Western Front Way Road To Passchendaele

Overview

The Road to Passchendaele is an official walking circuit created in collaboration with the town of Zonnebeke. It takes you through some of the most significant World War I sites in Flanders, starting and ending in Ieper (Ypres). This trail follows a way-marked loop passing historic battlefields, cemeteries, and memorials that tell the story of the Battle of Passchendaele. In just one weekend, you’ll experience both the history, hiking and the landscapes that have since reclaimed these former frontlines.

And if WWI history isn’t your main focus—or you’ve convinced a reluctant friend to come along under the promise of a relaxing walking weekend—this trail still delivers. The Flemish countryside is stunning and the route itself is an easy, rewarding adventure.

How to get to Ieper

If you're travelling from the UK by train, the easiest way to reach Ieper is by taking the Eurostar to Brussels-Midi, then booking an SNCB train to Gent-Sint-Pieters, where you’ll change platforms for a direct train to Ieper. The total journey from Brussels to Ieper takes approximately two hours.

For visitors coming from elsewhere in Europe, we also recommend travelling via Brussels, as it offers easy train connections to Ieper. The Belgian rail network is efficient, and tickets can be booked in advance through SNCB.

Plan Your Walk

Distance: Approximately 25-30 km loop
Duration: Can be completed in one or two days, depending on pace
Difficulty: Moderate – mostly flat terrain with some longer stretches
Best Time to Visit: Spring and autumn for mild weather and fewer crowds
Accommodation: Book our recommended, centrally located hotels directly:

Novotel Ieper Centrum: Friendly and efficient this hotel lies in the old town of Ieper and a stone's throw from the Menin Gate. Spacious, business-like rooms and a quiet location. Great breakfast and below-ground, private parking.

Hotel New Regina: Overlooking the Grote Markt and its restaurants, you cannot be more centrally located. This renovated hotel is ideal for the weekend tourist.

Albion Hotel: Another good hotel in the centre of town. Some rooms are perhaps a bit dated but they are spacious and the breakfast is superb. You're only there to sleep so décor doesn't matter! Extremely friendly staff and knowledgeable of the local areas.

Main Street Hotel: If you want the best of comfort and welcome, then Main Street Hotel is the perfect weekend escape. A discreet, centrally located boutique hotel with a breakfast you will drive back to Ieper for! Everything in this hotel is either beautiful, soft, or wonderful! Fully stocked mini bar included in the price!

Start your walk in Ieper

Start your walk in Ieper, a town shaped by war yet beautifully restored. Before setting off, take a moment in the Grote Markt, where the Cloth Hall houses the In Flanders Fields Museum—a cutting-edge, immersive experience that brings the First World War to the imagination. Leaving the centre of Ieper around the back of the cloth hall, past St George's Memorial Chapel, the route leads northeast past the hospital and La Brique Military Cemetery No.1 & 2. This small CWGC site was used by frontline medical units from 1915 to 1918 and holds 91 graves, including those of British and Canadian soldiers.

Very quickly, the urban streets become quieter paths heading towards Wieltje. This stretch towards Tyne Cot winds through classic Flemish farmland, and is a popular summer route for both walkers and cyclists, thanks to the sheer number of significant sites along the way. This area saw some of the heaviest fighting of the war, particularly during the Second Battle of Ypres (April-May 1915), when German forces launched the first large-scale chlorine gas attack. The trail takes you past Oxford Road Cemetery and Wieltje Farm Cemetery, and the remnants of Pommern Redoubt. Once a heavily fortified German strongpoint that played a crucial role in the Third Battle of Ypres (1917), fiercely contested as British forces pushed towards Passchendaele.

Tyne Cot Cemetery

Tyne Cot Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth war graves cemetery in the world, with nearly 12,000 graves and a memorial listing 35,000 missing soldiers who fell in the Ypres Salient. Tyne Cot gets its name from soldiers of the Northumberland Fusiliers, who thought the German pillboxes on this ridge resembled Tyneside cottages back home in England. It is incredibly impressive and the roses have an subtle way of making the air smell sweet.

Zonnebeke and the Heart of the Battlefield

Follow the trail towards Zonnebeke along the Stroroute, part of the demolished railway line and now a hiking trail. Some of the rail tracks are still visible. Zonnebeke was completely devastated during the war, and is now home to the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, a must-visit museum (with restaurant) for understanding the brutal conditions of trench warfare. The museum includes a network of reconstructed dugouts and trenches, giving visitors a glimpse into the experiences of the soldiers who fought here. One of the park’s highlights is the Passchendaele Memorial Gardens, a series of small gardens representing each of the nations that fought in the battle, including Germany, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Passchendaele was New Zealand’s "blackest day" of the war, with 846 soldiers killed in just a few hours on 12 October 1917, making it the nation’s deadliest military engagement. In the video you can learn a bit more about New Zealand in WWI, particularly in Passchendaele. In their garden, you should enter the round, stone tower and look up at the sky. It is meant to show that even so far away, they were under the same sky as home. Overall, in this battle, in only 100 days, almost 500,000 men were killed to gain only eight kilometres of ground.

Polygon Wood – A Battlefield Reclaimed by Nature

On to Polygon Wood. This has now returned to life, its towering trees and dense foliage a striking contrast to the shattered landscape of 1917. Walking through the wood today, you’ll hear woodpeckers and chaffinches and a forest floor alive with wildflowers. Beneath this beauty, however, Polygon Wood still bears its scars. Shallow shell craters and remnants of trenches are visible among the trees, and the Buttes New British Cemetery marks the resting place of over 2,000 soldiers, many from the Australian 5th Division, who fought to capture this ground. The 5th Australian Division Memorial, standing on the old German defensive position known as the Butte, offers a sweeping view of the wood.

Brothers in Arms Memorial and Café

As you walk through Polygon Wood, you'll come across the Brothers in Arms Memorial, inspired by the story of Dave and Alex Laing, two New Zealand brothers killed within hours of each other in 1917. Local farmer Johan Vandewalle has dedicated his land and his life to preserving their memory, and his nearby café, De Dreve, is well worth a stop. The memorial features officially approved Dire Straits lyrics from “Brothers in Arms”.

Leaving Polygon Wood at the Black Watch Corner Memorial, you begin the last leg with Ieper visible in the distance. After crossing the main road avoiding the motorway and 'Hellfire Corner', the trail leads you through a pretty stretch of marshland before climbing onto the city ramparts. Your journey ends at the Menin Gate, a fitting final stop to reflect on the path you've walked.

In time for the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, a tradition held every evening at 8 PM to honour those who fought and died.