Sanctuary Wood Museum

Not the biggest Museum. But a great place of original history from WW 1. The trenches are the main draw. Still intact and you can walk through them. They seem to go on for ever. Not the easiest place to find down a country side road. Cafe on site. But only takes cash. Museum takes cards and cash. Would highly recommend.

Preserved trenches from WW1. Really interesting and the museum attached is very informative. Make sure you walk up the road and visit the Canada Memorial whilst you are there...

Take your wellingtons if you want to explore the trenches.

This museum and trenches give a real idea of what life in world war one would be like. When you arrive you enter the cafe and welcome desk. There are toilets, snacks and other things. Once you paid and gone through the turnstiles, you enter a room filled with photos and items found in the field over many years. The size of shells, photos, and holes in helmets open your eyes to the reality and scale of the war. Then, you start to wander through the trenches and tunnels and imagine life day by day in this environment. I left this place humbled by other people scarfices, thankful for the freedom I have and with a renewed view of making the most of the life I have.

Outstanding collection of First World War memorabilia and preserved trenches in woodland, with intact tunnels and dugouts as well as shell craters. A cafe and small shop inside.

Great little museum, my Satnav had trouble finding the place, but that's not the museum's fault. The trenches and tunnels have been well preserved and well worth getting muddy shoes to walk through them. Cash only for the Café, cash and card for the Museum. Not Ideal for young Children.

Even after more than a century this is a very haunting experience. as you walk through the trenches it only gives you a small taste of how the troops lived and died. Shell holes litter the site. You can even walk through part of the tunnel built into the trench
Musuem has lots of artifacts and some old photos which in some instances are very grafic

The museum was quite chaotic, not much written information to inform you of facts. The outside part was the best, with trenches and tunnels to walk through, good experience, muddy, narrow and dark....very realistic. Small cafe that served snacks and could cater for vegetarians. ( not vegans)

Visited the museum today and bought tickets on the day. It’s not very big but you can easily spend a couple of hours here exploring the surroundings and the museum. The trenches are something else. Crazy to think thousands of soldiers walked up and down those trenchers not that long ago. It’s a very moving place

Although very muddy due to storm Cirean the atmosphere and trenches were very thought provoking

Just been today as the lastb place on a 3 day tour, Sanctuary wood Museam is brilliant the trenches are the trenches that were the front line, the cafe is good, hot food at Weekends only. But the staff arr friendly, definitely go, well worth it.

We have visited Sanctuary Wood museum several times on our visit to Ypres. It is the last place that my wife's Great Grandfather Pte Richard Evans 1st/6th BN Notts and Derbyshires worked doing trench repairs before being killed by Artillery on his march back to Ypres on 4/07/1915. The museum has a cafe and ample parking and the vast collection of War memorabilia from trench art to weapons is incredibly interesting. The trench system remains and a sturdy shoe or boot is advised when looking especially if you climb into the trenches. Don't forget Hill 62 memorial next to it.
"Lest we forget"

This is an interesting place to visit. The museum itself has a lot of exhibits crammed into a very small space. Some of the items are unique and the slides in the antique photo viewing machines are quite harrowing.

The walk in the trench area is interesting and gives a very good idea of the layout but nothing can get over the horrors of fighting here. Even after 100 years the shell craters are still clearly visible and densely packed. One can only guess at the hell that the bombardments created.

We rented a car in Belgium and easily drove to France to visit this place of history.
The museum has an interesting display of mutoscope, hand crank, stereo card machines, with WWI images. We only had an hour before they closed and rushed this section. I would have liked spend more time looking through the images. I was also suprised to see on display that people created art from giant shell casings!
The highlight of the museum is walking through the WWI trenches. It really brings history to life to see this in person. It's hard to comprehend living and being at war in trench. It was an amazing experience and worth the drive.

Great to visit an original feature, not commercialised and excellent value for money. Great to walk through the original trenches imagining as you walked, being able to walk through the tunnels and view all the exhibits in the museum. Let’s hope never to be seen again.

The trenches here are really cool and they are massive, it'll keep you interested for a good hour. Parking is available but there's not a lot of space, it doesn't tend to get too busy anyway.

Summary - a very good museum that has realistic trenches and lots of great artefacts to see. Well worth a visit if you’re interested in WW1.

This museum is located just outside of Ypres and is quite easy to find with good parking. There is a small restaurant (we didn’t eat there). The museum itself has two separate indoor spaces full of artefacts (guns, badges, shell casings and the like) with a very large outdoor area that contains the trenches and tunnels.

The trenches seem pretty realistic though I suspect it was a very different picture 100 years ago. It’s gives a feel for what trenches would have been like. There are also tunnels which are dark and small.

Around the trenches are lots of holes where shells obviously hit and these give a real sense of how close they were to the people in the trenches.

All in all a very good museum and reasonably priced too.

Best museum I’ve been to here. It is authentic and feels as such. Hope for rain when you go for an even more authentic experience. What a treasure. It is literally a piece of history. If you have to choose a museum ... this is the one.

Excellent, well worth 8 euros each

Stunningly well-preserved and with a warm welcome from staff, this is a sombre and fitting tribute to WW1 and its ongoing impact. Very well worth a visit and good value.

Great trench experience. Have boots on as much can be underwater. The tunnel is long, but at 6'4" and arthritic knees I was able to crouch through it. Don't ignore the old photo machines. Some magnificent 3D photos from the war.