If you are pressed for time and only have one full day, you can still take in some of the highlights of the Ypres area. This is my suggestion: it assumes that you have a car. You could probably do it by bike, but it is very unlikely that you could cover this ground by public transport in a single day. Inevitably, as this is a “highlights” tour, these are the more visited and popular spots. On the way, you will pass many other memorials, cemeteries and battlefield views.
Download the tour
Ypres Salient in a day (opens in new window; is printable)
Please note that the Google Map which is linked from the page is not showing the correct route between points G and H. I am trying to find how to modify that error. The map in the downloadable version is correct.
I hope you enjoy it and often return, as I do, to this fascinating, moving and memorable part of British history.
Safety note and cemetery etiquette
During the tour you are sure to see signs of the “iron harvest” – the tons of steel and ammunition that come up from the ground to this day – when you go to the battlefields. You will see them in field edges and in places where the farmer has piled the shells until the army take them away. These things are dangerous and it is illegal to bring them into the UK. For your own safety and that of others, do not touch them: take photos instead.
When visiting cemeteries please remember that these are not tourist sites but the last resting place of men who fought and should be respected as such. Please do not leave litter; do not mark the headstones or memorials in any way; do not affix anything to the headstones or memorials; switch your phones and other devices to silent. Do sign your name in the cemetery visitors book if possible.
Links
The Long, Long Trails battlefield visit advice for Ypres
A one day walking tour of Ypres
The Long, Long Trail’s Google Earth guide to Ypres
Further reading
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