You can't avoid this part of our history when you visit Ypres. How you experience it is up to you, there are many possibilities available and there's bound to be one that especially appeals to you!
By car
You have a choice of different sign-posted routes of various distances. In our hotel, we offer a selection of maps but a wider range is also available at the Ypres Tourist Board shop. If you prefer to buy your maps in advance, you can do so on the Westtoer webshop.
With a guide
Or would you rather hear about the Salient from an experienced local guide?
This is also possible and there's more than one way of doing so. You can, for instance, rent a guide to take you out on a private tour. Or you can book a place in a minibus and join a small group on a guided tour of the Salient.
But it doesn't stop there. Guided tours can be made by car, by minibus, by bike, by motorbike and even by light aircraft! Take a look below and be inspired!
organises private tours for individual visitors or for small groups of up to 16 people. Primarily in English but tours in Dutch are available on request. Either sign up for a place on a organised tour or book to go out privately with either Jacques or Genevra, just for you alone. By the way, they also do tours down to the Somme if your interest is there. A day trip from Ypres tot the Somme is perfectly feasible.
Discover the 1914-18 front line by bike, led by a passionate guide who has been lucky enough to turn this hobby into his job! These rides aren't a racing competition but allow you to cycle along carefully selected routes, chosen for their historical and scenic interest. Take a look at the packages on offer on their website.
Their mission? Tailor-made, professionally guided cycle tours through "Flanders Fields" (can also be over the course of several days), focusing on diverse themes. To cycle 'In Flanders Fields', is to make an awe-inspiring tour through historically laden landscapes , where time seems to have stood still. En route or at the end of the trip, your effort is rewarded by sampling some of the 'coleur locale', perhaps in the form of rich regional beers in the trappist tradition, whilst soaking up the ambiance in picturesque cafés or restaurants.
This organisation offers standard as well as tailor-made tours for motorcyclists. The guide will lead the group along the nicest and lesser known roads of the Westhoek.
During the rides, a professional and modern intercom system is used, so everybody can enjoy discovering the former battlefields of the First World War in a safe and relaxed atmosphere.
Do you fancy having a test ride - or don't have a motorbike of your own? On request, they can organise rental for you of Royal Enfield Motorbikes (500cc) or a brand-new Vespa.
Those who would rather see the various First World War sites from a different angle, might be interested in looking down on them from the air! Taking a flight over the Ypres Salient in a light aircraft or helicopter, offers the chance to see the strategic importance of the landscape during the war and offers a completely different perspective on the many sites.
Helipromotions takes you up in a helicopter from Diksmuide (23 km from Ariane Hotel).
Alfa flight offers a "Flanders Fields Memorial Flight", a flight of 1 hour in a Robin DR400 airplane (pilot and three passengers) and leaves from the international airport at Kortrijk-Wevelgem (28 km from Ariane Hotel).
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