Arras
Ensconced in a 16th-century former Jesuit monastery, this fashionable inn is arrayed in a horseshoe shape around a quiet neoclassical courtyard. Heavy drapes, tassels and bedspreads give the 38 spacious rooms an elegant feel.
There's just one family room so be sure to book. Reserve ahead too for courtyard parking (€13) as spaces are limited.
26.81 MILES
Inaugurated in 1892, Lille's illustrious Fine Arts Museum claims France's second-largest collection after Paris' Musée du Louvre. Its cache of sublime…
25.88 MILES
For historical and cultural context, the best place to begin a visit to the Somme battlefields is the outstanding Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne…
28.08 MILES
Believed to date from the 3rd century AD, this extraordinary underground 'city' of quarried tunnels was started by the Romans and expanded over the…
Grand' Place & Place des Héros
0.22 MILES
Arras' two ancient market squares, the Grand' Place and the almost-adjacent, smaller place des Héros (also known as the Petite Place), are surrounded by…
8 MILES
It's hard not to be overwhelmed by the waste and folly of the Western Front as you walk past panel after panel engraved with 579,606 tiny names: WWI dead…
Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Cemetery & Museum
22.28 MILES
The death toll was horrific – 1917 Australians and 519 Britons killed in just one day of fighting – yet the Battle of Fromelles was largely forgotten…
Vimy Ridge Canadian National Historic Site
6.13 MILES
After the war, the French attempted to erase signs of battle and return northern France to agriculture and normalcy. Conversely, the Canadians remembered…
16.83 MILES
Its silhouette instantly recognisable from afar, this 45m-high memorial to the missing of the Somme, 7.5km northeast of Albert, is inscribed with the…
0.19 MILES
Arras' Flemish Gothic city hall dates from the 16th century but was completely rebuilt after WWI. Four géants (giants) live in the lobby. For a panoramic…
2. Grand' Place & Place des Héros
0.22 MILES
Arras' two ancient market squares, the Grand' Place and the almost-adjacent, smaller place des Héros (also known as the Petite Place), are surrounded by…
0.76 MILES
Staging ground for the spring 1917 offensive, Wellington Quarry is a 20m-deep network of old chalk quarries expanded during WWI by tunnellers from New…
4. Vimy Ridge Canadian National Historic Site
6.13 MILES
After the war, the French attempted to erase signs of battle and return northern France to agriculture and normalcy. Conversely, the Canadians remembered…
7.88 MILES
Housed in four black concrete cubes, this 2015-opened WWI museum provides an in-depth introduction to WWI on the Western Front. Over 300 extraordinary…
8 MILES
It's hard not to be overwhelmed by the waste and folly of the Western Front as you walk past panel after panel engraved with 579,606 tiny names: WWI dead…
7. Ayette Indian & Chinese Cemetery
8.35 MILES
Towards the end of WWI, tens of thousands of Chinese labourers were recruited by the British government to perform noncombat jobs in Europe, including the…
9.88 MILES
The innovative Louvre-Lens, opened in 2012, showcases hundreds of treasures from Paris' venerable Musée du Louvre in state-of-the-art exhibition spaces…