Carrière Wellington

Arras

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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 Zealand. Hour-long guided tours in French and English combine imaginative audiovisuals, evocative photos and period artefacts. Signs painted in black are British and from WWI; those in red are French from WWII, when the site was used as a bomb shelter. It's signposted 1km south of the train station. Access is by lift (no stairs).

The temperature in the tunnels is a constant 11°C; bring a jacket.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

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  • La Cité Souterraine de Naours

    La Cité Souterraine de Naours

    28.02 MILES

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  • Grand' Place & Place des Héros

    Grand' Place & Place des Héros

    0.76 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…

  • Ring of Remembrance

    Ring of Remembrance

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  • Thiepval Memorial.

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Nearby Arras attractions

1. Grand' Place & Place des Héros

0.76 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…

2. Hôtel de Ville

0.78 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…

4. Ayette Indian & Chinese Cemetery

7.84 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…

5. Lens' 14-18 Museum

8.58 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…

6. Ring of Remembrance

8.73 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. Louvre-Lens

10.46 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…

8. Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial

15.58 MILES

This evocative memorial preserves part of the Western Front in the state it was in at fighting's end. The zigzag trench system, which still fills with mud…

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