Podge’s Belgian Beer Tours

Beer & Battlefields - Dunkirk 1940

Wednesday 24 June - Sunday 28 June 2026

This is a brilliant new Tour combining Beer & Battlefields, with a difference. We are moving from WW1 in Belgium to WW2 in France. This five day, four night Tour is based at the four star Hotel Mercure Dunkerque**** and guided by Siobhan McGinn. We'll visit key spots connected with the Miracle of Dunkirk more correctly known as Operation Dynamo, being the amazing evacuation of over 338,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk in France from 26 May to 04 June 1940.

We'll also be visiting some great breweries and beer cafes in this French Flanders area of Northern France. Siobhan is very excited about the itinerary for this Tour. She has a Masters Degree in British First World War Studies, but is delighted to diversify into WW2! There is plenty of Belgian beer in Dunkerque, but more importantly it has its own beer culture including plenty of regional Bière de Garde here which we can try.

Dunkerque is an attractive city, with a port, marina and beaches. Siobhan has found loads of great beer cafes and three breweries in the city. Just have a look at Podge's Dunkirk Bar Guide which shows hand-picked beer bars within a walk of our hotel. We will manage to fit in brewery visits, some great meals in top beer/restaurants and plenty of visits to interesting beer cafes.

For our Tours we usually travel from Folkestone or Dover to Calais by Le Shuttle train or sometimes the ferry, but for this special Tour we are booked on the ferry from Dover straight into Dunkerque port to add to the authentic experience and to hit the ground running! We are on the outbound sailing from Dover 10.00hrs and we are on the 18.00hrs inbound from Dunkerque.

All from the comfort of our luxury 49 seater coach. Join us.

Hommelbier in Dunkerque? Certainly, this is French Flanders and Belgian beer is everywhere, but why not try some excellent North French beer, such as the Bière de Garde style?

We are based in Chelmsford in Essex and we use a UK hired coach to travel. We try to use Le Shuttle (Eurotunnel) from Folkestone to get to and from Belgium, but if not available we go by ferry from Dover to Calais. Most of our Travellers join the Tour at our main pick up point outside The Woolpack Pub, 23 Mildmay Road, Chelmsford CM2 0DN and most come from other parts of the UK, and some from further afield, especially USA. Lots of our Travellers stay the night before a Tour (and often the night of our return) at Chelmsford Travelodge, only a few minutes walk from The Woolpack or at the Premier Inn, near the Railway Station, about a 10 minute walk to the pick up point at The Woolpack. Podge's Central Chelmsford Map shows suggested accommodation and pubs! We all usually pop in to The Woolpack the night before departure for a meet, greet and a few beers with Siobhan who is your Tour Manager, Tour Guide and drinking pal for the duration.

Our Galloways luxury coach (49 seater coach with toilet) starts from Suffolk and on the way to Folkestone (or Dover, if we go by ferry) and picks up at several points, as agreed with Siobhan, as below:

Ipswich, Bus Stop, Tesco Extra Store, Copdock Interchange, Pinewood, Ipswich IP8 3TS.

Colchester, McDonald's, Tollgate West, Stanway, Colchester C03 8RG.

Chelmsford, The Woolpack, 23 Mildmay Road, CM2 0DN.

Dartford, BP Garage (formerly Esso) 474 Princes Road, DA1 1YT. On the return leg we drop off at Dartford Railway Station DA1 1DR.

Swanley, Unit 4, Moreton Industrial Estate, London Road, BR8 8DE.

Ashford, pull in Outside Dobbies Garden Centre, Opposite Premier Inn, Ashford Eureka Leisure Park, Rutherford Road, Ashford, Kent, TN25 4BN.

Folkestone, Shell Garage, Stop 24 Services, J11, M20, Kent, CT21 4BL.

