Trains: WWI&II Sites

No, the cross-border line is long since closed. The line now ends at Poperinge, on the Belgian side of the border just past Ieper (Ypres) and it is a long detour by rail via Lille. The DB website says 3 hours, for example:

Ieper dep 10:16, Kortrijk arr 10:50
Kortrijk dep 11:13, Lille Flandres arr 11:51
Lille Flandres dep 12:15, Dunkerque arr 13:19

There may be a bus, if you are lucky.
There is a Belgian rail map here: http://www.loughrigg.org/b-rail/full2.gif

The whole journey with the train will be I am afraid too time consuming.

From Ieper main square you can take the bus (line 50) to Veurne, and from there a short trainride to Adinkerke De Panne Railway station. From there is a free bus connection (30min.) to Dunkirk. For the Belgian part you can use the De Lijn routeplanner: https://www.delijn.be/en/routeplanner/?vertaling=true . The French part: https://www.dunkirk-tourism.com/Planning-your-stay/Transport/Getting-to-Dunkirk Do some further research to see how well-connected everything is.

If you stay in Bruges you can take the direct Flixbus from there to Dunkirk, takes just a bit more as an hour and is cheap. Flixbus has a stop at the westside of Brugge railway station, unlike the stops of national carrier De Lijn which are at the eastside of the railway station. https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Bruges/Dunkirk

There's a day trip to Ypres/Flanders Fields, by Quasimodo Tour, pick you up in Brugge, by small bus and knowledgeable guide.

Hi,

If you have the time and interest, you can take the direct regional train from Dunkirk to Arras. In both wars Arras was an important site for the British Army, ie Gen HQ The city was fought over in 1940 and 1944 as an operational objective; plaques in the centre ville attest to that, as well as one devoted to its liberation.

The city hall serving as the tourist office has an underground museum pertaining to WW1 as it was a place for housing British troops. At the outskirts of the city is a major British military cemetery from WW1.

Assuming this trip has taken place and wondering what you ended up doing. Trying to pull together a trip with some similarities to this.

This is an easy drive from Brussels.

Hello JimandDebbie,

I returned from Belgium about a week ago. I decided to visit Ypres and concentrate on the WWI battlefield history in that area. I booked a battlefield tour and visited the museums. I highly recommend this experience as a stop in your itinerary. Unfortunately, this was as far as I got during this trip. Also, I don't drive and am confined to bus/train routes- but it appears that renting a car is the best option if you wish to travel to other places such as Dunkirk. I was going to visit Arras (also rich in WWI history), but was short on time and transportation. Good luck!

Gabrielle

Most definitely, Arras was of utmost importance to the British both symbolically and strategically in the city's liberation in 1944, speared headed by the Welsh Guards.

Look at a map indicating the location of British WW1 military cemeteries ranging from Arras to Ypres to get the awful magnitude from WW1. The closer one gets to Ypres the more they dot the countryside.