BIFFO Posted 8 September , 2004 Share Posted 8 September , 2004 HI.my wife and I went on a coach trip to the battlefields last year,which left us wanting to spend more time at various sites,so as a special treat!! my wife wants us to drive to yeper stay in a hotel and go and have a look at what we like when we like,only problem is im not to keen on driving ,so whats it like what would any one suggest we could look at in 4days, thanks for all your help biffo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Bagshaw Posted 8 September , 2004 Share Posted 8 September , 2004 Hi Biffo, I went to France and Belgium with my father last May. The drive from Calais to Ypres was fairly straight forward as it is mainly motorway. That's the easy part! The country lanes and normal roads are the worst as you have to really concentrate so you dont drive down the road on the wrong side!! Petrol stations are fun to get out of! The driving isn't too bad at all to be honest. We took our own car over so you need somone who is quite confident sat in the passenger seat as they do most of the looking etc. Make sur you have a good read of the French and Belgian highway codes though, speed limits are very different in the two countries! It is quite enjoyable though and after a while it becomes second nature. Hope this helps? Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted 8 September , 2004 Share Posted 8 September , 2004 Instead of a hotel, why not try Varlet Farm which is run by Charlotte, a member of this forum. It is a friendly, family run place that offers good accomodation and a hearty breakfast. They also have a barn full of artefacts to look at. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 8 September , 2004 Share Posted 8 September , 2004 Biffo. Driving over there is no problem at all. Just be a little wary and careful and think about what you're doing (especially at junctions and roundabouts) and you'll find it just as easy as driving at home. It just takes a bit of confidence to take the plunge. Within an hour or so, it'll feel like the most natural thing in the world. My problems start when I'm back in the UK. I stop thinking, and have been known to go round roundabouts the wrong way , down the "up" routes in multi-storeys, and pull out of carparks and drive on the wrong side for a while!!! Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andigger Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 In 1998 I rented a car for the first time in Europe. I suppose it was a little daunting, but once I negotiated the signs and learned the map it was quite straight forward. Of course there is more traffic in the cities and it is always best to know where you are going before you head out, but otherwise I would not hesitate recommending a drive to anyone. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Driving in France and Belgium is really a piece of cake as long as you keep your eyes peeled. I find that the signposting in France leaves a little bit to be desired but the road surfaces are fine. Conversely, the signposting in Belgium is very good but the road surfaces range from poor to appalling. I must say that the N8 from Veurne to Ypres has to be the worst road surface I have ever driven on (this includes the Autoput in Yugoslavia) and it is unlikely that it has been repaired since the damage caused during the Great War. Whatever happens, just take your time and enjoy yourselves. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Hederer Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Biffo, That would be a very short trip indeed. I've made it twice (from Cambridge). I'm not sure where you're coming from or what means you want to use to get there. If you take the chunnel (convenient for me, but not for everyone) you'd be there so fast you'd not notice! Driving takes a bit of getting used to, and if you plan on driving at night there is the problem of the lights. But you can do it--look at how many people from the continent get right off the ferries here and drive immediately. If you decide on this, get a good road map and go to some site like mapquest and get printed directions. The trip you're describing is pretty straightforward and you should have no problem navigating. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Denham Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Biffo As everyone has said, driving to Ypres is easy and Belgian road signs are far superior to those in France. You will have to be careful driving around the main square in Ypres as it has a very confusing layout if you have not seen it before - part pedestrianised and part not with only different size/colour cobbles for road markings! That aside, it is all OK and you should enjoy the trip. There are several threads on the Forum extolling the virtues of the various hotels/B&Bs around the area and a search should give you a lot more info. Let us know how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hill 60 Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 There was a lot of info somewhere in the I'm Going to the Battlefields section, dated about October last year (sorry to be a bit vague). IIRC there was help on roadsigns etc, I know 'cos I used the info supplied on my first drive to Ypres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham-McAdam Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Unless you are very young and elastic, it's worth avoiding the dreadfuk A25 motorway which goes south from Dunkirk to Armentieres and Lille. Its made of concrete slabs and goes Bboom-Bboom -........ for 40 miles. Terrible. Treat yourself to the RNs through places like St Omer, Hazebrouk, Cassel, Poperinge. Your back will suffer less and you'll feel a lot more history on your trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philary Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Hi Everybody Thank you for your helpful advice. We are going to the battlefields in October for 4 nights and it will be the first time driving abroad. We are all set and ready to go, however your comments about the condition of roads has raised my blood pressure a little. You see we will be travelling in a Morgan 4/4!!! With a low-slung body (the car I mean!) I don't think we shall be breaking the speed limits. If any pals are in the Arras, Ieper, Cambrai areas between 22nd October and 26th October and you see a red Morgan driven by a large teddy-bear figure and a " little grey-haired old lady" (my daughter's description of we two 50 something year olds) please give us a wave and toot as you pass. Happy motoring Hilary (and Philip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkristof Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Driving in Ypres is no problem at all. You should try England, they drive at the wrong side of the road!! hahahahaha ps.: this was a joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 There are 2 things which bother me driving in the UK, roundabouts and, if I was driving a US car, passing. My advice is stay off the motorways, can't see anything that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkristof Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Roundabouts, indeed... very hard. And if you arrive in Dover, what do you get, a lot of roundabouts. But i survived, even the motorway was ok. I managed to get to Beltring and back whitout any problems. Just