| Ypres & vicinity - tips? 20:59 - Aug 3 with 1769 views | Zx1988 |
After having previous plans curtailed quite dramatically by some dodgy mussels, the current Mrs Zx and I are off to Belgium in September to visit Ypres and a couple of the war cemeteries (Tyne Cot and Langemark) over the course of a long weekend.
Plan at the moment is to get an early shuttle over to Calais on the Saturday, do breakfast in Bergues, and then wend our way to Ypres via the cemeteries in time for dinner and the Last Post at the Menin Gate.
We're heading back on Monday, and the plan is to leave Ypres early, have a mosey around Calais, grab some wine at Cité Europe, and then get the mid-afternoon shuttle back.
That leaves us with Sunday to spend at our leisure. Any and all recommendations welcome, as well as any suggested tweaks to our current itinerary, based on anyone's previous experiences of such a trip. |  |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 21:04 - Aug 3 with 1722 views | bluelagos |
Dunkirk? Bruges?
If you have the chips, avoid the mayo :-) |  |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 21:06 - Aug 3 with 1714 views | Zx1988 |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 21:04 - Aug 3 by bluelagos |
Dunkirk? Bruges?
If you have the chips, avoid the mayo :-) |
Dunkirk is a good shout. We did Bruges last time - loved it, but probably wrung everything possible out of it before the mussels... | |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 21:22 - Aug 3 with 1629 views | Basuco |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 21:04 - Aug 3 by bluelagos |
Dunkirk? Bruges?
If you have the chips, avoid the mayo :-) |
Oi! Watch it!
I still use my collection of Martijn Reuser chips and mayo recipes from TWTD fanzine of old. |  | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 21:29 - Aug 3 with 1607 views | MattinLondon |
I visited the battlefield cemeteries for my A-Levels which was just under 30 years ago.
Two stories have still stayed with me to this day.
We visited a German war cemetery and the Jewish German dead were identifiable by the fact that their graves had stars of David on their gravestones rather than crosses. During WW2 their graves were smashed up by the advancing Germans - at the time that made me incredibly sad and still does.
At a UK cemetery an old solider was buried next to an underage solider who was 15 - the older chap took the youngster under his wings but both were killed at the same time. Their fellow soldiers recognised the strong bond that they had and so buried them next to one another.
To my shame I can’t remember where this happened but as a group we visited a battlefields site where the last post is played at night. Still the most moving experience of my life.
Hope you enjoy your trip -always put mayonnaise on chips. Ketchup is for losers. [Post edited 3 Aug 21:32]
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 23:00 - Aug 3 with 1422 views | marshland |
Ypres is a great place that would keep you occupied for a day. Langemsrk and Tyne Cott are both some way out of town in the country. Tyne Cott is huge so if you are looking for a specific headstone check the exact location in the cemetery via the cwgc website before you go or you may spend hours looking fot it.
Both are reached by the Menin Road where there are small museums and at Hill61 some maintained trenches.
In town there are lots of cemeteries but the most interesting is Essex Farm near the canal where the first aid station still stands where the famous ww1 poem flanders fields where poppies grow was written.
In town in the moot hall next to the Cathedral is the best WW1 museum around which takes a couple of hours,
The last post is awesome. No matter how many times I go I still get goosebumps. Be there early to get a good spot. I prefer to be on the far side as its less busy thannthe town side and you see better. Get there at least 30 mins early as it can be very busy.
The restuarants in the town centre are ok but nothing special just typical tourist fare although the beer is good. Better to eat a little outide tge town centre for good belgian fare. |  | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 23:06 - Aug 3 with 1402 views | BlueForYou |
A trip which everyone should experience at least once in life. I found it incredibly deep & moving. I combined it with a stay in Ghent. Very nice place & an altogether nice trip. Drove back to Calais along the coastal road from Oostende. |  | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 15:58 - Aug 4 with 1168 views | flykickingbybgunn |
The drive through the Gate and up the Menin road was the most atmospheric of my life. To cover in a few seconds a distance that cost so many lives over so many years. You could feel the ghosts around you.
We found great uncles on the Gate. 3 of them, Carpenters mostly.
Do NOT miss the last post.
