La plaine au Nord d'Arras et le Bois de Vimy

Place du Maréchal Leclerc car park in Thélus.

(S/E) With your back to the church, head right to reach Rue du Sac. Just before you reach a junction, look out for a lovely grassy path on the right.

(1) Take this path to join Rue de Vimy and follow it for a few metres to the left.

(2) Just before you reach the Fork in the road by the cemetery, turn right onto a narrow path (watch out for roots!). You’ll reach Rue des Sept; follow it to the left. It becomes a track and leads to a T-junction.
Turn right until you reach the D49. Cross with care and head straight on along the grassy path. You’ll come to a tarmac track.

(3) Follow it straight on. After about 800 m, turn sharply left onto a good track. Ignore a turn-off on the left and continue to a T-junction. Turn left and, a few metres further on, turn right.
After 300 metres, you’ll come to a path branching off to the left.

(4) Follow this track. At the Fork in the road, take the right-hand branch and you’ll immediately come to a track on the right.

(5) Follow this track (panoramic view of the plain) until you reach a junction.

(6) Take the grassy path straight ahead, which joins the railway line and follows it until it meets the D49.
First turn right then left and you’ll be back on a good path alongside the railway line until you reach a T-junction.

(7) Then take the path on the left to walk alongside the Bois de Berthonval and reach the D50 at the entrance to Farbus.

(8) Take the road opposite and turn immediately left onto Chemin Vert, which joins the D50. Follow it for about a hundred metres to the right before turning right onto the first path.
You’ll come to a lovely path branching off to the right

(9) Carry on straight ahead until you reach a T-junction.
Head right for 50 metres, then turn left. After another hundred metres, you’ll find a straight path on the right.

(10) Take this wide track (known as Mariette), continue to a T-junction and turn right onto a lovely path through the woodland which leads to the first houses in Vimy.
Ignore the first street on the left and continue along Rue de Thélus until you reach a crossroads. Turn left, then, immediately at the wayside cross, turn left again into Rue Gambetta.
Ignore the street on the left (Rue des Croix) and you’ll immediately come to a small lane on the left.

(11) Follow this narrow lane, heading west, and through a series of small streets and narrow lanes, reach Rue Georges Buret. Follow it to the right until you reach a T-junction. Turn left and reach the RN17.

(12) Head for the pedestrian crossing on the right, cross with care and take the narrow lane opposite.
Continue along the street that leads off from it until you reach a T-junction. Turn right. About a hundred metres further on, you’ll find a narrow lane on the left (just after number 21).

(13) Take this pretty, winding path and, via a flight of steps leading down, join a wide track. Follow it to the left.
Ignore the path on the right leading to the English Cemetery and continue along this good path through the woodland. Take a right-hand bend, then a left-hand bend, and follow a path coming from the right to reach a T-junction.

(14) Turn right (yellow arrow), then immediately left (also marked in yellow) to cross over the dual carriageway, following a fence. Follow the path as it climbs and reaches a T-junction.

(15) Take the path on the right and you’ll arrive near the northern edge of the woodland. The well-marked path slopes to the left and continues along the edge. It’s a lovely track with its ups and downs, which, broadly speaking, follows the edge (pink markings on some trees at the end of March 2025). You’ll reach a Fork in the road.

(16) Carry on straight ahead. The path then turns left and, after a steep climb (often damp), joins the Route Forestière du Train de Loos.

(17) Follow it to the right and, at the end, facing the monument, turn left. Walk past the public toilets and find a path on the left (facing the monument).

(18) Follow this path, which joins the D 55. Follow it to the left. At the Fork in the road, continue straight ahead on the D 55 and you’ll reach the entrance to the trench site.

(19) Turn left to enter the site. Follow the path which runs through the middle of the trenches before joining the D 55E2.

(20) Follow it to the right (pedestrian path on the left, GRP®) until you reach a junction.

(21) Follow the GRP® sign and take the path on the right (often in poor condition) to reach the vicinity of the A 26.

(22) Turn left, pass close to an English cemetery, then cross over the N 17 before reaching the D 917.

(23) Head to the traffic lights, cross them and set off towards Thélus. Pass the^{first street} on the right and continue to the^second.

(24) Take this street (Chemin d’Oeillette) and, 50 metres further on, take the path on the left (Chemin des Haies). Pass a junction and reach Rue d’Arras.

(25) Follow it to the left to reach the car park. (S/E).

Apart from in the Bois de Vimy, the paths are in good condition, but I still think proper kit is essential.