In a new version of this popular tour, we travel to Spain and follow the battles and engagements of the army of Sir Arthur Wellesley, Lord Wellington, in the Peninsular War, battles popularised in the Bernard Cornwall’s ‘Sharpe’ novels.
12 days from £1669 pp
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your tour either online, or by telephone ( 01709 787 463 ), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can:
Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.
We take the overnight ferry from Plymouth bringing us into Santander in Spain.
On arrival in Spain we travel down to our hotel in Salamanca for three nights, stopping at the Tordesillas battlefield from October 1812, and on the first evening have a briefing from the Battlefield Guide on the history of the Peninsular War along with an overview of the battlefields that will be visited on the tour.
Today we visit the Salamanca Battlefield. Here in July 1812 Wellington’s Anglo-Portuguese Army defeated the French in a battle that cemented his reputation as a skilful commander. We have a full day exploring this important battlefield to understand the fighting which led to more than 13,000 French casualties, and visit the Battle of Salamanca Museum.
This morning we visit the Battlefield of Fuentes de Onoro, one of Wellington’s closest run and finest victories in May 1811. After lunch, we will walk the defences used in the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812 when Wellington’s men besieged the French garrison here. Walking the ramparts, our journey will end at the castle to get an impression of how formidable the defences were.
Departing Salamanca, we go to Badajoz to look at the costly siege of this walled city. We see where the fighting took place in 1812 at the infamous Breach involving the men of the Forlorn Hope. Once the position was taken Wellington stood on the walls and looked down at the losses and visibly wept. We continue to our hotel in Badajoz for two nights.
Our destination is Albuera, where one of the bloodiest battles of the Peninsular War took place in May 1811. We walk the battlefield and see the ‘Fatal Hill’ as well as the monuments in the nearby town, and visit the Battle of Albuera Museum. We also travel to Elvas, to see the burials made in the British cemetery there after the Battle of Albuera.
We spend the day on the battlefield at Talavera, where the battle took place in July 1809. It was here that Richard Sharpe took an Eagle from the French while serving in the Light Company of the fictional South Essex. We examine the real events of the engagement and touring the battlefield, visit the memorial sited on the slopes of the Cerro de Medellin Hill and study the landscape on which the principal fighting occurred.
Departing Spain we head into France, just as Wellington’s Army did in 1814. We visit the battlefield of Orthez where the fighting took place in February 1814, and then continue to the ground near Toulouse where the city was captured by Wellington in April 1814. We overnight in Toulouse.
We travel from Toulouse to the Paris area for an overnight stay.
Return home.
Single Room Supplement from £399.00 (12 days).
Book online OR call our friendly travel advisers on:
01709 787 463
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
Throughout your tour you will stay in 3 or 4-star, city-style hotels.
Front row seats can be reserved for £15pp (up to 6 days duration), £25pp (7 and 8 days duration), £30pp (9 to 11 days) or £35pp (12 days or more) on all European tours. This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on our Executive and Silver Service coaches and for one or two persons on our Luxuria coaches and is subject to availability. In addition to this, seats on the second row can be reserved for a supplement of £8pp (up to 6 days duration), £15pp (7 and 8 days duration), £18pp (9 to 11 days) or £22pp (12 days or more).
Guaranteed front or second row seats cannot be reserved on transfer journeys to/from the UK port. Occasionally, front and second row seats may be on a request only basis.
Please note: children under 15 years of age are not permitted to sit in the front seats of any coach.
On some coaches the legroom on front seats, central view seats and seats directly in front of the washroom may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled or merged for any reason and front or second row seats or central view seats or table seats are not available on your tour, you will be refunded any supplement paid. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
Central View Seats are available to pre-book free of charge.
Table Seats are available to pre-book free of charge on our Luxuria coaches.
Transfer coaches are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure. The route taken depends on where paassengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 two weeks before you are due to travel.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
When it comes to getting you to your destination, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you to choose from.
We have hundreds of coach joining points throughout England, Scotland and Wales. To find your nearest joining point, search using your postcode below.
*Please note joining points are subject to availability.
To book this tour, just give our friendly team a call on 01709 787 463 or book online at www.leger.co.uk