You do not have to look for cemetries. They are all over the place. 100 Graves here, 150 there. Note too the piles of shells dug up this year by farmers left for collection at the farm gate.
The saddest but most glorious place I have ever been to.
Should be on everybodies list of places to visit. |  | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 16:06 - Aug 4 with 1158 views | flykickingbybgunn |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 15:58 - Aug 4 by flykickingbybgunn |
The drive through the Gate and up the Menin road was the most atmospheric of my life. To cover in a few seconds a distance that cost so many lives over so many years. You could feel the ghosts around you.
We found great uncles on the Gate. 3 of them, Carpenters mostly.
Do NOT miss the last post.
You do not have to look for cemetries. They are all over the place. 100 Graves here, 150 there. Note too the piles of shells dug up this year by farmers left for collection at the farm gate.
The saddest but most glorious place I have ever been to.
Should be on everybodies list of places to visit. |
Oh and beware.
I had a "steak" in Dunkirk.
Only afterwards was I told what "de chevaux" meant.
Actually it was quite nice. | | | |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 16:19 - Aug 4 with 1143 views | benrhyddingblue |
If it’s still WW1 things you’re interested in for Sunday you could head south of Ypres to the preserved German trench system called Bayernwald (you need tickets which we got at the tourist place in Kemmel), the ‘pool of peace’ crater, and then down to ‘plugstreet’ wood for the 1914 Christmas truce monument. There’s a museum at Ploegsteert too, but a walk into the wood near the 1914 monument will include several cemeteries and some bunkers depending where you go. | | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 10:03 - Aug 6 with 942 views | Broadbent23 |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 16:19 - Aug 4 by benrhyddingblue |
If it’s still WW1 things you’re interested in for Sunday you could head south of Ypres to the preserved German trench system called Bayernwald (you need tickets which we got at the tourist place in Kemmel), the ‘pool of peace’ crater, and then down to ‘plugstreet’ wood for the 1914 Christmas truce monument. There’s a museum at Ploegsteert too, but a walk into the wood near the 1914 monument will include several cemeteries and some bunkers depending where you go. |
You can download tickets at the entrance to Bayernwald without going to Kemmel. They cost 5 Euros each. | |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 10:14 - Aug 6 with 920 views | Broadbent23 |
The museum in the Cloth Hall Ypres is very good, the tourist office in the Cloth Hall has a good book selection. You also have WW1 sites at Hill 60 and Hill 62. The nightly Menin Gate bugle call is a must. The restaurants in Ypres main square are expensive with most meals costing E25-E32. The beer is great and potent . Generally Ypres is a place you will return to. Last tip; a lot of shops are closed on Mondays in Ypres. | |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 10:31 - Aug 6 with 898 views | Churchman |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 15:58 - Aug 4 by flykickingbybgunn |
The drive through the Gate and up the Menin road was the most atmospheric of my life. To cover in a few seconds a distance that cost so many lives over so many years. You could feel the ghosts around you.
We found great uncles on the Gate. 3 of them, Carpenters mostly.
Do NOT miss the last post.
You do not have to look for cemetries. They are all over the place. 100 Graves here, 150 there. Note too the piles of shells dug up this year by farmers left for collection at the farm gate.
The saddest but most glorious place I have ever been to.
Should be on everybodies list of places to visit. |
Agree entirely with this.
I’ve been a few times to the area and it is everything you say in your second to last paragraph.
Tyne Cot is the largest Commonwealth War Cemetery in the world. Wandering around it was beyond words. So many, all of different ages, every one a person like you and me. Mind blowing.
The cemetery and memorial is just outside the village Passendale. This is the area of ‘the Salient’ where 3rd Ypres or Passendale was fought between July and November 1917. Casualty numbers for both sides are disputed and range in total between 500,000 and about 800,000. In the most appalling conditions, figures beyond human comprehension.
There are cemeteries everywhere, as others have said. Ypres is a must visit and plenty of reading on the area might help as it’s all rather flat. A battlefield tour, maybe?
Aside from the ‘iron harvest’ of shells every year, up to 50 bodies in various states are found each year. The War Graves Commission does a fantastic job reinterring them and where possible identifying them.
