Ypres

Our most recommended things to do in Ypres

• 

  1. Great War Flanders Fields Minibus Tour from Bruges

  Enjoy a trip of historical discovery on this full-day minibus tour that takes you through West Flanders, from Bruges to the Belgian town of Ypres. The city, which was given the nickname Wipers, was rebuilt according to a medieval blueprint after being completely razed to the ground in the early 1900s. It was also here that the Germans invaded Belgium during World War I; a strategic move to attack France from the north. You will see the remaining artifacts and places of the city as you discover restored trenches, stroll among war graves in Passchendale and Polygon Wood, clamber over craters and bunkers on the preserved battlefield. and visit key war memorials. Behold the impressive sight of the imposing Menin Gate Memorial to the missing soldiers, complete with 55,000 names, erected on the spot where the soldiers left the city for the battlefront. As your day continues you will also see...

  This tour was excellent! Philippe was a wonderful and knowledgeable tour guide. You see many of the sites around the Flanders area and even have a chance at walking around Ypres. Would highly recommend this tour.

  Reviewed by Tara, 8/9/2021
• 

  2. From Bruges: Great War of Flanders Fields Remembrance Tour

  In Bruges you will enjoy the view of the peaceful Lake of Love and the picturesque Beguinage. Your guide will explain the stories and secrets behind the city’s history from the Viking period until the end of the Middle Ages. Catch many of the highlights of Bruges: the Basilica of the Holly blood of Jesus, the Belfry tower, our Lady’s Church, Saint John’s hospital and enjoy a pleasant boat trip along the narrow canals. After a short lunch break you willl leave for Flanders Fields. Your expert guide will lead you throughout the visit to help you understand the events that led to the first world war and how the catastrophe developed. Visit Passchendaele battlefield and the Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world where British, Australian and Canadian soldiers were laid to rest. Close by is Polygone where every year Anzac Day is celebrated at dawn. Then visit the M...

• 

  3. From Lille: Flanders Battlefield Private Tour with Lunch

  Take a private full-day tour from Lille and see the most famous First World War battlefields and memorials in Flanders. Visit Ploegsteert, Messines, Passendale, and Ypres and learn the history of each one from your expert guide. After pickup in Lille, your first stop is Fromelles. Stand in the Australian Memorial Park, see the "Cobbers" statue, and visit VC Corner Cemetery, the only Australian cemetery in France.  In Ploegsteert (Belgium) you will see where Sir Winston Churchill served in 1916, his office, and the place where his headquarters were. Stop for lunch in a local restaurant in front of Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing. See the memorial dedicated to the famous 'Christmas Truce of 1914' before going to the Irish Peace Park in Messines (Belgium). Continue to the New Zealand Memorial and the visitor center in Messines. Take the opportunity to stand near one of the 19 mine cr...

• 

  4. Remembrance Tour: Bruges & Flanders Fields Tour

  This visit starts at a German cemetery, from where you will move onto the WW1 trenches and Essex Farm Cemetery, where John McCrae wrote the famous poem "In Flanders Fields", after a friend’s burial on the site. Head to your first stop, Bruges. Enjoy the view of the peaceful Lake of Love and the picturesque Beguinage. Learn about the stories and secrets behind the city’s history from the Viking period until the end of the Middle Ages from your guide. See the highlights of Bruges like the Basilica of the Holy Blood of Jesus, the Belfry Tower, our Lady’s Church, Saint John’s Hospital, and more. You even have the option to enjoy a pleasant boat trip along the narrow canals. After a short lunch break, leave for Flanders Fields. At The Brooding Soldier, a statue towering over Langemark in permanent honor of the Canadian resistance during the German gas attack of 1915, take a moment for comm...

  Stephen was a great guide with so much knowledge of the area and included personal stories to make the experience seem that much more real. I would highly recommend this to anyone I know who is traveling through Brussels.

  Reviewed by Anonymous, 6/20/2017
• 

  5. From Lille: Australian Battlefield Guided Tour of Flanders

  Take a walk through history and remember the lives of the Australian Soldiers who fought in World War 1. Learn the history behind each site from an expert guide. Make your first stop at "Cobbers" Memorial at the V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery and the only cemetery dedicated exclusively to Australian Soldiers. Continue towards Armentières, and stop at Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing. In Messines, see the Irish Tower, the New Zealand Memorial, and a mine crater that resulted from an underground explosion at the Battle of Messines. Visit sites of remembrance such as the memorial dedicated to the 5th Australian Division at Polygon Wood and the 1st Australian Tunneling at Hill 60. Travel to Tyne Cot Military Cemetery, the largest cemetery dedicated to commonwealth soldiers in Europe. Arrive at the town of Ypres and visit the Cloth Hall and Cathedral on the Main Square. Take some time...

• 

  6. From Bruges: Full Day Flanders Battlefield Private Tour

  See the famous battlefields of Flanders and the many memorials commemorating the sacrifice of these soldiers. In Bruges you will be picked up at your hotel or at the train station. The first stop is to visit is Passendale, where you'll see Tyne Cot Military Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery. Spend some time in its visitor centre and get to understand what happened there. You will see the famous village of Passendale with the Canada Gate Memorial and Crest Farm Memorial. Next, drive to Langemark to the German "Studentenfriedhof" one of the 4 German WW1 cemeteries in Belgium. You will stand at the "Brooding Soldier Memorial" a very moving Canadian memorial. Move on from this place and, on the road to Messines stop at Essex Farm where John McRae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields". In Messines go to the visitor centre, the New Zealand Memorial, and at the...

• 

  7. Day Trip from Paris to Ypres Salient, Flanders

  Pay your respects to the 185,000 Commonwealth soldiers who sacrificed their lives at the Ypres Salient, one of World War I's hardest fought-over stretches of the Western Front. Through its memorials, cemeteries, and battlefield remnants, Ypres represents one of the most dramatic periods of 20th-century history, a terrain stained by devastating modern brutality. Discover the horrors of war, and its very real heroes and villains, through the area's humbling landmarks: John McCrae's Essex Farm site; Langemark, the German cemetery; Vancouver Corner, the Canadian memorial; Tyne Cot cemetery, Passchendaele; Polygon Wood, the Australian memorial; Saint George's Chapel; and the Menin Gate Memorial. Join a day of remembrance for the many who died at Ypres between 1914 and 1918, in what was once “the war to end all wars.”

• 

  8. Battlefields of Flanders Private Full-Day Trip from Brussels

  See the battlefields of Flanders from World War I on a private, full-day trip from Brussels that will entertain and inform you. Listen as your guide explains the historical significance of the battlefields, cities, memorials, and cemeteries that you visit. In the morning, transfer from Brussels to Ypres, a Flemish city where the German and allied armies fought between 1914 and 1918. On this trip, you will visit some of the remarkable places and battlefields from the Great War. Take a tour by coach and on foot of Ypres and its surroundings. Some of the biggest military cemeteries of European history are situated here. See the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, where more than 12,000 soldiers from the Commonwealth are buried and commemorated, and the German cemetery in Vladslo, mostly known because of its remarkable symbolic statue "The Mourning Couple," from Käthe Kollwitz. Here, more than...