Tour of Ypres salient

[Bazaman67]

Hi. I'm taking my (grown up) kids and grandson over to France in September and would like to take them for a day out to the Ypres salient. Can anyone suggest where I can obtain a map which shows the ww1 sites in the area to aide my route plan.

Many thanks in anticipation

Paul

[Minefield Mc]

Major and Mrs Holts have a map which supports their guide book Major and Mrs Holts Guide to The Ypres Salient.

The map is sometimes given free with the book by some booksellers, otherwise it's about a fiver

REgards

Mc

[Minefield Mc]

PS

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Major-Mrs-Holts-Battlefield-Guide-Salient/dp/0850525519/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399819970&sr=1-1&keywords=ypres+salient+holt%27s

The map is listed separately in the also bought section

Mc

[Bazaman67]

Thanks Mc, I'll take a look at that.

Paul

[WilliamRev]

For £11.45 including postage for both Holt's book and map, it is well worth buying, even if you are just going for a day (because you'll doubtless want to return!). If you search the Battlefield Touring section of the forum, you'll find various threads from people asking what to do in a single day at Ypres Salient, which may help you.

My one-day tour would always include the Passchendaele Museum at Zonnebeke, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Sanctuary Wood (controversial perhaps - not popular on this forum, but I know some first-time visitors who have found the preserved trenches here the best bit of their visit), Hooge Museum (food available) and the 8pm Last Post at the Menin Gate if time allows.

William

[derekspiers]

I,m going to Ypres in July. Interesting that the list above does not include the museum in the Cloth Hall?

[WilliamRev]

My list was just for a one-day tour, and I certainly wouldn't bother with the In Flanders Field museum in the Cloth Hall in such a whistlestop visit. It is certainly worth going to if you are in Ypres for a few days, and is now rather more conventional and less controversial in it's new incarnation, as long as you can cope with the constant sepulchral organ-music. The best thing was probably going to the top of the tower, which I mentioned here in post 14 with two photos. On a clear day you get unrivalled perspective on the whole salient (You need to be fit, and with a good head for heights).

On a quick visit, the great advantage of the Passchendaele Museum at Zonnebeke is that it is in the heart of the 3rd Ypres battlefield, and you can walk to it from Polygon Wood or Tyne Cot.

William

[keithfazzani]

Chris Baker's Long Long Trail site has suggestions for a 1 day tour of the Salient see here http://www.1914-1918.net/onthetrail/index.php/visit-the-battlefields/the-long-long-trails-guide-to-ypres/

[dah]

Hi Paul,

Yes, I agree that Chris Baker's "Ypres highlights in a day" gives a pretty good recommendation........and that the Holts Guide and map are essential references for getting about and making sense of what happened at the places you will visit.

Personally I wouldn't stress Hooge museum as an 'essential' for a one-day whistle-stop tour.....but I suppose a first-timer does need to see some of the weapons, uniforms, dioramas and photos of the conditions etc. I just find (and certainly found at the younger age your grandson may be at) such places to be a little too static and rather dull.

Despite the 'controversy' surrounding the Sanctuary Wood museum trenches (which may or may not be authentic.......but your grandson won't care about that), I'd recommend taking a first-time/whistle-stop group there.........yes for the trenches, the weaponry....but mainly for the hundreds of 3D photographs from WW1 in their array of 'what the butler saw' viewing machines. These photographs are simply amazing....and (for me at least) immerse and transport the viewer into the moment at which they were taken.....and make you feel as if you were there in those (often awful) conditions. I think you need this 'real life' context to offset against the impression you might otherwise get from visiting today's Ypres and cemeteries.....which are undoubtedly impressive (beautiful even)......but don't readily convey the dark reality of the conditions endured by their WW1 inhabitants.

I really like the Passchendaele Museum at Zonnebeke (as mentioned earlier in the thread) but think your single day should allow for only one museum.....in which case, I stick with Sanctuary Wood for the reasons given. Your grandson will definitely remember the 3D photos (a few of which, it must be said, are inevitably gruesome.....so, depending on his age and sensivity, perhaps his Dad should vet each machine's contents first)

Regards,

David