Cycling around Ypres, Belgium

During this cycling tour of 35 kilometers you will discover the southwest of the Belgian province of West Flanders and the city of Ypres, which has a lot of history.

Historic Ypres
The cycle route starts at the Grote Markt in Ypres. Ypres is best known for the battles near Ypres during the First World War. A few months after the German invasion of Belgium on August 4, 1914, the front came to a standstill near the small, medieval town. The first battle of Ypres was a fact. A number of more horrific events followed and almost half a million people were killed in the trenches and no man's land around the city between 1914 and 1918. During the four-year war, the city in the heart of the Ypres Salient was literally razed to the ground. The last remaining inhabitants were compulsorily evacuated in early May 1915. From then on, no one lived in the ghost town of Ypres.

Reconstruction of Ypres
At the beginning of 1919, the first inhabitants returned to the destroyed city and the reconstruction of the original medieval fortified city began. In the 1920s, more than one hundred and fifty military cemeteries in and around the city were also constructed and monuments were built, of which the Menin Gate was the most important. To this day, these monuments and cemeteries remind us of the most tragic period in Ypres' history.

Palingbeek nature reserve
Along the way you cycle through the beautiful Palingbeek nature reserve, which is located between Hollebeke and Voormezele. Pools and marshes, old and young forests, orchards and flowery grasslands, sunbathing meadows or a playground alternate. A wonderful ending before you cycle back to Ypres.