Butte de Vauquois
Butte de Vauquois
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4.5
179 reviews
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iWiebe
Utrecht, The Netherlands1,054 contributions
Aug 2019
One of the most striking places of the WW1 battleground to visit. The hill where the village of Vauquois used to be was turned into huge craters by mine warfare. Between 1915 and 1918 over 500 mines have been detonated by both sides without resulting in any significant advance.
Written February 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Quentin L
Bedfordshire, UK215 contributions
Sept 2022 • Couples
Village totally destroyed and site turned into a huge crater showing the effects of explosives. You can walk round the perimeter of the site on your own. Walking shoes required, up and down terrain. Do not miss the German trenches as they are better preserved. Tours are run by volunteers on particular days but you can also hire your own guide for the day.
Written October 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Weyes1
Bloomington, IN419 contributions
Oct 2019
This site was recommended to us by Dutch WWI history buffs who visit the area every year. While it is possible to walk around the area to see the trenches and craters on your own, we were advised to take the tour. It is extremely important to know that the tour is only in French. We do not speak French but decided to take the tour anyway because it was the only way to get into the tunnels dug by the soldiers. This is what we wanted to see so we took a chance. The tours are run by dedicated volunteers. They seemed to think it odd that we chose to join one of their tours (true!) but they gamely took our 10 euros and handed over hard hats and flashlights for our use. The tour took over 90 minutes and was comprehensive. All of the French-speaking members of the tour seemed to really enjoy the commentary. We very much appreciated the opportunity to see living quarters in the tunnels, ammunition tunnels, and tunnel-digging equipment. We missed out on a lot, though, since we do not speak a word of French. Unfortunately, one of our flashlights did not work which made it extremely difficult to safely navigate the tunnels. The stone steps are jagged and slippery. The head space is limited and the lighting is sparse. However, the history of the place is undeniable and the opportunity to see the conditions the soldiers endured was one we could not pass up. If you choose to do the tour, be aware that you will spend a lot of time standing around listening to a French description with French Q&A so patience is required. Read up on the history beforehand and you will at least understand what you are seeing even if you don't understand the tour guide.
Written January 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RavenLB
Washington DC, DC73 contributions
Oct 2014 • Solo
Read reviews posted by Doug D and Snailkite --- both capture the Butte very well and I cannot improve on their observations.
I would add that the trails are steep and can be slippery so walk with caution but take time here and definitely walk the entire butte. Note the difference in the construction of German and French tunnels, linger to take in the vista. Imagine how lovely the village was sited.
I'd also suggest that you stay at Le Coq d'Or in Montfaucon d'Argonne and leave for the butte after breakfast so you have hours to explore the butte and it's environs.
I would add that the trails are steep and can be slippery so walk with caution but take time here and definitely walk the entire butte. Note the difference in the construction of German and French tunnels, linger to take in the vista. Imagine how lovely the village was sited.
I'd also suggest that you stay at Le Coq d'Or in Montfaucon d'Argonne and leave for the butte after breakfast so you have hours to explore the butte and it's environs.
Written November 26, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
snailkite
Northern Virginia, VA671 contributions
Sept 2014 • Couples
While easy to find, the Vauquois battlefield requires that you have your own transportation. Once you ascend the steep trail to the battlefield few words can express the impact the view makes upon the visitor. The hill upon which the 'lost village' of Vauquois sat was of strategic importance during WWI. Both the French and Germans fought tenaciously, destroying the town in the process. As neither was willing to surrender the high ground, both armies decided to dig under the village. Nearly the entire battle, lasting the entire war, was fought underground by miners and sappers. Each detonated enormous mines, which lifted the earth above and created craters across the landscape.
Unfortunately, two-dimensional photos do little to capture the view. The entire landscape is composed of crater upon crater, the magnitude of which conveys in a visceral sense the horror of this battle. The French monument is exceptional, showing a soldier in a trench with a grenade (within throwing distance of his foes) and behind him a fallen comrade nearly covered with earth. How many soldiers are entombed beneath your feet as you walk the battlefield?
Unfortunately, two-dimensional photos do little to capture the view. The entire landscape is composed of crater upon crater, the magnitude of which conveys in a visceral sense the horror of this battle. The French monument is exceptional, showing a soldier in a trench with a grenade (within throwing distance of his foes) and behind him a fallen comrade nearly covered with earth. How many soldiers are entombed beneath your feet as you walk the battlefield?
Written October 22, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jean-Pierre V
Affligem, Belgium216 contributions
Jul 2017
This is a 4 hours visit with a french speaking guide of a battlefield near Verdun (at 34 km) where a so called mine war was fought in WWI. During this visit you see how the battlefield looks like on the outside but also you visit the interior of this hill: gallery on the French side and gallery on the German side. Some km of the more then 20 km that were dug out especially by the Germans. Certainly worth the visit!
