and after the revolution and the relations between the US and Cuba since the Missile Crisis and the collapse of the Soviet Union. And there are visits to the Museum of the Revolution and a swim in the Bay of Pigs, where CIA frogmen and Cuban political exiles mounted a disastrous invasion in 1961.
November 21, from £3,295 including all meals with wine at dinner. Historical Trips (01722 713820; historicaltrips.com).
Museum of the Revolution in Cuba
9. The Mongol empire
John Man, a best-selling author and a specialist in Central Asia, guides this 15-day which follows in the footsteps of Genghis Khan through China. The new Mongol Empire itinerary from Steppes, starts from the outer reaches of the Empire to Kublai Khan’s heartland, including Beijing and his summer capital, Xanadu. Highlights include a stay in a Mongolian yurt; a visit to the Terracotta Warriors, one of the greatest archaeological finds of the last century; and a stop at the Arzhai cave painting which depicts the funeral of Genghis Khan. The tour also takes in China’s key sites such as Tiananmen Square and the Juyongguan Section of the Great Wall, a strategic gateway leading to Inner Mongolia - as well visits to the Mongolia History Museum and the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan.
September 15, from £4,795 including some meals, but excluding return flights between London and Beijing. Steppes (01285 601 767; steppestravel.co.uk).
10. Rediscovering the Raj
Sir Roy Strong, former director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum, leads this 16-day tour of India. The new itinerary explores the architectural legacy of the British in Hyderabad, Mumbai (Bombay), Lucknow, Delhi and Shimla. It also takes in former British residences: the Viceroy’s House, the home of the president of India, palaces of Indian nobility, and the Residency, a complex of ruins preserved as a memorial of the famous Mutiny siege. Other highlights include a private viewing of period footage at the Liberty Cinema in Mumbai, dinner at the Bombay Yacht Club, and a horse and a rickshaw ride through the Red Fort, seat of the Mughal emperors until 1857.
From March 4, from £5,840 including some meals. The Ultimate Travel Company (020 3553 6369; theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk).
Red Fort, seat of the Mughal emperors
Tips
Research
Do some research before your trip - it will give you a flying start in getting to grips with the subject of the tour. If you have a relative who died in battle check with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (cwgc.org), which can supply details of where they are buried or commemorated.
Prices
Those quoted here include return flights from London, accommodation, and admission to sights on the itinerary, unless stated otherwise. They are per person based on two sharing a twin or double room. Some departures allow flights from regional airports.
Itineraries
Check the itinerary - will it be too hectic for you?
Group size
Check group size. Tours run by specialist operators involve smaller groups than more general ones – but double check.
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