My wife and I want to visit the WW1 battlefields in N France & Belgium next June. Ideally going for 4-5 days and staying on just one site. Any recommendations gratefully received.
Alistair Bruce
Alistair Bruce
WW1 Battlefields
- Thread starter acbruce
- Start date
This autumn we stayed at Kompas Camping, Nieupoort, Belguim. This a large well run site, altho' beginning to run down at at the end of the season when we were there but in the height of summer has everything you could wish for. The distances you may wish to travel to WW1 battlefields may be, in some cases, rather excessive i.e. Arras in France is nearly 100 miles but Ypres is just "down the road" at approx 35 miles. Should you wish to travel to the Somme I can recommend the site at Rue and Camping Du Val D'authie.
We used the municipal site at Sous le Moulin. Lovely site, with a lake, facilities basic and tired-looking, but functional. Very pleasant and helpful wardens, but appeared very young! Good restaurants in the village within walking distance.
Camping Municipal,
Sous le Moulin
Tel 03 29 84 28 35Very handy for Verdun area, and only €36 for 4 nights.
Camping Municipal,
Sous le Moulin
Tel 03 29 84 28 35Very handy for Verdun area, and only €36 for 4 nights.
A good site at KEMMEL,HEUVELLAND (west Flanders) about 5/6 miles from YPRES.
Camping Ypra, Pingelaarstraat 2, 8956 Kemmel-Heuvelland, tel 057 444631. WWW.camping-ypra.be
Camping Ypra, Pingelaarstraat 2, 8956 Kemmel-Heuvelland, tel 057 444631. WWW.camping-ypra.be
We had a trip to the Battlefields in October and stayed at La Paille Haute near Arras. It's an ACSI site so it will be cheaper in June if you have the ACSI card. This site is in a quiet village and is OK without being anything special but it is quite central for most of the battlefields. We covered places in Belgium and the Somme without any difficulty. It's also not far off the autoroute, so quite easy to access from either Calais or Dunkirk.
John M
John M
I wouldnt try to do it all in one go. I have been many times both in the van and on 3 guided tours and I think you will find more than enough in a reasonable radius of any of the sites recomended e.g from the site at Kemmel there is plenty to keep you occupied in the Ypres salient without dashing off to the Somme etc.
Dave
Dave
You need to decide which battlefield 'area' you mainly want to visit, depending if you are search for a specific thing such as the grave of a relative.
If you want to visit the Somme then the area around St Quentin and Arras is the best place to go. There is a very nice site at Serucourt le Grand south of St Q which makes a good base (avoid St Q - it is an industrial dump.)
Otherwise try the municipal at Ypres. It is little more than ten minutes walk from the Menin Gate, and the town itself is both pleasant and full of history. It has free wi-fi and the facilities are clean and well maintained. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has its N Europe HQ in Ypres - there are over 1000 CWG cemetaries in Belgium, almost one round every corner, and a significant number are within about 20 miles of the town.
Many people think of WW1 being the Somme, but in fact the Ypres Salient was far more significant. There was three battles of Ypres, the last of which is best known as Passendale at which 750,000 died in eight months - 28,000 on the first day alone. There are also three major German and a couple of French cemetaries worth visiting, and the Passendale Museum in Zonnebekke is very moving to say the least.
There is a book, Before Endeavours Fade by Rose E.B.Coombs, which is the definitive guide to WW1 battelfields, it costs about £18 from Amazon, and will tell you everything in short pieces about each area. One thing to be wary of however is that it makes very short distances seem large. For instance the aerial view of the Tunnellers Memorial to the closest mine crater looks huge where it is only 150m or so.
Look at www.greatwar.co.uk for more info.
If you want to visit the Somme then the area around St Quentin and Arras is the best place to go. There is a very nice site at Serucourt le Grand south of St Q which makes a good base (avoid St Q - it is an industrial dump.)
Otherwise try the municipal at Ypres. It is little more than ten minutes walk from the Menin Gate, and the town itself is both pleasant and full of history. It has free wi-fi and the facilities are clean and well maintained. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has its N Europe HQ in Ypres - there are over 1000 CWG cemetaries in Belgium, almost one round every corner, and a significant number are within about 20 miles of the town.
Many people think of WW1 being the Somme, but in fact the Ypres Salient was far more significant. There was three battles of Ypres, the last of which is best known as Passendale at which 750,000 died in eight months - 28,000 on the first day alone. There are also three major German and a couple of French cemetaries worth visiting, and the Passendale Museum in Zonnebekke is very moving to say the least.
There is a book, Before Endeavours Fade by Rose E.B.Coombs, which is the definitive guide to WW1 battelfields, it costs about £18 from Amazon, and will tell you everything in short pieces about each area. One thing to be wary of however is that it makes very short distances seem large. For instance the aerial view of the Tunnellers Memorial to the closest mine crater looks huge where it is only 150m or so.
Look at www.greatwar.co.uk for more info.
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