Walk or cycle in the footsteps of heroes

 

With Anzac Day just around the corner, leading Australian travel provider UTracks is urging history buffs to consider walking, or cycling through the Western Front of World War I. 

The French region of the Somme and the northern region of Belgium known as Flanders are areas of natural beauty, flat lands with rich culinary traditions. 

Through this area runs the Western Front, a series of trenches built by the Germans in WWI stretching 700km from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. 

Following the Western Front along quiet roads and bike paths, a journey can include a stop at Villers Bretonneux, where in April, 1918, the Australian Corps successfully stopped the advancing German troops. 

This is a region of open farmland and small villages, where history is remembered and Australian are still loved. There is an abundance of historical landmarks. 

The Somme was the site of one of the First World War’s largest and most destructive campaigns, continuing for more than four months, resulting in over one million casualties.

Today, the Somme is largely rural. Fields have long ago been replanted, roads follow former supply routes, and villages have been rebuilt following widespread destruction. 

The Villers-Bretonneux Australian National Memorial overlooks the surrounding fields and commemorates more than 10,000 Australian soldiers with no known grave, while the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing records over 72,000 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Somme sector.

For those seeking to understand the region more fully, UTracks offers walking and cycling routes based out of Amiens for self-guided walking and cycling itineraries. 

Tours include pre-booked accommodation, luggage transfers and navigation support via a digital app. Routes connect major memorials with smaller villages and lesser known sites, allowing travellers to experience a broader cross section of the landscape beyond the primary monuments.

See https://www.utracks.com/France/Self-Guided-Walking/Western-Front-Walk-Amiens-to-Arras or 
https://www.utracks.com/France/Self-Guided-Cycling/Cycle-the-Western-Front

Images: Supplied