‘THEWATERLOO CAMPAIGN’

16 – 20 JUNE

Exile to Elba failed to quench Napoleon’s ambition. His “escape”and return to France on 1st March 1815, resulted

in the campaign of the “Hundred Days”. His plan very nearly succeeded, nobody knows what the effect of success

may have been on modern Europe, for the outcome represents a major turning point in history. The story of the

battles, Ligny, Quatre Bras and Waterloo, and the bravery of the soldiers, including French, British, German,

Prussian, Dutch, Belgian, and Polish have excited small boys, and grown men, ever since. The tour will begin with

inspection of the concentration area of the French Army and the battlefields of Ligny and Quatre Bras. The

following day we cover the main battlefield, and visit its museums at Le Caillou and in the village of Waterloo.

16 JUNE: Meet at St Pancras International for Eurostar to Lille. Coach transfer to Mercure Hotel, Mons,

for three nights. Illustrated talk on the campaign after dinner.

17 JUNE: Drive to Beaumont, site of Napoleon’s Army HQ on 15th June 1815. Tour the concentration area

of the Army of the North, including the farm of Dansonspene, where Marshall Ney spent the night. Drive

to Fleurus to see the windmill from which Napoleon directed the Battle of Ligny. Drive across the

Battlefield of Ligny to the site of the windmill at Braye, the Prussian HQ, where Wellington met Field

Marshall Blücher before the battle, and criticised his deployment. Visit the Ligny museum. Then drive

across country to Quatre Bras, passing through the area where the French I Corps marched to and fro

during the battles of 16th June. Visit the farm of Gemioncourt and the battlefield of Quatre Bras.

18 JUNE: Drive to Le Caillou to visit the museum at Napoleon’s HQ. Then to La Belle Alliance for

introduction to the main battlefield. Visit the Prussian memorial at Plancenoit. Drive to Mont St Jean;

visit the farm of La Haye Sainte; view the field from the allied line. Visit the Panorama, and then at leisure

for about an hour and a half. Drive to Hougoumont to visit the farm. Finally drive to Waterloo village to

visit the museum in Wellington’s HQ.

19 JUNE: Attend the reenactment of the battle.

20 JUNE: Check out from the hotel. Drive to Brussels to visit the British Monument at the cemetery at

Evere, and then visit the Belgian Army Museum. Return to London by Eurostar late afternoon.

PRICE PER PERSON: £425.00

SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: £90.00

DEPOSIT PER PERSON: £50.00

GUIDE: MIKE HANNON