From Ploegsteert to Wulvergem

Start: 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 walk on the left-hand side, the walk is fairly peaceful. After 1.5 km, you’ll reach a large building on the left.

(1) Leave the road and take the path on the right, which is in fairly poor condition, but better than the road. After a few twists and turns, follow a small wood (on the left).

(2) At the end of the woods, 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 is 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 soon reach marker 32.

(6) Continue straight on 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) Continue straight on for 100 m, crossing the Douve, to 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 to find marker 18, 100 m further on.

(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-marked path 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 reach a small road.

(12)Follow it to the right until you reach the military cemetery. There, leave the tarmac and take the path opposite: it is a long path through the fields leading to 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 through a grassy area then along the edge of a field before veering completely to the left. The path is a bit spongy at first but improves as you climb up to a small road (chapel on the left).

(15) Turn right and reach a T-junction.

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

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

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

(19) Take a roughly tarmac-surfaced road on the right (you are on the ‘routes’ to Ghent and Wevelgem, and by bike this must be impressive, especially in a peloton). You will reach a T-junction.

(20) Follow the small road on the left and 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 continue to a junction.

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

(23) Continue straight ahead on the paved path. You will reach a crossroads.

(24) Turn right onto the path through the undergrowth. At the very end, as you leave the woods, turn left to join the N365 and the military cemetery (you can also reach it by crossing the large grassy area on the left towards the cemetery). Cross carefully and head left, skirting the cemetery. You will arrive at the museum entrance.

(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 reach the starting car park (S/E).

Make sure you wear suitable footwear; a walking stick is also useful.

There is a café in Wulvergem, at (9).