Ramparts

Ypres is unusual in that it has retained extensive sections of its city fortifications. Designed by French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, these sturdy brick-faced walls line the town’s southeastern moat and are topped by pleasant gardens. The tourist office's free Ramparts Route leaflet introduces a dozen of the historical fortifications, but most visitors simply stroll from the Menin Gate to the medieval Rijselpoort, just beyond which is the Ramparts Cemetery.