The plan for this Tour is set out below, and Siobhan is working on making the arrangements for our visits. You can also subscribe to our monthly email newsletter for updates - there is a form to do this at the foot of this page. The final detailed and timed itinerary will be posted here at least four weeks prior to departure. If you would like to join us please send Siobhan an email or call on +44 (0) 7722 724 558 for details on how to secure a place and pay the deposit for this Tour, or if you have any questions about this Tour.

Enjoy coastal cafes and beer!

Day 1 - Wednesday 24 June

05.30hr Coach pick up at Bus Stop, Tesco Store, Pinewood, Ipswich IP8 3TS.

06.15hr Coach pick up The Woolpack, Mildmay Road, Chelmsford CM2 0DN.

07.00hr Coach pick up at BP Garage (formerly Esso), 474 Princes Road, Dartford, Kent, DA1 1YT (the one with the big McDonalds at the rear).

08.00hr Coach pick up at the pull in outside Dobbies Garden Centre, Opp. Premier Inn Ashford Eureka Leisure Park, Rutherford Road, Ashford, Kent, TN25 4BN.

08.15hr Coach pick up at Shell Garage, Stop 24 Services, J11, M20, Kent, CT21 4BL.

08.45hr Arrive at Dover Ferry Port.

10.00hr Departure of DFDS ferry crossing to Dunkirk. Because our timings are a little different to our usual crossing times, and the journey is a bit longer, travellers might want to take the opportunity to eat lunch on the boat.

13.00hr Arrive/Disembark Dunkirk Ferry Terminal at Loon Plage.

13.30hr We start this Tour straight away at the heart of the action in May 1940. We go straight to the mole in Dunkirk. First, to orient ourselves we will pay a visit the 1940 Operation Dynamo Museum*. Located near the East Pier and the landing beach in Bastion 32, in June 1940 it was the headquarters of the Allied Army. On display are photos, maps, dioramas and items from the Second World War, such as aircraft engines and items salvaged from the Channel. A comfortable 40-seat screening room allows you to watch a 15-minute archival film recounting the incredible story of this battle and the evacuation of more than 330,000 Allied soldiers from the "Dunkirk Pocket" in less than 10 days. We can also have a look at a memorial or two in this area and you can walk down the mole too which is about half a mile long. Many men were evacuated from the mole.

17.30hr Arrive and check in at the lovely four-star Mercure Dunkerque Centre Gare. It’s a big one – you can spot this hotel a mile off! It has tea and coffee facilities in the rooms. It also has a bar and an outside terrace overlooking the boat marina.

18.30hr Meet in the hotel reception for the three-minute walk to the Brewery & Restaurant 3 Brasseurs where we can have an evening meal. They have a brewery on site and have three draft beers plus seasonal and limited-edition beers too. The evening is free for you to explore this ancient city armed with a copy of Podge’s Dunkerque Bar Guide* and accompanying map*.

Jus de Mer Beer, brewed by the seaside.

Day 2 - Thursday 25 June

10.00hr Following a buffet breakfast* we head off by coach for a day out exploring a different story around the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940, centring on what happened to some on the way to Dunkirk.

10.30hr Arrive at a small out of the way field near the village of Wormhout. It is known today as a memorial site for 81 British and French POWs killed here by Waffen-SS soldiers on 28 May 1940 during the German advance of May 1940 and the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force to Dunkirk. The SS abandoned the scene, believing that there would be no survivors, but the 6 who survived later testified to the events. The German commanders were never brought to justice after the war. There are panels here giving information, memorials and remembrances.

11.30hr We pay a visit to the resting place of thirty of the men from the Wormhout Massacre who were reinterred here after the war. This is the Esquelbecq Military Cemetery CWGC, originally a WW1 cemetery. We are here especially to see the graves of two amazing non-commissioned officers, Sergeant Stanley Moore and CSM Augustus Jennings (both Royal Warwickshire Regiment) who both were heroic on 28 May 1940 yet have never been decorated for what they did.

12.15hr Leave Esquelbecq Military Cemetery.

