Roger

Ypres was the site of some horrific World War One battles between the English and the Germans. Are there any museums worth visiting in Ypres? Is the town itself worth a visit?

JOdy

It must be I've been 3 times. <BR>Ypres ( Ieper) was totally destroyed in the 1st world war and painstakingly rebuilt with the old plans and ,materials. In the town itself there is one of the best museums I've been to on this particular subject..In Flanders field Museum. In addition there is a lovely catherdral, St Martins, St Georges chapel, built for the relatives of the missing to have a place to reflect, and st Peters Church , dating from the 12th cen.<BR><BR>The Last Post ceremony at Menin gate , takes place every night at 8n PM. That alone is worth a trip. Menin gates holds the names of 55,000 soldiers who fell before August 1917 and whose graves were never uncovered. <BR><BR>From Ypres , you can visit Essex Farm, where the famous poen : In Flanders fields: was written in a casualty dugout during the war, by John McCrae, a canadian Doctor.Also you can visit Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof, a Cemetery for 44,000 German soldiers, most unidentified and a stark contrast to the canadian and British cemeteries. TRhe canadian Forces Memorial at a crossroads is one of the most impressive I've ever seen in it's simplicity. You can visit Tyne cot, the largest military cem. on the continent, Passendale, Mont kemmel. There are museums in Messines and Zonnebeke. There is more than enough to fill up several days if you have an interest.<BR>Tours can be booked at the visitors center or a route map is available.<BR>I highly reccomend the Hotel Ariane for a central location for touring this area. It is also used by british tour companies for their small groups and you will meet many interesting people in the lounge in the evening,.

JOdy

I forgot to mention, you are only 45 minutes from Brugge, by car, and I actually think there is local bus, as many people there work in Brugge. Another wonderful city to explore and great shopping for the ladies

Al

We used the services of an excellent, English-speaking guide in Ypres who drove us all day around the area in his mini-van. We started and returned from Brugge, made a circle that included most of the sights mentioned in Jody's post on a route that our guide had developed himself, using a lot of back roads to places one would never have guessed still existed. If you are interested, drop me a line direct, and I can provide details re this guide.

Karl

What's Last Post ceremony?

Karl

doesn't anybody know what this means.

Al

In the British army, instead of "Taps," they play "The Last Post" on a bugle. The ceremony (with the bugle played) takes place each sundown at the Menin Gate in Ypres. There is talk that this ceremony will be discontinued inasmuch as so few of those who served there in WWI are still alive or attend. Reading the London Daily Telegraph, I read where this idea was roundly disapproved.

ann

Visited Ypres (Ieper) last weekend; and it really was worth the visit - would recommend it to anyone.<BR>The Flanders Field museum in the lakenhalle (linen hall) is an absolute must; as is attending the "last post". As a matter of fact, we took a tour with a guide on the old ramparts (or what's left of it) around town, and he said there are more people every year visiting Ieper and attending the ceremony at the Menen Gate. <BR>

mpprh

Hi<BR><BR>Ypres was one of the most moving places I've visited<BR><BR>Peter<BR>

martine

Ypres is a must! It is a nice little town and you just have to visit "In Flanders Fields". "The last post" is every day at 6PM (if I remind well). You can sniff the great war there.