How to get from Southampton to Ypres
 

We are arriving in Southampton by sea next April from Australia. Have always wanted to visit some WW1 sites and cemeteries at Ypres in Belgium, but not keen on driving on the continent.

Would appreciate any advice on the most effective way of getting to Ypres (and back to England) by public transport

There's no easy way of doing this. There are boats from Southampton to France, but they take forever and getting to Ypres from the ports will take longer.

The only sensible way is to get the train into London, cross town to St Pancras, get the Eurostar to Brussels, then it's 90 mins from Brussels-Midi into Ypres. Probably 6-7 hours total: bahn.de is probably the best route planner. I think it doesn't understand English as well as it thinks it does, and you might have to call the place Ieper.

Getting back depends on where you want to get back to: if it's an airport, fly from Brussels to the airport concerned, if it's London for a visit, train it to London, and if it's somewhere in the provinces, don't even think of getting a train.

Check Southampton airport for flights to Brussels: but even if there are any, you'll probably find the train's as fast.

To see more than just the Menin Gate, you're going to need to drive, or depend on taxis or tours: battlefields are bloody great huge things and even the cemeteries are widely spread out. There are UK-based tours (like www.battlefield-tours.com) which collect you here and drop you back again, but there's alao a fair few that pick you up in Ypres.

Do the Quasi Modo tour which leaves from Bruges and goes to many sights of interests to Australians and then you can leave the tour in Yper, go on Menin Gate for the 8pm ceremony stay the night there or catch the train back to Brussels.

A slightly quicker route is Lille-Kortrijk- Ypres by train.

Flybe fly direct from Southampton to Brussels and back twice a day. Since Southampton is such a small airport you can arrive less than 1 hour before departure. I'm a fairly frequent business traveller on this route and it's much quicker to Belgium from the Southampton area than going on Eurostar trains.

Thanks for all the advice/information supplied. Much appreciated.

hi,

the website for flybe is www.flybe.com.

As Gordan says above they fly from Southampton to Brussels twic a day. Remember they are like most airlines these days - the earlier you book the cheaper it will be.

Also note that the airport is north of Southampton - so you will need to get a taxi - its only about 12 miles, so shouldn't cost that much?

They are pretty reliable - I use them regualarly fly to France with them - fairly basic service - can food / drinks etc on plane.

The other advantage is that you could fly into Brussels from Southampton - but back into a London airport, as flybe are a point to point airline, so don't charge you more for single flights.

Have you looked at a tour company in Brussels, who could show you the war sites? The other option is hire a car - I know you don't want to do that - but I drive on the same side of the road as you (coming from the UK) & driving on the other side of the road is not difficult - you get used to it quickly.

Mark

I'd certainly recommend getting a car, the driving in that area is not bad at all. If you get to Ypres (Ieper)by other means , there are good tours to the cemeteries leaving from the In Flanders Fields museum.

Even the return flight from Brussels to Southampton might be preferable to flying into a London airport.

This is because Southampton is a small airport, your bags will probably beat you into the terminal, at very worst you may need to wait 2 or 3 minutes. The Train station is no more than 100 yards away, with direct trains to London every 20 - 30 minutes.

If you do use the plane , then check Flybe's luggage policy carefully - checked in baggage is quite expensive.

can't help you with travel from england to Ypres (Ieper in dutch) but i did take the 4-hour tour called Flander Battlefield tour, and if WWI is your interest, then this tour is outstanding!!!!!

I saw: british trenches, underground bunkers, concrete pillboxes, massive mine craters, the church crypt where hitler was patched up, a WWI museum, etc. if you go, wear comfortable shoes as you will be walking on farmland and fields (watch out for the sheep dung). and the food at restaurants in the town center was the freshest and tastiest ever!! don't miss the daily ceremony at 8pm at the Menin Gate honoring the tens of thousands who died in service forthe british empire. have a great trip...

You can also get the train from Southampton to Southampton Airport.