12.30hr We make a special visit to a WW2 Concrete Blockhouse known as the Le Peckel Blockhouse in Hardifort. It is one of eight here belonging to the Cassel defensive line in WW2. It is now famous for what happened here between 26 May to 30 May 1940. Allied forces defending Cassel were withdrawing to the coast under the German onslaught. Under Second Lieutenant (acting) Roy William Cresswell, a dozen men from the Gloucestershire Regiment fought a fierce battle in and around this outpost, slowing the German enemy and thus contributing to the escape of Allied troops at Dunkirk. We will have a guided tour of this site*.

13.30hr Leave the Le Peckel Blockhouse in Hardifort and travel towards Cassel, the last major stand before Dunkirk.

14.00hr Arrive at the Kerelshof Estaminet in the beautiful hilltop village of Cassel. Here we’ll have a meal and a beer from the excellent local beer menu at this pretty French Flemish café restaurant on the beautiful main square at the top of the hill. Siobhan will do a guided walk of some of the Cassel spots associated with WW2, including some buildings still showing bullet and artillery damage.

17.00hr Leave Cassel.

17.45hr Arrive back at the luxurious four-star Mercure Dunkerque Centre Gare.

Veurne, we visit a beer warehouse in the area.

Day 3 - Friday 26 June

10.00hr Following a buffet breakfast* in our hotel we head off by coach for a day of hugging the coast and focussing on seeing up close some of the shipwrecks from May 1940 which appear from the sea twice a day.

10.15hr Arrive at Dunkerque Town Cemetery CWGC and Memorial to Missing. 793 Second World War burials, 213 are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 58 soldiers known to be buried there. At the entrance is a red brick and stone classical building which is the Dunkirk Memorial commemorating 4,500 people who died in the 1939-40 campaign and who have no known grave.

11.00hr We make our way to the coast and park up at Bray Dunes at low tide so that we can have the best opportunity to see some amazing survivors of May 1940. There are quite a few wrecks of ships which went to help to evacuate men from the beaches, and a number of these can be seen at low tide, including:

• The wreck of the Devonia

• The wreck of The Vonette

• The wreck of The Crested Eagle. We will walk to the shore at low tide to see at least one of these together with a number of concrete blockhouses on the beaches, now tumbling into the sea.

12.30hr Leave the Wrecks at Bray Dunes.

12.45hr Visit Dranken Vandewoude beer warehouse in Veurne for an opportunity to buy some beers to take home. They offer a choice of around 700 beers and specialise in beers from the smaller breweries, which is nice. Here you can stock up on your favourites.

13.45hr Leave Dranken Vandewoude in Veurne.

14.00hr Arrive at Hoeve Paepehof in Adinkerke, an excellent cafe restaurant with 100 beers on the card with some great choices from de Dolle Brouwers and Pannepot from Struise. We’ll have a meal here and a beer or two.

16.00hr Leave Hoeve Paepehof in Adinkerke.

16.15hr Call in at the Estaminet des Dunes in Ghyvelde, a typical border café, adorned with the black Flemish lion and the red check tablecloths. This place is 100m round the corner from the Sirènes brewery. This is a micro-brewery a little too small for us to visit, but this is an unofficial brewery tap. Here we can try on draft their La Triton Tripel at 8%abv and also in bottles their:

• La Sirène Blanche at 6%abv

• Blonde Single Hop at 6%abv

• La Storm 12%abv, a mighty quadruple beer

17.45hr We make our way back to our hotel via a couple of important buildings witness to the fighting of May 1940, being La Ferme Nord along with its bullet and artillery damage from the heavy fighting here during Operation Dynamo. We can also take a peek at a large house known Le Château Coquelle in 1940, but to the British Expeditionary Force it was a CCS (Casualty Clearing Station) known as Chapeau Rouge. It was a British emergency hospital and base of the 12/Field Ambulance. In May 1940 it was bombed by the Germans, and the victims were initially buried in the chateau grounds but later reburied to Dunkirk Town Cemetery. It is now a cultural centre, but we can have a look from the entrance!

