From Ploegsteert to Wulvergem

Starting point: Place de la Rabecque car park in Ploegsteert.

(S/E) From the square, head west along the Grand’ Route (Rue du Romarin), which is quite busy and where the speed limit is largely ignored. However, if you keep to the left, the walk is fairly peaceful. After 1.5 km, you’ll come to a large building on the left.

(1) Leave the road and take the path on the right, which is in fairly poor condition, but it’s better than the road. After a few twists and turns, you’ll walk alongside a small wood (on the left).

(2) At the end of the woodland, turn right (Rue du Petit Pont) and you’ll reach a small road.

(3) Turn left onto it and you’ll immediately come to a farm on the right.

(4) Take the^second path on the right between the farm buildings. This is another path that’s quite difficult in wet weather, especially at the start. Join a small road and follow it straight on to reach a T-junction.

(5) Take a small road on the left and you’ll very quickly reach marker 32.

(6) Carry on straight ahead to join a main road. Follow it to the right for about a hundred metres, then turn left into Hagedoornstraat (Hawthorn Street) to reach marker 29.

(7) Carry on straight ahead for 100 metres, crossing the Douve, until you reach marker 28.

(8) Take the small road on the right (it’s a shame you can’t walk along the river!) to reach Wulvergem (marker 19 opposite).

(9) Follow the road to the left and, at the junction, take Dorpsstraat to the right. Ignore the road to the left and continue to a junction.

(10) Take the road on the right; 100 metres further on, you’ll find marker 18.

(11) Take the path on the right (gate) towards marker 19. Walk alongside a pretty pond with the church opposite, accompanied by the honking of geese. Follow the well-signposted path, which is dotted with gates. You’ll eventually reach a T-junction. Take the path on the left (marker 19 is on the right). At the next T-junction, take a path on the left and walk alongside a body of water (a reservoir on the Douve). Just after the ‘rapids’, you’ll come to a small road.

(12)Follow it to the right until you reach the military cemetery. There, leave the tarmac and take the path opposite: this is a long path through the fields leading to the Nachtegaalstraat (Nightingale Street).

(13) Follow it to the left for about 200 m until you reach a farm.

(14) Then turn right (hexagonal signpost S72 ↑). Walk first across a grassy area, then along the edge of a field (see practical information) before veering completely to the left. The path is a bit soft at first but improves as you go, leading up to a small road (chapel on the left).

(15) Turn right and continue to a T-junction.

(16) Take the road on the left and you’ll immediately come to a path on the right (with large sandstone blocks at the start). At the end of the path (farm on the right), turn left and you’ll reach a junction.

(17) Take the path that climbs up to the left through the woods: this uphill path is quite difficult as it is often slippery. At the top, carry on straight ahead through the fields (also a difficult path) to rejoin Rue du Rossignol.

(18) Follow it to the right and, just past a farm, you’ll reach a crossroads.

(19) Take a loosely tarmacked road on the right (you’re on the ‘routes’ to Ghent–Wevelgem, and it must be quite a sight on a bike, especially in a peloton). You’ll reach a T-junction.

(20) Follow the small road on the left until you reach the N 365 (Château de la Hutte: signposted). Cross it carefully and continue along the small road opposite until you reach the military cemetery (Christmas Truce Cemetery).

(21) Walk along the right-hand side of the cemetery to pass close to the trenches and join the path. Follow it, passing a pond and a small cemetery. Ignore a turn-off to the right (which leads to other military cemeteries – you could visit them if you wish, but it’s a round trip) and carry on to a junction.

(22) Turn left to enter the Ploegsteert woods (trees felled in February 2026, but currently being cleared). The path eventually veers sharply to the right and reaches a Fork in the road at the edge of the woods.

(23) Carry on straight ahead along the paved path. You’ll reach a junction.

(24) Turn right onto the correct path through the undergrowth. At the very end, as you leave the woods, turn left to join the N365 and the military cemetery (it is sometimes possible to reach it by crossing the large grassy area on the left towards the cemetery). Cross with care and head left, walking alongside the cemetery. You’ll arrive at the museum entrance (No. 156).

(25) Take the path on the right to cross this lovely area, going round the museum. After a pretty pond on the right, cross the car park to reach Munquestraat.

(26) Follow it to the right to reach the junction from the outward journey.

(17) Take the small road on the left until you reach the N365.

(27) Follow it to the right, pass the petrol station and head back to the starting car park (S/E).

Make sure you wear suitable footwear, and a walking stick may come in handy.

There is a café in Wulvergem, at (9).

August 2026: After point (14), the faint path between the fence and the maize field is overgrown: you need to follow the fence to the left to find, right at the bottom, a path that allows you to easily rejoin the route to the chapel. It is also easy to avoid this section by continuing straight on at the point (14) and then turning right towards the point (15), but this is less pleasant.