aussie10

At the completion of our European tour we wish to travel to Ieper from Paris to visit our Uncle's memorial at the Menin Gate. Can anyone help with best economical way to travel as well as accomodation at Ieper. Have seen Old Tom written up and appears reasonably priced.Hope someone can help.

jody

We have always stayed at the Ariane Hotel..they have a website, nice rooms, very good restaurant and there are various English war tours that stops there and it's always great fun to meet up in the lounge and exchange stories and often to be invited to places you might not normally have access to!

. Sorry can't help on transport as we have always had a car!

USNR

As you probably have checked a map by now, you know that Ypres is almost straight north of Paris and not far from Calais, just over the border into Belgium. I think the nearest French town is Armentieres.

I have gone to Ypres from Brussels by rail, with a change at Kortrijk. That would be far out of your way. Have you investigated to see if there is rail service between Calais and Ypres? That would be by far the shortest route. The French National Railways web site (SNCF) might be a good place to start.

While in Ypres, make a point to see the excellent and fairly new museum display called "In Flanders Fields" housed in the central Cloth Hall. The Menin Gate is located quite near the center of town, a short walk to the east of the central market area. The Last Post, played by a bugler, is a moving experience each evening. Recently, there was something in the press about this ceremony being dropped, but I do not know if that came to pass. Inside the Menin Gate are inscribed in stone the names of all those known to have died in the area 1914-1918.

jody

There is a train from paris to Brussells Midi and there you can connect with a train for Ieper. Total journey time about 3 hours. There are several others but they require 2 connections.

Check out the website for the last Post Association..sometimes ,if you are really lucky, there will be regimental bands from the UK< Australia , etc , in addition to the regular bugelars (sp).

stardust

I think the cheapest and fastest would be to take a TGV to Lille-Flandres (1 hr from Paris-Nord), connect to Kortrijk in Belgium from there (about half an hour, about 10 minutes to connect in Lille), and in Kortrijk switch to Ieper (another half an hour, about 10 minutes to connect in Kortrijk). That is a total of 2h20. Kortrijk-Ieper is the only train connection, so no way you can go by Calais.

aussie10

Many thanks to you all for your help. I have been onto the sites you mentioned and have taken the tips on board so feel confident that we can easily get to Ieper.

margo_oz

Ieper and the Menin Gate are wonderful. Go to the Last Post ceremony at 8pm, it's really awe-inspiring. So many dead; so young. All those Aussies and others lost.

We were there a couple of years ago, and stayed at Varlet Farm, which is on Flanders Fields.
http://www.varletfarm.com

Charlotte, the owner, was just amazing. She has a small display of artefacts found on her farm alone. She was very good with advice as to what to see too. I seem to recall they could arrange to collect you from the station, as well, if you are carless.

From your name, I presume you're Australian. While we were there, we had a car, and were able to see some of the amazing Australian memorials and cemetaries around that area (Polygon Wood was especially inspiring), and on the Somme. It was an amazing trip.

USNR

Incidentally, once you arrive at the Ypres railway station, you can rent a bicycle there at very little cost. The town is not very big and the land is almost flat. You may want to go out to Tyne Cot, the largest British military cemetery in the world. It's a pleasant ride through gently rolling fields, lots of cows and potatoes, on the way to Passchendaele. There also is a very large German cemetery in nearby Langemark.

margo_oz

Polygon Wood is the predominantly Australian cemetary.