Bernard_Lewis Posted 8 May , 2004 Share Posted 8 May , 2004 MIGHT be going to Bruges Sept 2004. Won't be driving. Is it easy/possible to get a guided trip to Ypres from Bruges? Any help appreciated but trip is very provisional at present (wife fancies Rome or Prague!) Bernard Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 8 May , 2004 Share Posted 8 May , 2004 You often see "Quasimodo" battlefield tour minibuses around the Salient. I know nothing about this company other than that they run daily, and start and end at Bruges, so this might be of interest to you. Their website is here. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 9 May , 2004 Share Posted 9 May , 2004 Quasimodo have been running for many years. Like Tom I've never used them or any other local guided tour. I did visit Ieper from Bruges by train several years ago, I seem to remember changing at Roselare. No doubt you can still do this and our Belgian friends may be able to provide timetable details etc. In Ieper you could pick up one of the mini-bus tours that operate from the town centre, there are at least two that I know of which are supposed to be pretty good, but again I have no personal knowledge of them. I've seen satisfied customers getting off the one run from the 'British Grenadier' bookshop. Again other pals will no doubt supply details. If you don't know Bruges may I recommend the Little Bruges Bear pub and Den Dyver Restaurant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zijde26 Posted 9 May , 2004 Share Posted 9 May , 2004 To Bernard, Both towns themselves are worth a visit. Some hotels in Bruges are offering guided tours. There is a very easy link by train, with a change in Kortrijk, between Bruges and Ypres. There is also a motorway, Bruges-Kortrijk-Ieper. (The motorway in Ypres ends not so far from Pilkem Ridge) Hope it helps. Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unicorn Posted 9 May , 2004 Share Posted 9 May , 2004 hello, Let's make it more easy, use the website of the Belgian Railways. Available in English !! use Ypres or Ieper, use Bruges or Brugge http://www.nmbs.be kind Flemish regards danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted 9 May , 2004 Share Posted 9 May , 2004 Brugges is a very nice place, I was there at Easter on a package from the Rosyth Superfast Ferry. Ferry crossing overnight, 2 nights excellent B&B, return overnight ferry. Super! They also do a Battlefield Tour using the ferry. There are connections from Zeebrugge to the main railway station in Brugges and lots of leaflets advertising Battlefield tours in the Tourist Information office and the hotels. Go for it. Do both places though for satisfaction. Aye Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard_Lewis Posted 9 May , 2004 Author Share Posted 9 May , 2004 Pals! Pals! Sounds very good... but how do I sell the idea of a trip to the Salient, er, sorry, Bruges, to my wife? 30th Wedding anniversary so a bit 'special'. (To be fair she did come on a Somme tour with me and thoroughly enjoyed it!). Being masterful its decision made! I'll book something for Bruges...and blame you lot! Thanks for all the very helpful tips. Hoping to go somewhere for 4-5 nights to celebrate so 1 or 2 days in the Salient would be nice. If anyone has any other info/advice please post on thr Forum. Bernard Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 9 May , 2004 Share Posted 9 May , 2004 Bernard Suggest simple way forward with Mrs S. What bits of foreign travel appeal to her? Once that established, rest is easy. For example, Mrs H is more than happy to "do" the battlefields, so long as decent hotels and restaurants are also involved (therefore, we never do France and Flanders on the cheap). John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted 9 May , 2004 Share Posted 9 May , 2004 Belgian Chocolate!! Pal! Aye Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 10 May , 2004 Share Posted 10 May , 2004 Chocs, nice shops, great restaurants, one of the most beautiful and civilized cities in northern Europe (if not the most), art treasures, friendly people, lace, beer (er, possibly not beer, although Mrs Hone, a confirmed wine drinker has developed a taste for witbier and now even scorns Hoegaarden as inferior to the Bruges variety). I could go on. Many hotels are within easy walking distance of the town centre. We stay at a very comfortable 3-star, the Jacobs, which is excellent value, and I'm pretty sure is typical. Certainly beats the spots off most of the hotels I have stayed in in Blighty, including a disgusting 'Four Star' abomination we encountered in Stratford-On-Avon (no names, no