REVOLUTION & REDCOATS - Waterloo
The Birth of Modern Europe.
This tour is a journey through the highly dramatic four days when Napoleon Bonaparte
gambled everything on the greatest comeback attempt in history.
Please contact us for departure dates.
Day 1: Travel to Waterloo
Day 2: The French advance from Charleroi and battle with the Prussians
In the morning we will visit the site of the bridge over which French Sappers and Marines charged in order to clear the way for the French advance and then move to the site of La Belle Vue Inn where Napoleon watched his troops marching past. Later we'll move to Quatre Bras but not before visiting Frasnes where the French Left Wing bivouacked for the night. Once we're at Quatre Bras we'll discuss how the Dutch saved Wellington from disaster.
We will then follow in the steps of Wellington, as he visited his loyal ally, Blucher, at Brye (near Ligny) just before the French launched their attack of 16th June 1815. While here we will spend some time exploring the battlefield of Ligny, Napoleon's last victory, concentrating on the villages of Ligny and St Amand where the fighting was particularly brutal and where the Imperial Guard launched its decisive attack that broke the Prussian line.
In the afternoon we will follow the line of the Prussian retreat to Wavre and explore the village and the site of the bridge defended by the Prussians against repeated attacks by the French. Once this has been completed we will move to Limale and learn how the French missed their opportunity to prevent Blucher linking up with Wellington and then we'll follow the difficult route through the Lasne defile taken by the Prussian II and IV Corps to attack Napoleon's right flank at Waterloo.
En route to the Bois de Paris we'll stop at Chapelle St Lambert and see what Blucher could see of the battle taking place on Mont St Jean ridge and after emerging from the Bois de Paris we'll visit the scene of the first Prussian action at Waterloo where they deployed to commence their attack on the French.
Day 3: Wellington faces Naploeon
In the morning we'll visit the house, and now museum, where Wellington spent the night before and after the battle before continuing to Quatre Bras to explore the battlefield that was fought over on the same day as the Prussians were being defeated at Ligny. After this we will follow the same route used by the Allied and French armies on 17th June 1815 as they moved inexorably North towards Brussels and in Genappes we will view the scene and discuss the infamous ‘Rocket Incident' and cavalry skirmish at Genappes.
Before moving to Rossome we'll stop at Le Caillou, the house in which Napoleon stayed the night before the battle and which is now a museum. Once at Rossome we'll investigate the site of Napoleon's 1st Headquarters during the battle, and discuss the his role during the battle and try to decide what he could actually see (this also was the same ridge from which Wellington intended to fight the battle). Once we have finished on the ridge we will travel across the battlefield to de-bus at the visitor's centre. Before going into the centre itself we will climb the famous Lion Mount for a battlefield orientation and then the rest of the day will be on foot.
Lunch will either be at the Visitor's Centre (wet weather) or on the Western Ridge during which time the fighting and tactics used in this sector will be explained by Phil.
In the afternoon we will continue to walk down to Hougoumont and explore the ground around the buildings (unfortunately this site is presently being sensitively restored and entry will not be possible in 2009) to discuss the fierce fighting that took place at both the North and South Gates and in the grounds around the Chateau. From Hougoumont we will walk across the Western part of the battlefield to La Belle Alliance and follow the attack of D'Erlon's Corps and the subsequent assaults on La Haye Sainte.
Next we will walk across to the 'sandpit' and see the slope where Picton and Uxbridge launched their counterattacks and then follow the ridge towards Papelotte and across the Eastern side of the battlefield to where the Prussians launched their own attacks on Plancenoit.
While here on the battlefield we will explore the slopes above Plancenoit and the village itself before climbing up out of the valley, past the Prussian memorial, towards La Belle Alliance and the site of the last stand of the Imperial Guard.
Time and weather allowing, it is the intention to then follow the route taken by the Imperial Guard in its final assault of the Napoleonic Wars back towards Mont St Jean Ridge.
This tour ends just to the West of the Lion Mount where we'll discuss the battle's bloody climax.
Day 4: Aftermath - Final visit to the Mont St Jean Ridge before returning to the UK
4 DAY TOUR
Price: £800 per person
£1375 per couple sharing
The tour begins on a Monday and ends on the Thursday at Victoria Bus Station, London.
Spaces are limited to 12 so we would advise to enquire and book early to avoid missing out.
We fully comply with the provisions of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (EEC Directive 90/314). In accordance with these regulations, all payments made to us, either as deposit or final settlement (including all credit card payments), are held in a separate trust account (HSBC Bank PLC, 76 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1EL. Account Number: 93672638) and as such your payment cannot be released to us until the relevant Tour has taken place. This regulation guarantees a full refund of all monies paid in the most unlikely event of us failing to provide the Tour booked.