Walking the Ypres Salient

Walking the Ypres Salient - a lesiurely tour walking over the Battlefields

It is ten years since we first walked the Ypres Salient on a Leger Battlefield Tour, and for 2010 we are pleased to offer some new walks, covering locations and areas we haven't yet visited and also including some old favourites.

Our itinerary
Day 1 Local departure by coach then onwards to Ypres for a four-night stay.
Day 2 The Hills of Flanders - The Bluff
Walk 1: Our first walk shows us that Flanders isn't always as flat as we think! We start in the village of Locre, and looking at the subject of soldiers "Shot at Dawn". We then walk out to the site of Locre Hospice, seeing a unique field grave to Irish Nationalist MP, Willie Redmond. From here we look at operations around Kemmel Hill in April 1918, climbing our way to the top of the hill, seeing the French cemetery, and crossing down into the village to see the graves of men who fell in the early period of the war.
Walk 2: We begin in the village of Vierstaat, and see the grave of Peter Llewllyn Davies, immortalised in "Peter Pan". We then follow a route to the Upres-Comines canal, and towards the Bluff. Along the way we see bunkers, battle-scarred remains of the canal and battlefield cemeteries - a most unusual walk. B
Day 3 Messines Ridge - Behild the Lines.
Walk 3: We start in the village of  ‘Whitesheet’, in the centre of Messines Ridge. We walk out to the eastern side of the ridge, and follow the site of fighting, seeing several small battlefield cemeteries, and a British bunker. In Messines we look at the fighting of 1914 and capture of the village of June 1917, and end at Bethlehem Farm cemetries. 
Walk 4: We move away from the battlefield, and look at the work of the Casualty Clearing Stations at Brandhoek, also seeing the grave of Captian Noel Chavassee VC & Bar.  In the village we also see his memorial, before going to Hagle Dump. We then trace the site of Dirty Bucket Camp - and finish at Hospital Farm, close to Vlamertinghe. B
Day 4 Broodseinde Ridge - Visit to Nieuport (optional).
Walk 5: Our final wak starts at arguably one of the finest museums in Flanders. The Passchendaele Memorial Museum, with it's unique reconstructed WWI dugout. From here we walk from the grounds of the Zonnebeke Chateau, through the village, and follow the old railway line up onto the Broodseinde Ridge. From here we walk accross to Tyne Cot Cemetery, seeing the graves of those conncted with the ground we have just crossed, and take time to see the Visitors Centre.  In the afternoon either take free-time in Ypres, or join us on an optional visit to Nieuport, where the Western Front petered out on the beaches of North Belgium, and where British soldiers were in action in 1917. B
Day 5 To Calais, and return home. B
Included Meals: B=Breakfast

Your hotel
You’ll stay for four nights at the 3-star Novotel in the centre of Ypres, near the Menin Gate and the market place, with its many shops, cafés and bars. The hotel has a lift, bar, and restaurant. All bedrooms have a T.V., hairdryer and air-conditioning.

5 days from only £369

What’s Included?
• Specialist Battlefields Guide
• 5 Battlefield walks
• 4 nights’ accommodation with continental breakfast in Ypres
• FREE local joining points
• Travel by executive coach 
Please Note: Entrance fees to museums & places of interest are at extra cost.

Prices are per person, based on two sharing.
Extras • Optional excursions

Book your Leger Holiday through First4Breaks and receive 5% discount off the prices below
Call us on 0191 514 5511 or click on the enquire button below to check availability or book