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A Week on the Western Front

Visit major World War I battlefields in France and Belgium before next year's centenary crowds you out

FIGHT PATH | French and Commonweath graves at the Thiepval Memorial ENLARGE
FIGHT PATH | French and Commonweath graves at the Thiepval Memorial Getty Images

AUGUST 2014 MARKS the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of what came to be known as the "war to end all wars"—a reference that is now used ironically, because the devastation was soon overshadowed by the near-Armageddon of World War II.

John S. Dykes for The Wall Street Journal

When the first war ended, some nine million combatants were dead, and in the parts of eastern France and western Belgium that made up the Western Front it can seem like every road leads to a cemetery. But it is also a beautiful region, with gently flowing rivers, picturesque villages and noble Gothic cathedrals.

The areas where some of the most famous fighting took place—Verdun and Somme in France and Ieper (also known as Ypres) over the Belgian border—can easily be toured by car over a week, with side excursions to Champagne houses in Épernay and cathedrals at Amiens and Reims. Starting next year, big commemorations will be held, perhaps for the last time. Go soon to avoid crowds, or at least start planning—many hotels in the Somme are already booked for July 2016, the anniversary of the Somme offensive.

Views of Verdun

Fort Douaumont near Verdun, France ENLARGE
Fort Douaumont near Verdun, France Jennifer S. Forsyth

In February 1916, the Germans attacked the fortress at Verdun, gateway to the heart of France, and nearby strongholds. Knowing that the war's outcome could hinge on the area, General Erich von Falkenhayn planned "to bleed every drop of blood from the French army." Both sides suffered horrendous losses; when the bloodletting was over, 300 days later, 300,000 were dead.

The tourism office in Verdun, near the city's grand gate, offers a bus tour of surrounding battlefields. Skip it—the tour allows for just one hour at the main museum. Built in the 1960s and financed by veterans' families, the Mémorial de Verdun explains how the French were able to retain one last, lone supply road to Verdun, dubbed the Voie Sacrée (Sacred Route). In the middle of the museum is a life-size diorama of a soldier holed up in the fortress, with shell-churned earth above him and a rat waiting menacingly nearby.

Next head to Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux. The former, with its claustrophobic, primitive conditions, gives a sense of what soldiers endured. Fort Vaux is better lit and furnished, with barracks and a field hospital (now with dummy patients). There is a memorial to the carrier pigeons used during the war, including a tribute to one released before the Germans overran Fort Vaux that held a plea: "…we are being attacked by gases and smoke of deadly character. We are in need of immediate relief…"

German weapons on display at the Memorial de Verdun ENLARGE
German weapons on display at the Memorial de Verdun Getty Images

Finish the day at the French National Cemetery and Douaumont Ossuary. This majestic cemetery commemorates the 130,000 unknown French and German soldiers killed at Verdun. The ossuary, which houses the bones of the unknown, has a bell tower that soars above rows of white crosses.

Where to Stay: Opt for lodging in Verdun—or drive about 30 miles east to the 11th-century Château de Jaulny. A suit of armor guards the door, rooms are in the old keep, and lore (and some documentation) has it that Joan of Arc stayed there. The castle isn't modern or posh—don't expect high-speed Wi-Fi. From about $120 per night,

Shrines in the Somme

The Somme is a region of sloping fields, woods and quaint villages. It was also the site of the bloodiest offensive of the Western Front. There were some 620,000 French and British Commonwealth casualties at the Battle of the Somme, with 600,000 Germans killed or wounded.

After the war, a decision was made not to repatriate British bodies. As a result, there are some 280 graveyards and memorials in the area, honoring the dead from South Africa, Newfoundland and other regions.

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a must. Its red brick arches can be seen for many miles, towering over the farmland. The names of more than 72,000 missing soldiers are engraved on the memorial's walls.

The Museum of the Great War, an impressive collection of artifacts in a castle in Péronne, emphasizes the lives of soldiers and the war's effect on the homefronts. Jay Winter, a history professor at Yale University, said he and the other museum founders tried to do something different: "No nostalgia. The notion of the glory of battle is simply not there."

Where to Stay: The simple, tiny B&B Les Alouettes is owned by British expats with a passion for the Great War. It's filled with paintings, postcards, sketches and books. From about $90 per night,

Ieper Salutes

Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ieper, Belgium ENLARGE
Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ieper, Belgium Alamy

Five major battles were fought in and around this once-sleepy medieval cloth town. The Third Battle of Ypres, in 1917, also called the Battle of Passchendaele, represents the folly of World War I. The British suffered appalling losses to gain control of the muddy ridges near the village from the Germans, only to abandon them a few months later. Tyne Cot (Commonwealth) and Langemark (German) are the area's most famous cemeteries.

Named for the famous war poem, the In Flanders Fields Museum, housed in the reconstructed Cloth Hall in Ieper, may be the best World War I museum in the region. It uses films and reenactments to give visitors a vivid sense of what battle felt like. (Bring your handkerchief.) Actors are used to tell the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914. The German soldiers could be heard singing in the trenches and the French responded with "Adeste Fideles" (O Come, All Ye Faithful). Soon the soldiers had climbed into each other's trenches and were sharing smokes and candies.

The Menin Gate in Ieper is a memorial to the missing from the bloody battles in the region. Every night at 8 p.m., a Belgian bugle corps—established in the 1920s to thank the Commonwealth for rescuing the Belgians from occupation—plays "Last Post." Afterward, groups representing different members of the Commonwealth place poppy wreaths at the gates, a memorable cap to the trip.

Where to Stay: Kasteelhof 't Hooghe is a lovely inn with sizable rooms and an excellent restaurant. Trenches and munitions from the war remain on the property. From about $80 per night for two guests,

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