at the Menin Gate, Ypres
Sing at the Last Post Ceremony – NEW TOUR
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In Flanders Fields Museum, Cloth Hall, Ypres ©In Flanders Fields museum
We are offering your choir the chance to sing live as part of the famous Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. A unique and incredibly moving experience, where “participation ensures that each name on these walls continues to echo in the hearts of all who come here. We will remember them.”
You could combine this amazing opportunity with a guided tour of the Flanders Fields region, a chocolate making experience or brewery tour, or even a day trip to the delightful city of Bruges. We can tailor make your tour to create a duration, date and itinerary to suit. Please call us for details and prices.
Dates
2026 and 2027 dates on request
Suggested itinerary by coach
Day 1
Depart the UK
Drive to Dover and take the ferry crossing to Calais or Dunkerque. Make your way through France and into Belgium and on to your hotel in Ypres for the next 3 nights. After check-in there will be time to relax.
Day 2
In Flanders Fields Museum and the ’14-18′ Route
After breakfast, enjoy a self-guided visit of the ‘In Flanders Fields Museum’ which has been renovated and improved in recent years. It is located in the former Cloth Halls of Ypres, in the centre of the town and presents the story of WW1 in the West Flanders Front region. Using bracelets given to you on arrival, you can activate the exhibits and read accounts of people from the First World War, tailored to be personal to yourself. There are also several films showing clips of the battles and a retelling of life in a WW1 Hospital. (N.B. The museum is closed for most of January and on Mondays between November and March.)
After free time and some lunch meet up with your experienced guide for a journey by coach around the 14-18 route visiting battlefields and memorials enroute. Stops may include Essex Farm where John McCrae wrote his famous ‘In Flanders Fields’ poem, Langemarck Cemetery which is one of only four German cemeteries in the Flanders region and Tyne Cot Cemetery which is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world. The contrast of the gleaming white headstones of Tyne Cot and the simple grey stones of Langemarck, surrounded by oak trees, both places of remembrance, but markedly different. Other sites including Hill 62 Museum / Sanctuary Wood and the Irish Peace Tower in the Island of Ireland Peace Park can be visited but more time may be required.
On the return to Ypres, there will be some free time to further discover this historical town before heading for dinner in a local restaurant before witnessing the Last Post.
At 8pm each evening, the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate will commence. During the war this was the call for all soldiers fighting in the fields outside the gates to head back to the city for the evening. However, many did not return back through the gates. The tradition continues each evening to this day and is one of the most poignant elements to any battlefields tour. We recommend arriving early to be able to see the ceremony taking place and the wreaths being carried.
Return to the hotel by coach.
Day 3
Ypres at leisure
After breakfast, enjoy a free day in Ypres to explore at leisure. Maybe take a stroll through the cobbled streets and visit Cloth Hall, or visit one of those all famous Belgian chocolate shops.
Day 4
Return to the UK
Enjoy a final breakfast before heading to Calais or Dunkerque for the short sea ferry crossing to the UK.
Specialised Battlefield Tours
If you require a more specialised tour to a particular site or area then please let us know and we can tailor-make the tour to suit your requirements. There are numerous cemeteries, war graves and monuments dedicated to certain battalions, regions or divisions that can be included on tours.
Other areas including the Battle of Verdun and Mons, where the first and last shots of the war were fired, are possible along with tours specifically looking at The Somme or the Ypres Salient. We can also offer tours to the WW2 Battlefields in Normandy.
Suggested Hotels
4* Hotel Alize, Mouscron
Ideally located just a stone’s throw from the bustling Grand Place and just 15 minutes drive from Kortrijk XPO, this is the perfect base from which to explore the Ypres memorials or the charming city of Lille.
The hotel has 62 bedrooms including rooms specially adapted for people with reduced mobility. All are air-conditioned and equipped with ultra-comfortable beds, a seating area with smart TV and fast Wi-Fi, courtesy tray, private bathroom and toilet. Enjoy a rich breakfast buffet and dinner in the restaurant or enjoy the fitness room or relax in the sauna.
3* Novotel Ieper Centrum
Ideally located in the centre of Ypres, just a few minutes walk from the Menin Gate and Cloth Hall, this hotel is in the perfect location to discover Ypres and the wider Flanders region.
The hotel has 128 bedrooms and includes accessible rooms and all of the usual amenities such as a TV, air conditioning, an iron, safe ext. The hotel also offers a great breakfast buffet for you to start your day.
4* Hotel Alize, Mouscron or 3* Novotel Ieper Centrum
| Departure date | 4 days / 3 nights | Single Supplement |
| 2026 & 2027 dates | From £545.00 per person | From £155.00 per person |
