The Ypres Salient Battlefields

Between October 1914 and November 1918 several major military battles of the First World war took place to the north, east and south of the ancient town of Ypres in Belgium. The spelling of the modern town name is Ieper.

Museums

The Ypres Salient battlefields today offer public and private museums. They contain resources ranging from rare battlefield artefacts and archive collections to original trench systems. Perfect for private tourists or school parties.

Museums in the Ypres Salient

British military cemetery Cross of Sacrifice

Military Cemeteries

The scale of military casualties from the German, French and British Armies during the battles of the Ypres Salient amounted to several hundred thousand dead. Their graves are marked by over 120 military burial grounds on the old Ypres Salient 1914-1918 battlefields. In addition to the cemeteries, several memorials listing the names of "The Missing", whose bodies were never found, commemorate those who died and who have no known grave in the Ypres Salient.

Cemeteries in the Ypres Salient

Battles

Within the first few months of the outbreak of the Great War the Ypres Salient witnessed the first of several major battles to occur there before the war ended on 11 November 1918. Some of these like Messines and Passchendaele are still mentioned today.

Battles of Ypres

Ypres Salient Area Map

This is a modern day map showing Ieper in its relation to the towns and larger villages in the surrounding area. The map includes main roads, railway line, rivers and canals, the larger woods, and the ridge of high ground to the south and east of Ieper.

Map of the Ypres Salient

Ypres (Ieper)

The medieval town of Ypres (nowadays called by its Flemish name Ieper) was located at the centre of the 1914-1918 battlefields of the Ypres Salient. Ypres was razed to the ground during four years of fighting.

For the historical background of the town, tourist sites and visitors' information go to our section on Ypres.

Ypres/ Ieper

Poperinge

Poperinge was a small town situated approximately 8 miles to the west of Ypres in the rear British Army area. The town was the location for the famous Toc H Everyman's Club, founded in 1915 by Padre Tubby Clayton.

Poperinge

Accommodation in the Ypres Salient

There is a range of visitors' accommodation in the area of the 1914-1918 Ypres Salient battlefields to suit all budgets. As a guide this website provides listings of hotels, guesthouses, hostels and camping offering bed & breakfast, self-catering, full board and camping facilities.

Ypres Salient Accommodation