Vimy Ridge: Why Canadians Come Here, and Why You Should Too

On April 9, 1917, all four divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked Vimy Ridge simultaneously, taking a position that French and British forces had failed to capture for two years. They succeeded in four days. The battle cost 10,602 Canadian casualties. Today, the ridge is Canadian soil, preserved under a 1922 land grant from France, and it remains one of the most emotionally powerful military sites in Europe.

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial sits on the highest point of the ridge, 8 km north of Arras. The twin white limestone pylons rise 30 metres and are visible from considerable distance across the flat Artois farmland. The names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who were killed in France and have no known grave are carved into the base. Walter Allward designed the memorial over a 20-year period; it was unveiled by King Edward VIII in 1936.

The Site Itself

The memorial and surrounding preserved battlefield are free and open year-round, 24 hours a day. There are no fences and no entry fees. A Parks Canada visitor centre (open daily April through November, 09:00-17:30) provides context, maps, and guided tours. English-speaking student guides offer free 45-minute tours of the trenches from April through November. These tours are worth taking: the guides are well-trained, often Canadian history students, and the on-ground interpretation of the landscape makes clear things that photographs cannot.

The preserved trenches run across approximately 100 hectares of former battlefield. The land is still heavily cratered - you can see this clearly from the ridge itself - and more than a century later it cannot be farmed due to unexploded ordnance and human remains. Visitors must stay on marked paths. This is not a precaution made for the timid: people are still occasionally injured by WWI-era shells disturbed by agricultural activity in surrounding areas.

Walk north from the memorial to the Grange Tunnel entrance. This tunnel system was used by Canadian forces to assemble before the assault. Parks Canada guides take visitors underground with helmets and lamps. The tunnel is cold (around 8°C year-round), damp, and genuinely atmospheric. Carvings made by soldiers on the chalk walls survive intact.

Arras: The Base

Arras, 8 km south, is the practical base for a Vimy visit. The city is well worth an afternoon in its own right. The Grand Place and Place des Héros are two adjoining squares of 17th-century Flemish Baroque architecture - entirely rebuilt after WWI destruction but done so accurately and beautifully. The underground boves (caves) beneath the city were used as a military headquarters and field hospital during WWI. Les Grandes Boves tours run daily from the Place des Héros for around 9 euros per adult.

The Carriere Wellington visitor centre near Arras (about 3 km from the centre, easy by taxi) covers the New Zealand Tunnelling Company’s work in the chalk tunnels used in the 1917 Arras Offensive. It’s well-produced and complements the Vimy experience well if you have a full day.

Nearby: Notre Dame de Lorette and the Ring of Memory

Notre Dame de Lorette, 4 km west of Vimy, is the largest French military cemetery in the world, with 40,000 burials. The adjacent Anneau de la Memoire (Ring of Memory), opened in 2014, lists 579,606 soldiers of all nationalities who died in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais department, inscribed in alphabetical order by surname regardless of nation. The deliberate mixing of names - French, British, German, Canadian, Australian - is affecting in a way that segregated national cemeteries are not.

Tyne Cot Cemetery near Ypres (Belgium) is a 90-minute drive north and is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world. If you’re spending two days in the region, combining Vimy with Ypres and Tyne Cot makes for a coherent and powerful itinerary.

Where to Eat

La Faisanderie on the Grand Place in Arras is the better restaurant in the city centre, serving solid northern French cooking - carbonnade, rabbit, good local cheese board. Lunch menus around 28-35 euros. Closed Monday.

La Corne d’Or on Place des Héros is reliable for a casual lunch of moules-frites or steak. Prices around 14-22 euros for a main. Outdoor tables in summer.

For something less formal, pick up supplies from the covered market on the Place des Héros (Saturday mornings) or the smaller weekday market. Northern French charcuterie and cheese are very good here.

Where to Stay

Arras has a range of accommodation. Hotel Trois Luppars on the Grand Place occupies a 15th-century building with well-renovated rooms from around 90 euros. The location makes morning and evening walks around the squares easy.

Hotel Ibis Arras Centre Les Places is the predictable chain option, solid value at 70-85 euros per night, a few minutes walk from the squares.

Lens, 12 km east (and home to the Louvre-Lens museum), has even cheaper options if budget is tight. The museum itself justifies a couple of hours: it houses rotating collections from the Louvre in a purpose-built Sanaa-designed building on the site of a former mine.

Getting There

From London St Pancras by Eurostar to Lille Europe takes 80 minutes. From Lille, trains to Arras run regularly, about 30-40 minutes. Arras station is 15 minutes by taxi from the Vimy Memorial.

From Paris Nord, direct TGVs reach Arras in about 55 minutes. Rental car from Arras gives flexibility to visit multiple sites in a day.