18.30hr Arrive back at the luxurious four-star Mercure Dunkerque Centre Gare.

Might find a dark beer on this Tour!

Day 4 - Saturday 27 June

10.00hr Following a buffet breakfast* in our hotel we head off by coach for a day of WW2 V2 rockets followed by the best of the breweries in French Flanders.

11.00hr We arrive at and pay a visit to a special site at Wizernes*. La Coupole, as it is now called is one of the most impressive historic vestiges of WW2 in Europe. This massive site was built by the Germans as their first base for launching V2 rockets. It has been open to the public from 1997. The work to build La Coupole was started by the notorious Organisation Todt in the autumn of 1943 and the site was selected because it was within the range of the first rocket, the V2, which was aimed at London. This enormous underground bunker containing hundreds of metres of tunnels was covered by a dome concealing the launch preparation chamber. Its semi-spherical reinforced concrete structure was 77m in diameter and 5.5mtres thick. Thwarted by constant Allied bombing, then by the Normandy landings, the site never became operational. La Coupole focusses on the scientific importance of WW2, from the Occupation to the space race. They have a café and a shop too.

13.00hr Leave La Cupole in Wizernes.

13.30hr Arrive for a lunch stop at the Anosteké Estaminet eatery and brewery tap for the Brasserie du Pays Flamand. The brewery was established in 2026 by two friends and has had considerable success with their Bracine beer (Bracine Amber, Pale Ale and tripel) and their Anosteké Range. Plus, more recently the spontaneous beers in the Wilde Leeuw range. They started at this site, where the café restaurant now is, but needed a larger brewery so it moved to nearby Merville to meet growing demand. The Wilde Leeuw spontaneous beers are made at the old site, near the café restaurant. This pretty restaurant serves five beers on tap from the Anosteké range and of course, bottled beers from the brewery, including a Saison at 6%abv and Anosteké Extra Stout at 8.5%abv. This whole area of France uses a particular regional language, French Flemish, and the name Anosteke is a play on the still widely used Flemish phrase for 'Until the next time' ('a naeste keer!'). We’ll have a nice sit down here and a spot of lunch. And a beer. Or two.

15.45hr Leave du Pays Flamand Brewery Bar & Eatery Anosteke L'Estaminet.

16.45hr Arrive at the Westhoek Micro-Brewery & Tap in Bergues, which opened in 2023. It is housed in a funny building next to the canal which was once an abattoir. The inside drinking area still has all the meat hooks hanging above the seating area. Nice touch. The glassware has (whole) cows printed on them. The brewery in all its stainless-steel glory can be seen from the drinking area. There is a mighty 16 beers on tap, fresh as a daisy. They have three ranges of beers:

• The Bergues Range, named after the town

• The Westhoek Range, named after the brewery, and

• The Saint Winoc Range, named for the local abbey. There is a shop to buy take-away beers and Delicatessen charcuterie, and artisanal cheeses are available to accompany your beer on site.

18.15hr Leave Westhoek Brewery in Bergues.

18.30hr Arrive back at the luxurious four-star Mercure Dunkerque Centre Gare.

Day 5 - Sunday 28 June

10.00hr Following a buffet breakfast* we check out of the hotel in Dunkirk, for our last day of the Tour, beginning with the RAF at de Panne.

10.45hr We make our way by coach to the beaches of De Panne over the Belgian border, which mark the most northerly point of the Dunkirk evacuations. First, we will have a look at the Operation Dynamo 1940 Memorial near the beach which commemorates the evacuation from the beaches of De Panne, which in addition to Dunkirk, Zuydcoote and Bray-Dunes in France played an important role during the operation. Near this monument on the Zeedijk (Sea Dyke) stands the Hotel Kursaal, a last silent witness to the turbulent May Days of 1940. During the operation this building was a beacon for the vessels that came to pick up the troops for the crossing to England. In front of the hotel on the beach was also one of the improvised jetties made from abandoned vehicles to get the men to the rescue boats. We’ll also have a look for the odd octopus art sculpture which Siobhan would like to see, behind the King Leopold I statue, part of a series of public art sculptures along the Belgian coast*.

