ANZAC Day 2020 in France and Belgium Tour (London to London option)

Very personal approach. Tour guides went out of their way to help out and were very knowledgable. I’m excited about my return trip with Pillow again to France celebrating ANZAC Day 2015 this year.

My husband and I joined a Pillows tour to spend ANZAC day at Villiers Brettenoux in 2014. It was a memorable trip – so much was packed into those days, and we will never forget our experience. Rick – our guide, was informative and relaxed. Peter – our WW1 guide was a fount of knowledge – he seemed to know the answer to nearly every question!

I would be hard pressed to say what part of our tour left the greatest impression – laying a wreath at the Menin Gate evening service, or the inspiring Dawn Service on the 25th. Perhaps the most powerful experience was the from the residents of Villiers Brettenoux – their gratitude to Australia is palpable (and humbling) 100 years later!
Initially we chose Pillow because it was good value, but I could not recommend them highly enough to others – Rick and Peter were helpful, knowledgeable, and accommodating – taking a number of us to specific cemetaries to find family members buried in France.
Overall, a trip I will always remember!

I can- not recall exactly how I came to choose Pillow from other tours that are advertised on GOOGLE, but I am glad to say I made an excellent choice. The tour was well organised , it covered a lot of ground in a short time, but I never felt hurried. Rick and Peter were well versed in the history of WW1.

As a school boy at age ten we were asked to dress up as an Australian hero. Influenced by my maternal Grandfather (of German Jewish origin) I went as Sir John Monash, rated by General Montgomery as the best allied General in WWI. Later in life I learnt of the troops under Monash saving the town of Villers-Brettoneux(VB) and also how the Australians helped to rebuild the school. A few years ago bush fires destroyed a number of townships around parts of Victoria and the children from the school in VB sent a large donation to help with the restoration. So ,I guess my three days in Belgium and France was a sort of a pilgrimage.

Visiting the battlefields, the graveyards, memorials ,statues, the school yard and of course the dawn service was a very sobering experience. As peoples we have not learnt much from the war that was supposed to end all wars.

The Villers -Bretonneux Anzac dawn service and Western Front tour that my wife and I attended in 2013 is one of the most memorable experiences we have had following the war trails.
We searched the Internet for a tour to the Western Front and found Pillow to be so reasonably priced and met our needs for a round trip from London.
The tour far exceeded our expectations and the knowledge and insight into the history provided by the Crew (Rick) and guide (Peter) was so well conveyed, that left us with life long memories.
I recommend this tour and Pillow to everyone and look forward to joining you again to repeat this tour at a future time.

The Dawn Service at Villers-Brettoneux was undoubtedly the highlight of our tour. The vision of row upon row of graves, so neatly kept in Australian War Cemeteries, with the wreaths of beautiful flowers at the memorial cenotaphs, are etched in our mind. Nothing can take away the chilling effect of that Anzac Day service. What did my grandfather feel when he served in that area? Was he the soldier in the Villers-Brettoneux museum? We knew the warmth of those townsfolk by their wonderful decorations in the street, and in the sincerity of the Menin Gate ceremony at Ypres. The experiences we had from the Pillow staff certainly led us through some memorable experiences of the Lille-Lille tour.

In contrast to the various Australian War Memorials, I found the German mass grave memorial at Langemark very confronting. Its starkness was difficult to take in. Then I looked at the names on the four pillars at the entrance. I looked for the name of my mother’s uncles. There they were.

That was extremely sad to me, almost more so than being in the same town that my grand-father served. They could have been fighting each other, these members of my own family. No pretty flowers here. Three bare crosses in a field and four stone guardians of this mass grave. Confronting, yes, but I was glad to have been there. It brought home that there were sacrifices on both sides of war. My family to bring my respects.

Without doubt, the Western Front ANZAC Day coach tour we did with Rick and Pillow Tours was one of the best experiences in our many years of travel.

All of the most important sites were covered in a short period of time, including the Last Post at Menin Gate, a number of significant Cemeteries from all sides with expert guidance, preserved trenches to reinforce the terrifying realities our soldiers faced, and importantly for me a stop at Bullecourt where my great-grandfather fought. It was a powerful and emotional experience for all of us on board, culminating in the Dawn Service at Villers-Bretonneux where the WWI Australian Memorial stands, and the rising sun catches WWII bullet holes as a poignant reminder that the devastation we were observing was not the war to end all wars.

Having made a late decision to attend, we were also impressed by the opportunity to explore some of the towns and cities as they stand today, all combined with the convenience of a round trip from London.

12 months later, we attended the Dawn Service at Gallipoli on ANZAC Day. For us, the Western Front and Villers-Bretonneux was the superior experience. Both are must-do pilgrimages for Australians and New Zealanders: Gallipoli on ANZAC Day was crowded and restricted and would be better to visit quietly at other times of the year, while France and Belgium in April were welcoming, solemn, deeply moving, and respectful of the smaller crowds and our reasons for being there. Pillow Tours was the same, and we recommend it highly.

We did our WW1 Anzac Day tour in April 2011 and what an amazing tour it was.

From the moment we joined the tour in London to when we left 4 days later in Lille, France, we had a wonderful experience.

In particular, the knowledge of our tour guide Peter (In the photo with me) was outstanding. It was a very emotional 4 days and a tour that we would have no hesitation in recommending to anyone that was considering the Western Front WW1 Anzac Day tour. Thank you Pillow!

I chose Pillow tours’ Anzac day in France tour. I had researched a number of tour companies as I am a historian myself so was after an informative tour but the majority of tours were catered to the older retired traveller and were very expensive.

I was apprehensive booking with Pillow as I was worried that it would be a festival tour and would not recognise the real purpose of travelling to the region. I had suffered a similar experience in Turkey so did not set my hopes high. I was completely surprised, all my scepticism was immediately blown out of the water the moment I got on the bus. The tour group was small and fantastic with a range of ages.

When we arrived in France and were met by our WWI guide Peter, well all I can say is WOW! He was an oracle. His knowledge and story telling was fantastic and engaging. The tour itself covered so much ground in a few short days but you never felt rushed. The dawn service was outstanding and more personal than Gallipoli, especially as the village puts on breakfast for everyone after the service. I highly recommend this tour (try and get Peter as your guide if you can), it is highly enjoyable and informative.

I booked this tour last minute and feel lucky to have had the opportunity to go. I chose Pillow because of the specific connection and focus the tour had on Australia and New Zealand’s involvement in WW1. I met an amazing and diverse group of people on our tour who all had special stories to share. I still share stories from this tour today with family and friends as learnt so much about the western front.

A special moment of the tour was watching another tour member visit a family members burial site for the first time to say there goodbyes and put them to rest. Overall, the tour is heartwarming, educational, and an experience that I will never forget.

I have nothing but praise for ANZAC Day tour I took with Pillow nothing was an issue the information was relevant to us Aussies and Kiwis the accommodation comfortable for anyone doing a tour of the Western Front I heartily recommend Pillow and have done to friends who have indicated to me their desire to see the battlefields when they get to Europe.

I found Pillow Tours to be professional and very well organised. Nothing was too much trouble. The English tour guide Vic was excellent, as was our Tour Leader Larissa. Vic had an outstanding knowledge of Australian military history on the Western Front.

My wife has a relative who is one of the missing on the Western Front and when we went to Thiepval, the guide helped us find the tablet on which my wife’s relative is remembered. My wife and I have recommended the Pillow Tours ANZAC Day tour to a number of our friends.