Battlefield Tours, Summer 2010

Although best known for our archaeological, musical and art-historical holidays, Martin Randall Travel also operates tours on the theme of military history. Places are still available on two such departures this summer, both led by historian and writer Ian Fletcher, the leading contemporary authority on the Peninsular War.

Wellington in the Peninsula (7–19 June 2010) is a detailed survey of one of the most significant campaigns of Nineteenth-century Europe. The group follows the redcoats through Portugal and Spain into the French Pyrenees, providing insight into the soldiering life while analysing matters military with depth and precision. The battlefields themselves are the most dramatic and illuminating of the era. Price: from £2,900 per person, including flights to and from London.

The Battle of Waterloo (28 June–2 July 2010), as consequential as it was in military terms, had ultimately a more subtle significance to the victors. The triumph of the underdog against overpowering odds resonates in British national myth, from the Blitz and Rorke’s Drift, through Waterloo to Crécy and Agincourt, where by geographical and mythopoeic convenience this tour begins. Price: from £1,650 per person, including travel by Eurostar from and back to London.

Both tours also include in the basic price private coach travel, hotel accommodation, most meals (with wine and coffee), all admissions, all taxes, all tips for drivers and waiters, lectures by Ian Fletcher, and much more.