switch the button in your head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Hilary-Do look out for the Bury Grammar School battlefields tour (led by yours truly) in the Ypres Salient between the 22nd and 24th October. On the evening of Sunday 24th we are dedicating a plaque to the fallen of the school at St George's Church before taking part in the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. Do say hello. We're quite friendly and a lot of the lads are senior boys who have been on quite a few previous battlefield tours. It is our tenth anniversary battlefields tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Hederer Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Let's not be unfair to the round-abouts! Once you get the hang of it they're great! But I have noticed the rules they taught us don't seem to apply. It's not the driver on the right who has the right-away, but whoever can accelerate the fastest to place the claim on being IN the roundabout! I have a left hand drive car and lived for a year out in the Fens near Ely. Passing was a nightmare. When I serached for a new house I told the agent it had to be within so far of a major road, not less than an A road and so on. That got me some funny looks, but I did manage to get myself a house with a drive consisting of almost all A-roads. I will say the only thing that bothers me about driving in the UK--the drivers (IMHO) are extreme polite (or afraid of a Yank on the loose) but the truck drivers are something else. OK, truck A is going 50 MPH, truck B is going 51 MPH, truck B feels it is OK to swerve into the right lane just as car A is preparing to overtake at 70 MPH. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KONDOA Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Biffo, Get in the mood , avoid the motorway. Then make time for breakfast in Pop. When I was a child they used to have a little fairground at some time of the year also in Ypres with horses the motive power. We also used to stay in a pension that did a mean horsemeat and haricot stew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Buck Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 Driving on the Continent is fairly easy. Us two 65+ seniors did it twice last year after a break of 5 years. Be careful when you first take to the road at the start of the day and when pulling out of filling stations etc. Take out breakdown and medical insurance. Set your mobile phone up for roaming. The drive from Calais to Ypres (Ieper) is fairly easy - just over an hour. While there I would say the 'musts' are the Last Post at the Menin Gate, In Flanders Fields Museum, St Georges Church and Talbot House in Poperinge. Parking in Ypres behind the Cloth Hall we found easy and cheap. Read up a bit before you go - Paul Reed's book on The Salient is good. Best of luck, this should be an excellent first visit for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted 9 September , 2004 Share Posted 9 September , 2004 I don't think we shall be breaking the speed limits. In my opinion, the faster the better, you will skim over the bumps. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philary Posted 10 September , 2004 Share Posted 10 September , 2004 Hello Everyone Thank you for all your helpful advice!! Yes we are excited and looking forward to it. Unfortunately we shall not be in Ieper on Sunday, I've already booked B&B's up but we will be there Friday/Saturday. Mark - Hope your ceremony is all you hope it will be, will be thinking of you and hope to read all about it later. Paul & Bkristof: You must come to Bristol for the best British driving experience. If you can drive here, you can drive anywhere!! Yield is not part of a Bristol driver's vocabulary. All can be forgiven as it is a lovely city Andy - My husband will certainly take on board your advice!! Maybe I ought to pack a spare exhaust just in case. I have one last problem though - I get my right and left mixed up! I think stickers on the hands might be a good idea. Hilary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 10 September , 2004 Share Posted 10 September , 2004 Hilary-Oh, dear you may still encounter us as we arrive on the Friday. We shall be at Essex Farm and the Brooding Soldier Memorial on Friday afternoon and Messines, Wijtschate, Plugstreet Wood and Poperinge on Saturday if all goes according to plan. If you pass the Brooding Soldier at Vancouver Corner crossroads at about 4pm on Friday you may see us unfurling the Maple Leaf flag and singing 'O, Canada'. (Five of our former pupils died serving with the Canadian Expeditionary Force). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philary Posted 10 September , 2004 Share Posted 10 September , 2004 Mark We are definitely going to try and make it to the flag ceremony if we may. We are travelling via Le Shuttle and anticipate arriving mid afternoon in Calais. As a Head Teacher of an Infant School I shall enjoy the experience! My Aunt emigrated to Canada in 1950 and my Great Aunt emigrated in 1929/30 so I do have a vested interest! Really looking forward to meeting you and your entourage. Hilary & Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 10 September , 2004 Share Posted 10 September , 2004 I have one last problem though - I get my right and left mixed up! Hilary, I too am sinistrally challenged or a shifted sinistral or whatever the expression is. Strangely enough, it's far easier when driving on the right and doing everything in mirror image. For some reason the mix-up problem simply doesn't occur. Unfortunately, should one's driving partner be used to compensating for one saying right when one means left, or left when one means right, and therefore continues to turn left when one says right, or right when one says left, so ends up going right when one means left, or left when one means right, or gauche when one says droit, or droit when one says gauche, it can all end in tears. Or back in Calais. And of course this also applies when he's navigating and you're driving, so that because he's learned to say turn left when he means turn right, or turn right when he means turn left, he has to be re-trained to say turn left when he means turn left, otherwise you think he means turn right, which is what applies in the UK. Sigh. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philary Posted 10 September , 2004 Share Posted 10 September , 2004 Oh no Gwyn now my head's spinning and I'm not sure if I'm on my head or my heels. Phil always worries when I navigate as I have to keep turning the map round in the direction I'm going!! However as his reading & spelling achievements in English are dicey, you can only imagine what his french is like!!! I shall just have to navigate. (It's a good job he's so clever at everything else) Hilary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIFFO Posted 11 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 11 September , 2004 I thank you all for your help,most of all I have found out how to spell ypres,will bite the bullet and drivego thro euro tunnel then pray what is the best time to go,last year we went end of march,poor wife got soaked at tynecot,didnt say anything but gave me "that look"what books re battlefield should I read can get hold of major holts tour book. biffo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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