The Last Post

Top choice in Ypres


Every night at 8pm, traffic through the Menin Gate is halted while buglers sound the Last Post in remembrance of the WWI dead, a moving tradition started in 1928. Every evening the scene is different; buglers may be accompanied by pipers, troops of cadets or a military band. There's usually at least 100 or so visitors, most of whom have some connection to someone who was lost in Flanders Fields.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Ypres attractions

1. Menin Gate

A block east of Grote Markt, the famous Menin Gate is a huge stone gateway straddling the main road at the city moat. It's inscribed with the names of 54…

2. Gateway to Ypres

0.05 MILES

This excellent visitors centre should be your first port of call if you're a Commonwealth citizen looking for information about a family member who died…

3. Lakenhalle

0.25 MILES

Dominating the Grote Markt, the enormous reconstructed Lakenhalle is one of Belgium’s most impressive buildings. Its 70m-high belfry has the vague…

4. In Flanders Fields Museum

0.26 MILES

No museum gives a more balanced yet moving and user-friendly introduction to WWI history. It’s a multisensory experience combining soundscapes, videos,…

5. Museum Godshuis Belle

0.26 MILES

A single small chapel room featuring some unexpectedly high-quality medieval art, mostly religious.

6. St-Maarten en St-Niklasskerk

0.26 MILES

Directly behind the Lakenhalle, this vast church was a cathedral until 1797 and was almost totally destroyed in WWI. Reconstruction has beautifully…

7. Ramparts

0.27 MILES

Ypres is unusual in that it has retained extensive sections of its city fortifications. Designed by French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de…

8. Merghelynck Museum

0.27 MILES

Unrelated to WWI, this museum faithfully reproduces a French manor house dating from 1774 and is filled with period antiques and artworks. The catch: it's…

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