packdrill, but it's named after the most famous inhabitant of the place). In Ieper, look no further than the Ariane for a great hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard_Lewis Posted 10 May , 2004 Author Share Posted 10 May , 2004 Thanks for the further info. I note the comment on the Jacobs hotel and will check it out. Mark - what are the facilities like? En-suite I guess? is there a bar? Restuarant? Anyone else have any hotel suggestions? Bernard Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 11 May , 2004 Share Posted 11 May , 2004 Re Jacobs: The rooms are ensuite, it has a nice breakfast area and a bar but to be honest you're not that far from the city centre (ten minute walk), with loads of good cafes and bars. The same owners have another hotel, whose name temporarily escapes me, which overlooks one of the canals and is even nearer the centre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 11 May , 2004 Share Posted 11 May , 2004 I concur with Mark’s recommendation of the Ariane in Ieper. It’s very pleasant and light, with well-fitted ensuite rooms (modern – not somewhere for enthusiasts about antique furniture and cobwebby atmosphere), wide-ranging buffet breakfast (where there is usually someone who feels the urge to read That McCrae Poem out loud), a comprehensive beer list in the bar and a reasonable restaurant, although not good for vegetarians (me). It’s a very short walk from the centre of Ieper, though, so you have the whole town in easy reach and you could do far worse than have a special meal at l’Ecurie. The staff speak English and they are lovely. (I was a bit startled that they said my French was better than theirs and they’d prefer to use English when I phoned to reserve. It confuses me totally to have a conversation in English when phoning mainland Europe. I end up gibbering mindlessly in Franglais and we all get muddled.) I can’t comment on Brugge because I don’t like it, unless it’s out of season (say, November or February), there are mists on the canals, the leaves are guttering round the streets and the bars and cafes are buzzing in the twilight behind steamed up windows. Or unless it’s dawn. I have an aversion to coach parties of Brits raving about chocolate and Tintin. Last time I was there it was like a meeting of the Grey Power Movement of Brighton. It is indeed a beautiful, atmospheric and pleasing town and worth visiting; I simply have a preference to avoid crowds. Where are you combining the Salient with? (Sorry about the bad grammar.) Personally I like going on from Belgium to Germany – the Mosel, usually. Or Antwerp’s stunning – so many restaurants for that special meal, everywhere in easy reach on foot or tram, excellent art galleries, shops if one must (I don’t ‘do’ shops), the best chocolate-serving tea room on the planet. Amazing train station (architecturally I mean) and some incredible civil engineering going on there at the moment – I mean that seriously. I could watch it for hours. Accessible by air. (The photos in my ‘art gallery’ on my website are currently Antwerp, from last trip – click WWW link below, page is called Been to Belgium.) Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 11 May , 2004 Share Posted 11 May , 2004 There are guides at Bruges who do the usual tourist trip, but if you are interested in WW1 I can put you in contact with a group of guides who do Bruges/ Zeebrugge - and they are excellent. I'll dig out the details this evening and let you have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard_Lewis Posted 11 May , 2004 Author Share Posted 11 May , 2004 Thanks again for all the advice. I'm working on it! Bernard Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 12 May , 2004 Share Posted 12 May , 2004 Just occured to me, silly that I am. Go to the FA website and you will find the list of just about everywhere anywhere in Europe that I put there. Zeebrugge, etc. is amongst it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_Woods Posted 15 May , 2004 Share Posted 15 May , 2004 Hi I've joined this thread a bit late but it is well before your trip in September. For train or ferry travel within Europe - including the UK - I would suggest the following website: www.seat61.com This guys enthusiasm puts all us Great War fanatics to shame. I've used the site myself and have friends who have organised travel from UK to Monaco using this site - and the best thing was it was incredibly good value. I know what you mean about Bruges - you can only eat so many chips, chocolate waffles and mussels! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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