We’ll also be on the beach where 22-year-old RAF pilot Al Deere landed/ditched his spitfire when it was shot down by the Germans. an episode re-enacted by Tom Hardy in Dunkirk (2017) film. Deere had shot down six Luftwaffe aircraft over the French coast while protecting the evacuation, before being downed on 28 May by the rear gunner of a Dornier bomber, which also crashed. He was knocked unconscious. When he came round, he made his way to a cafe, where a woman dressed his head wound. He then hitched a lift to Dunkirk on an Army lorry. Deere said, “I crash-landed on the beach between Dunkirk and Ostend, wheels up, right on the edge of the water — and the tide was coming in”. Deere got back to the Dunkirk mole, managed to get on a boat home and was flying again 16 hrs later. RAF pilots were heavily criticised at the time for not doing enough to protect the allied soldiers on the ground, but Deere in fact went back to Dunkirk three time in one day to fight German bombers.

12.00hr Our last stop of the Tour will be to the Kursaal Hotel for a beer, and cheers to Al Deere. We will also have the opportunity for a meal here too.

16.00hr Leave De Panne.

16.45hr Arrive Dunkirk Ferry Terminal (Loon Plage).

18.00hr Departure of DFDS Dunkirk Ferry Terminal (Loon Plage).

19.00hr Arrive Dover Ferry Terminal.

19.30hr Coach drop at Shell Garage, Stop 24 Services, J11, M20, Kent, CT21 4BL.

19.45hr Coach drop at the pull in outside Dobbies Garden Centre, Opp. Premier Inn Ashford Eureka Leisure Park, Rutherford Road, Ashford, Kent, TN25 4BN.

20.45hr Coach drop at Dartford Rail Station, Station Approach, Dartford, DA1 1BP.

21.30hr Coach drop Junction Lady Lane & Mildmay Road, Chelmsford CM2 0EA.

21.45hr Coach drop off Travelodge Hotel, 128-136 Parkway, Chelmsford CM2 7GY.

22.00hr Coach drop Premier Inn Victoria Road, Chelmsford CM1 1NY.

22.45hr Coach drop Bus Stop, Tesco Store, Pinewood, Ipswich IP8 3TS.

Siobhan in action on a Beer & Battlefield Tour in 2014. Podge too!

Tour Price is £1085 per person price sharing a double or twin room.

Single Supplement £345 if you would like a room of your own.

The deposit payable to secure a place on this Tour is £230 per person.

Send Siobhan an email to find out how to pay the deposit.

Included in the cost of this Tour are:

Hotel accommodation and breakfasts;

Hotel city taxes;

Luxury coach travel on a 49 seater coach with toilet;

All brewery visits, tours and brewery beer tastings;

Entrance fees to attractions, museums and historical sites;

All items marked with an asterisk above and on the individual detailed tour itinerary when issued;

Copies of Podge’s City Bar Guides and Maps for the town where we stay or spend some time;

Free bottled water on the coach;

Pick up from one of our agreed joining points on the way to Folkestone or even on the other side of the channel.

Courier Services from Siobhan McGinn, your Tour Guide.

Travellers are responsible for the costs of all food and drink apart from items marked with an asterisk on the detailed itinerary plus all passport and insurance costs.

All itinerary times are local and approximate.

Personal insurance is not included in the Tour price but is required to be taken out by Travellers on Podge's Belgian Beer Tours, as is carrying the free UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) which is the 2021 replacement for the old EHIC. You can still use your EHIC card so long as it is in date, then you need to apply for the GHIC replacement online.

All Tours are subject to our Terms and Conditions.

Fill out my online form.