Flanders Side Tour - 1 Day

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Gold60

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Hi All,

Later this year I will be in France, heading back to London, via Amsterdam.



It was going to be a straight through trip in the one day/overnight, etc.



I have since thought it might be nice to break my Paris to AMS train trip and spend a day somewhere in Flanders near the WW1 battle sites.
Plan would be to maybe stay in Bruges/Ypres, for example, and then hire a car and driver to do a quick Dunkirk to Ypres to Bruges trip – kind of following in the steps of someone who has just been shipped over from the UK, and was headed for Passchendaele, and beyond, if they were lucky enough to live that long.



I would then get dropped off back in Bruges, and next day go onto AMS for the train trip back to London, via Harwich.
I think what I am basically after is any tips/contacts to hire said car and driver/guide please?



There wouldn’t be anything much in the way of stopping at memorials, etc. Mainly a driving and looking at the topography type trip.

Any clues please?
 
It's not something I'd do. It wouldn't be cheap, so why not save your pennies and plan on going back there and do the visit properly. Three days minimum I would suggest, to see most of the areas of the WF where Australians were involved. Having visited both Gallipoli and the WF twice, we found the WF even more of a moving experience than Gallipoli was, and that was special.

Hi All,

Later this year I will be in France, heading back to London, via Amsterdam.



It was going to be a straight through trip in the one day/overnight, etc.



I have since thought it might be nice to break my Paris to AMS train trip and spend a day somewhere in Flanders near the WW1 battle sites.
Plan would be to maybe stay in Bruges/Ypres, for example, and then hire a car and driver to do a quick Dunkirk to Ypres to Bruges trip – kind of following in the steps of someone who has just been shipped over from the UK, and was headed for Passchendaele, and beyond, if they were lucky enough to live that long.



I would then get dropped off back in Bruges, and next day go onto AMS for the train trip back to London, via Harwich.
I think what I am basically after is any tips/contacts to hire said car and driver/guide please?



There wouldn’t be anything much in the way of stopping at memorials, etc. Mainly a driving and looking at the topography type trip.

Any clues please?
 
Thanks Franky. Can you suggest a tour/travel company please ?

It's not something I'd do. It wouldn't be cheap, so why not save your pennies and plan on going back there and do the visit properly. Three days minimum I would suggest, to see most of the areas of the WF where Australians were involved. Having visited both Gallipoli and the WF twice, we found the WF even more of a moving experience than Gallipoli was, and that was special.
 
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Hi All,

Later this year I will be in France, heading back to London, via Amsterdam.



It was going to be a straight through trip in the one day/overnight, etc.



I have since thought it might be nice to break my Paris to AMS train trip and spend a day somewhere in Flanders near the WW1 battle sites.
Plan would be to maybe stay in Bruges/Ypres, for example, and then hire a car and driver to do a quick Dunkirk to Ypres to Bruges trip – kind of following in the steps of someone who has just been shipped over from the UK, and was headed for Passchendaele, and beyond, if they were lucky enough to live that long.



I would then get dropped off back in Bruges, and next day go onto AMS for the train trip back to London, via Harwich.
I think what I am basically after is any tips/contacts to hire said car and driver/guide please?



There wouldn’t be anything much in the way of stopping at memorials, etc. Mainly a driving and looking at the topography type trip.

Any clues please?

Love the idea! When are you there? Mrs GPH and I are in France in April, looking to do Somme for a day. My Grandfather was captured during the 3rd Ypres offensive battle of the Somme , and finished the war as a POW.
Happy to chat off l
 
Ypres is a pretty town and has many tour companies doing day tours and 1/2 day tours...I tried 3 in the main block to get a tour at short notice.
Also has the Menin Gate where they close the road and play the last post every evening...as they have done since the war...very moving...and crowded.
Talking like 4 - 6 coachloads of people...if weather is nice get there 1 hour early if you want a front spot.
Depending on when you go booking ahead may be advised.
They take you to several battle sites and cemeteries, explaining the history along the way...most go to where McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields"

Dunkirk and D Day you really should take a few days at least, stay in Caen or Bayeaux as the bigger towns have railways.
Again many tour companies offer tours to the beaches and cemeteries.
Or you can get private tour if you have a specific relative they focus on where that battalion went.
There are many small, and a few big museums and you really must step onto the beaches and see the old Mulberries and visit the American Cemetery.

They do some tours from Paris but it takes a whole day, half of it is travelling, some by bus all the way or some you train to Caen and then get picked up.
These are usually full every time I have tried them.
Eventually I on my 3rd visit to France I got a rental car and drove myself around there for a week.
It is not far in kms to Normandy but the roads are goat tracks through little villages and it takes a fair while to get anywhere.
I still think I missed a fair bit and would go back again to see more.

YMMV but I think you should just do Belgium or France not both on one day.
Obviously it is better to get a quick look than NO look but I think you will be rushing to see all that.
If you can swing another holiday another time to do it justice that would be better.
 
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