Places to Explore

• Around Liège

  Relatively close to the German border, situated on the river Meuse and the Albertkanaal, the channel connecting Antwerp with Liège was of utmost strategic importance. By the end of the 19th century... (more)

• Bastogne

  Bastogne is where General McAuliffe delivered World War II's most famous response to a surrender request: "Nuts!" Although a number of Ardennes towns were destroyed during the Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne... (more)

• Diksmuide

  Like Ieper, Diksmuide was completely destroyed during the First World War and rebuilt in its original style, which you can savor best from the Grote Markt, the spacious square flanked by brick-gabled buildings... (more)

• Ieper

  Known as the Ypres of World War I infamy,"Wipers" to the Tommies in the trenches, and Ieper (pronounced eeper) to the locals, this town was the Hiroshima of the Great War. Founded in the 10th century as... (more)

• La Roche-en-Ardenne

  The nickname "Pearl of the Ardennes" refers to La Roche's beautiful surroundings, not to the town itself. It was leveled by 70,000 shells during the Battle of the Bulge. La Roche was rebuilt quickly after... (more)

• Mons

• Passendale and Zandvoorde

  Passendale and Zandvoorde are two of the five villages east of Ieper that constitute the municipality of Zonnebeke, which also encompasses Beselare, Geluveld, and Zonnebeke proper. As peaceful as they may... (more)

• Poperinge

  During the war, the only part of Belgium not occupied by the Germans was a small area in the southwest corner of West-Vlaanderen (West Flanders). Here, in the quiet provincial town of Poperinge, the British... (more)

• Zillebeke

  Maple Avenue, in the tiny village of Zillebeke (which is actually part of Ieper), formed the Canadian front line in 1916. After the war, the avenue was planted with maples in remembrance of the many Canadians... (more)