5 day driving Itinerary - WWI sites (focus on Canadian battles)

Just for clarification, is it the WWII or WWI sites you are interested in?

I ask because I associate Juno Beach with the Normandy Landings in WWII. And WWI Canadian battles with locations like Vimy Ridge or Flanders Field - close to Lille as you note.

I was confused as to your focus - possibly my mis-read of your question.

Many of the Canadian WWI battle sites and memorials are clustered within an hour ir so drive from Lille, so you could stay there and carefully plan each day to maximize your touring. Without knowing which sites you want to visit, it's hard to say. Amiens, for the Somme, would be around 1 1/2 hr drive. Verdun isnt a day trip, for sure. It's about 3 1/2 hrs away. Veteran Affairs has a map of the WWI Western Front which might be helpful in your planning. They also have great info on all of the battle fields and memorials.

I know you are inquiring on military sites regarding Canadians in WW1. However, if you're interested in those places where they also were engaged in re: WW2, it's Dieppe in France , the memorial there to commemorate the disaster that unfolded in that operation.

In Germany the Canadians took Wismar on the Baltic and in the lower Rhine area, Xanten. I went to Xanten in 1987 as a day trip from Düsseldorf.

I would not suggest using Lille as a base but rather Arras. The rental car firm is left of the Arras train station.

One can also to Vimy by train from Arras. Having the car gives you a great deal of flexibility in seeing other towns near Arras. Near Vimy are also the biggest French military cemetery, Notre Dame de Lorette from WW1 and also the biggest German WW1 cemetery in France

I would suggest checking with the Tourist Office in Arras located in the Hotel de Ville...worth it !!

If you stay in Lille, which I think would work for you, I'd recommend making a day trip north to Ypres in Belgium. The In Flanders Fields Museum is somber but worth the trip.

As you get immersed in how horrific WWI trench warfare was, with 19th century tactics coming up against 20th century weaponry. The death, the disease, the rats, the hopelessness for the soldiers. How could it get much worse?

Oh -- that's right. Then they added poison gas to the mix.

I have been collecting the 1919 published Michelin guides as resource material for the WWI battlefields. Try and find a copy of the one for Lille, it's excellent and shows a lot of photos you can use to orient yourself in the area. Amazon shows one for $20.25, which I think is a steal.

Lille is convenient but the traffic is not so much fun and Lille locals drive like they are Belgians.

I'd suggest a place closer to Vimy where the Canadian memorial and surroundings is extremely moving..

Maybe Arras.

Do you have a particular list that you'd like to visit?

Major and Mrs Holt’s tour guide series addresses WWI & WWII in Europe pretty well. Try that for assistance in creating a battlefield tour.

I haven't been to WWI sites in France, but I think Ypres is a must-see.

I heartily recommend this museum on WW1 which also includes displays pertaining to the US role among its numerous displays and exhibitions, even though logistically the town is quite far from Arras let alone Lille. You'll have to decide time-wise if the trip is logically feasible.

This is the Museum of the Great War in Meaux, itself in the thick of the fighting in 1914, when the Germans swung east of Paris (how nice they are offering their flank) instead of adhering to the original plan of being west of Paris.

Two of the displays are reconstructions of the trenches, one of the Germans , the of the French. Seeing them is quite revealing.

The other large WW1 museum in France is logistically closer to you that that in Meaux.

This one is located in the Somme in the small town of Peronne, near Albert which is close to Amiens.

From Arras very doable logistically with your rental car. The town is so small that no train is there unlike in Meaux and Albert/Somme.
Unlike the Meaux museum, I've yet to see this Peronne museum.

Michelle,
If you find time before your trip, you might like to see the 2005 French film "Joyeux Noel" and/or "All Is Calm:The Christmas Truce of 1914". Both films help ameliorate (for me) the sadness that visiting Verdun always engenders. The WWI sites in that northern France/Belgium area are moving and memorable, and I wish you a wonderful pilgrimage.
p.s. "All Is Calm" is available on PBS through their Passport membership, I believe. "Joyteux Noel" is available on one or more streaming services.