Written August 17, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nnmercman
Camberley, UK14,276 contributions
Sept 2016 • Friends
Visited as part of a specialist battlefield tour group and were booked with guides to take us round the top of the hill and underground passages. You can visit the hill without a guide but not the underground areas for obvious H&S reasons. Our guide spoke enough English for us to understand and was an enthusiastic volunteer. We were kitted out with hard hats and torch before ascending the hill. Next to the memorial stood a number of very realistic reenactors who were happy to pose for photographs - we also later encountered them in cameo roles underground. After orientation of the history and events of 1916 we proceeded underground. It was fascinating to learn how the French occupied one half of the hill and Germans the other half. Over 500 mines were blown underneath the hill and this was on top of the devastating artillery fire which destroyed the original village and combined reduced the height of the hill - markers show where original buildings stood (the town was subsequently rebuilt further down the hill).
Before visiting please be aware it requires a steep walk to the summit of the hill and underground it's very uneven, narrow and low ceilings will require periodic stooping as well as being damp and claustrophobic
There are no toilet facilities at the site - the nearest are in the modern rebuilt village approx 1km away.
Well done to the volunteers who do a sterling job in not only guiding visitors round the site but also maintaining the tunnels and surrounding undergrowth. This has to be the highlight of our 4 day visit to the Verdun battlefields. Our tour took approximately 3hrs! Please check dates and times of tours if you want to visit the underground areas. There is a small museum shop at the bottom of the hill.
Before visiting please be aware it requires a steep walk to the summit of the hill and underground it's very uneven, narrow and low ceilings will require periodic stooping as well as being damp and claustrophobic
There are no toilet facilities at the site - the nearest are in the modern rebuilt village approx 1km away.
Well done to the volunteers who do a sterling job in not only guiding visitors round the site but also maintaining the tunnels and surrounding undergrowth. This has to be the highlight of our 4 day visit to the Verdun battlefields. Our tour took approximately 3hrs! Please check dates and times of tours if you want to visit the underground areas. There is a small museum shop at the bottom of the hill.
Written September 18, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Doug D
Chillicothe, OH51 contributions
Feb 2014 • Solo
The lost village of Vauquois is a testament to the ferocity of mine warfare, an underground struggle unique to that war (each side would dig tunnels under the oppsition's lines, pack them with explosives and detonate the ordinance). There are other lost villages in France and Verdun in particular and other areas were mined--the Somme, Vimy and the Argonne Forest--but it is only at Vauquois that you find such extreme and surviving evidence of that type of warfare. The Butte de Vauquois, where this tiny village once stood, is now just a mass of craters and tunnel entrances. But in 1914 this small hill was hotly contested by the Germans and French. It provided a superb observation point. The Germans took the hill on Sept. 24 1914 and heavily fortified it. The French mounted several counter-attacks. Eventually they overcame German resistance and established themselves on the south side of the hill, with the Germans occupying the north side. This is where both sides stayed for the next three years, mining towards each other with increasing ferocity. One hundred years on, it remains a grim reminder of the horrors of war. Chilling and an important aspect of the war that few are aware.
Written September 16, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JRM
Penetanguishene, Canada116 contributions
Jul 2024 • Family
This is chilling place to visit. Very well preserved. A perfect microcosm of the western front featuring trench lines, massive shell craters, rusty barbed wire and the bare remaining traces of a pre-war French village. We did not take the tour; time did not permit. Instead we picked our way from one end of the battle ground to the other, impressed by the perfect quiet, the respectful monument, the informative panels and the vestiges of total destruction. Real history, well worth a visit.
Written July 16, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vissing
Stenloese, Denmark1,103 contributions
Sept 2022
Frightening place to visit. But go see. Its a very nicely preserved battlefield, that shows the visitors what explosives can do.
Written September 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Good afternoon,
For next sunday, 4th August 2019, I would like to book a ticket for the guided tour through the underground tunnels of Vauquois. Where can I go to tor tickets? The phonenumber on he website is unreachable.
Regards,
Fiana
Written July 30, 2019
This is too late but the only way to tour those tunnels is with a local certified guide who has the keys to unlocking the doors. I went through them last summer with a guide by the name of Ingrid Ferrand. She was amazing.
Written August 22, 2019
Bonjour,
Les chiens sont-ils autorisés sur le site ?
Merci d’avance.
Written November 1, 2017
L'accès à la butte étant libre je ne pense pas qu'il y ait d'interdiction pour les chiens. Par contre, pour toute la partie souterraine, comme pour la plupart des monuments, les chiens ne doivent pas être acceptés. Et que diable viendraient-ils faire ici ?
Written November 1, 2017
I would like to arrange an English guided tour for a high school group on 8 July 2016. I have sent away many emails but have had no replies at yet. Any advice on how to arrange this visit?
Written February 22, 2016
I have a 2nd question as well please and would like to have advice. Where can i take this group of 50 people for lunch in the area of Butte Vauquois?
Written February 22, 2016
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