As for places to go, I agree with those suggested by other posters. |  | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 12:16 - Aug 6 with 832 views | Freddies_Ears |
A few miles into France, the museum & memorial of the Battle of the Somme in Thiepval is very impressive. It shows not just the war side of the era, but also local civilian life too. People lived a strange normality just a mile or two behind the trenches, on both sides. | | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 12:39 - Aug 6 with 801 views | Zx1988 |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 10:14 - Aug 6 by Broadbent23 |
The museum in the Cloth Hall Ypres is very good, the tourist office in the Cloth Hall has a good book selection. You also have WW1 sites at Hill 60 and Hill 62. The nightly Menin Gate bugle call is a must. The restaurants in Ypres main square are expensive with most meals costing E25-E32. The beer is great and potent . Generally Ypres is a place you will return to. Last tip; a lot of shops are closed on Mondays in Ypres. |
Any recommendations as to where might be more reasonable for eating out? Does it get cheaper if we head away from the Groote Markt, or do we need to be heading out of Ypres for reasonably-priced food? | |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 12:46 - Aug 6 with 780 views | belgablue |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 12:39 - Aug 6 by Zx1988 |
Any recommendations as to where might be more reasonable for eating out? Does it get cheaper if we head away from the Groote Markt, or do we need to be heading out of Ypres for reasonably-priced food? |
Highly recommend an organized tour if you're going - I've done on my own and in a tour and it made a real difference. If you're looking for a city to visit too, Ghent is cracking and about 45mins away, if not Kortrijk is just down the road and nice enough. |  |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 10:28 - Aug 7 with 627 views | Broadbent23 |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 12:39 - Aug 6 by Zx1988 |
Any recommendations as to where might be more reasonable for eating out? Does it get cheaper if we head away from the Groote Markt, or do we need to be heading out of Ypres for reasonably-priced food? |
It depends on what you eat. Steak and chicken is pricey. There are burger bars around the main square which are less expensive. The better deals are in the local small towns around Ypres. There is a nice deli in Kemmel (open around lunchtime) well priced. Otherwise the bars away from the main square sell good quality snacks which are cheaper. One of the best meals is Belgian Stew normally around E23-E25. Ypres is not a great place for vegans. I hope these ideas help. | |
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 10:53 - Aug 8 with 441 views | BlueBlueBluex2 |
Be careful where you park your car in Ypres. My brothers was towed before the market the next morning and we had €150 to recover it.
The last post was amazing, we listened from the pub on the corner. The food was so so, the beers incredible.
Don’t go looking for the largest man made crater (it doesn’t exist!) [Post edited 8 Aug 10:56]
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 12:00 - Aug 8 with 372 views | Churchman |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 10:53 - Aug 8 by BlueBlueBluex2 |
Be careful where you park your car in Ypres. My brothers was towed before the market the next morning and we had €150 to recover it.
The last post was amazing, we listened from the pub on the corner. The food was so so, the beers incredible.
Don’t go looking for the largest man made crater (it doesn’t exist!) [Post edited 8 Aug 10:56]
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The largest man made crater in WW1 does exist still. But it’s further south at La Boisselle. 60,000lbs of ammonal went up on 1 July 1916.
https://www.lochnagarcrater.or
I’m actually a member of the Foundation. My grandfather was there that day. | | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 15:53 - Aug 8 with 285 views | BlueBlueBluex2 |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 12:00 - Aug 8 by Churchman |
The largest man made crater in WW1 does exist still. But it’s further south at La Boisselle. 60,000lbs of ammonal went up on 1 July 1916.
https://www.lochnagarcrater.or
I’m actually a member of the Foundation. My grandfather was there that day. |
Is there a cafe there across the road? Either they were messing us about or we never actually found it! | | | |
| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 15:57 - Aug 8 with 276 views | keighleyblue |
Westvleteren Monastery and Brewery Tap.
Best and rarest beer in the world brewed by trappist monks. [Post edited 8 Aug 15:58]
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| Ypres & vicinity - tips? on 16:03 - Aug 8 with 255 views | boysof1981 |
Bruges is a wonderful place. Waffles, chocolate and chips. The chocolate museum and frites museum are worth a visit, and if you take a boat under the bridges be careful of your head. | | | |
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