Travel to Bergen Germany from Ypres France

According to Google Maps, the trip should take just over 6 hours. Couldn't tell you about English speakers though I don't think you'd have a problem.

Hi,

If you want to stay a night or two en route, I would suggest Minden an der Weser, west of Hannover. There'is a nice hotel down from the train station, forgot the name. Or, if you prefer a town closer to the camp memorial, I suggest Celle, nice town south of Bergen. Celle survived the war undamaged. I've not been to Celle, was only at the station to transfer trains, but the museum and the Schloss are well worth seeing historically. Minden, on the other hand, I know, took the train to spend a day trip there last summer. No doubt in either Celle or Minden you'll get good, reasonably priced accomodations. I don't recommend Hannover at all to stay in....skip that.

Thanks for info so far. Re driving . Some friends of ours were in Europe in June and said to add 2-3 hours when google maps says 6 hours-more like 9 hours so that was one reason we wondered if too London a trip in one day. Will look into accomadation suggestions . Any more advice appreciated.

Ypres IS NOT IN FRANCE
It is in Belgium. The correct spelling is Ieper, in the local language which is Flemish. Ieper is what it will say on the road signs. Ypres is the French spelling, which was used during the First World War because the Belgian Army used French as their working language.
Most people involved in the tourist trade in the area speak enough English to get by, usually more English than French.

For times and routes, try http://www.viamichelin.com/ This site gives fuel and toll costs as well as times and distances.
"Bergen", is a common name, there are more than one Bergen in Germany. The one you want is "Bergen, Niedersachsen".

I will be traveling to Bergen-Belsen memorial next summer, and plan to stay in Celle. Check some online booking services to see if nearby towns interest you, or have the accommodations you prefer.

If a B&B owner doesn't speak English and you don't speak German, you still both know the main points you're trying to communicate - dates, how many people, how many euros? You'll manage, hopefully with the help of a phrase book, or just pointing and noting numbers on paper. The local tourist office, such as http://www.celle.travel/, can help book rooms if you don't have one booked ahead.

Hi,

Are you approaching the area of Bergen from the south (ie, Hannover), in which case Celle is a logical choice, but if you're coming from the north, say from Lüneburg, the town of Munster/Oertze, famous for its history museum, would be closer. Munster is in the area where practice military maneuvers took place (Truppenübungsplatz). Doing this area by car gives you alot more flexibility so that you don't have to rely, as I did, on train schedules and their routes, where you have to change at Celle or Uelzen.