The Waterloo Battlefield: What is still there to see?

The Battle of Waterloo is without a doubt one of the most famous battles of all times. The old-fashioned battle between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington still appeals to the imagination of people of all ages all around the world. But what is still there today to see of the Battle of Waterloo? What can you visit? Is it worth it to make the trip from Brussels? Are there still remnants of the actual battlefield?
Join me on a walk of the Waterloo Battlefields Today to prepare for your trip or to see the reminders of the Battle of Waterloo from behind your screen. In Part I of this virtual Waterloo Battlefield tour, we’ll explore 3 different kinds of panoramas of the battlefield: the view from the Lion’s Mound (Butte du Lion, the Lion of Waterloo), the impressive historical Panorama at the 1815 site and the viewpoint from Napoleon’s perspective. Subscribe for updates on Part II of this Waterloo Battlefield tour (with Hougoumont Farm, La Haie Sainte, Plancenoit etc) and for other videos on the history of Belgium.
🇧🇪 Links:
Coming to Waterloo or Belgium and looking for a tour with an expert?
Check out our website: www.alternativebelgium.be
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[@lucazanzottera1316]

Very nice and explanatory video , thank you!! 👍

[@judgeroybean6930]

The Prussians really saved the day Natalie. The importance of their part in this battle cannot be over-stressed.

[@dulls8475]

Wellington and his troops thought all day......

[@michellekinder3051]

I believe that every army was important to get rid of that monster.

[@cantyoms]

@@michellekinder3051 what do you mean monster? he asked for peace and they rejected peace entirely, they are the monsters! also he thought the best defending option for him was attacking

[@madjack1748]

And yet 100 years later the Germans would be one of Britain's greatest enemies. Humans are funny

[@nighthawkdutchchameleon9815]

Read book Wellingtons hidden heroes. It was the Dutch that actually stopped the Imperial guard with a bayonet attack.

[@Ap-cm7mx]

I will visit the battlefield soon and this great video will give me an idea where to look. Many thanks!!

[@johnparker4538]

Wonderful video. Thank you. I went there about twenty years and climbed the hill. It gives a good view, but unfortunately the construction of it badly altered the original landscape, in particular you no longer get the feel for how steep and raised the forward slope was, so crucial and one of the main reasons Wellington chose the site.

[@JohnSilver-un8qy]

I understand that the hill was built by the Prince of Orange. When Wellington found out he was furious.

[@tigerwarsaw99]

Wow it's so beautiful.

[@marklivingstone3710]

Thank you Natalie, great job. Bought back many memories of my visit there. I appreciate you taking the time to do the post. ❤

[@rainmaker6261]

Reading waterloo by Bernard cornwell right now and this video is an excellent accompaniment. You did an awesome job of showing all of the most important landmarks and locations.

[@alternativebelgium]

Thank you!

[@duanegregg6222]

I probably will not have the opportunity to see this in real life but this is the next best thing 👍🏼. You answered some of my questions and did a great job!!! Your voice is great and easy to understand. Thank you very much 😁.

[@serfranke5744]

What a wonderful video. I have been to Waterloo around 20 years ago and I hope I can go there again in the future.

[@alternativebelgium]

You should! The facilities have improved a lot. It's more authentic nowadays than 20 years ago

[@paulblois7194]

Thanks for this video - I must visit Waterloo one day

[@alternativebelgium]

You should! It's really worth it.

[@danrooc]

Great video! This is the first time I can see so many resounding places around the famous battlefield. Your depiction is also a ticket to History.

[@alternativebelgium]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@julianpalmer4886]

Such magnificent views of modern day Walloonia, presented by a charming Mother with boy. The British & Low Country troops were honoured by their professional appraisal.

[@matthewcharles5867]

Great video gives you a good idea of how many men were packed into that small battlefeild.

[@lllordllloyd]

Thank you!

[@stewartmackay]

Very interesting, thank you.

[@davidbraithwaite704]

Wow, merci for all the steps..😮.definitely puts the battlefield in perspective 😊 The topography and ridges were 'tres, tres' important to shield from sight and cannon (and why Wellington chose to fight here!). Love your passion🤗 Moi aussi would love to visit.

[@alternativebelgium]

Haha, well I guess it's a good form of exercise, climbing the Lion's Mound! It's a very interesting place to visit and there's much more to see and do than most people realize. I hope you can make it one day!

[@binflynn1]

I was there in the summer it was fantastic brilliant indeed if you like your history

[@kenskinner6948]

Fantastic presentation. Thank you.

[@alternativebelgium]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.

[@Romartus]

Thanks for making this video. I went to this battlefield on a very rainy day. The Lion mount was worth climbing up. Just couldn't see anything, unlike the sunny day you shot your videos.

[@alternativebelgium]

It was my pleasure to make this video. It was really a very sunny day, great day to film or take photos. But with the rain it also has its charm. It's a very impressive place no matter the weather. Thanks for watching!

[@peterdoig1557]

Great video. Best views yet of the battlefield. Thankyou!

[@alternativebelgium]

Much appreciated!

[@garymullins7949]

A wonderful video and very educational

[@alternativebelgium]

Thank you!

[@_renaissance.girl_]

It's all very interesting. Thank you for sharing with us ^^ 💕

[@alternativebelgium]

My pleasure 😊

[@keithfarrell3370]

Thank you

[@kamrandogar-7588]

i m from Pakistan and today i study about waterloo and that time i want to visit place so i searched your video thank u😁

[@alternativebelgium]

You’re very welcome!

[@kamrandogar-7588]

really can i visit there?

[@bwoodworth8739]

Thank you for showing the Waterloo painting i’ve never seen it as a whole. I have seen in person the Gettysburg painting here in the US, the same concept.

[@jamesalexander5623]

Been to Waterloo back in 1977 when I was stationed in England in the USAF, at RAF Upper Heyford near Oxford. I lived in Oxford from '77 to '86. I traveled to as many Historic places as I could!

[@alternativebelgium]

If you get the chance to come back, definitely do so! Waterloo site looks very different now. In a good way, more authentic than before

[@bikenavbm1229]

a bit more there than I imagined more familiar with WW1 and 2 myself, this little view has created an interest next time I am near I will aim to visit , thank you from a motorbiker from Wales.

[@alternativebelgium]

You should definitely visit, you won’t regret it!

[@jackdarren9210]

Greetings from Alabama USA. I enjoy your videos. Thanks.

[@alternativebelgium]

Thank you! I enjoy making them. Thanks for watching

[@oddposty]

Now that I have gotten really intrigued with the Napoleonic Era recently thanks to the 1970 movie 'Waterloo', this is definitely a location I would like to visit someday!

[@alternativebelgium]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it's worth a full-day visit!

[@erikschultz7166]

Was at Waterloo in 1995 and 2015. The event in 2015 even allowed a walkthrough of the courtyard of Le Haye Sainte. Great memories.

[@alternativebelgium]

Oh wow, that’s nice!

[@willsherman1049]

The judgment used is a reflection of the times. From the moment the words were uttered "le garde recoile", the battle was lost for Napoleon. Fear, fatigue, uncertainty amongst french senior commanders, all contributed to the collapse. The prussians were an annoyance that Napoleon could have dealt with if le garde had been successful and broken the british line.

[@moobaz8675]

Very good. I've always wanted to visit Waterloo. One comment, you might want to get a longer selfie stick. 👍

[@bobapbob5812]

I took my son when he was 6. He saw the diarama of the French cavalry and the British square. He asked “who are the good guys?”

[@daniellastuart3145]

went there in 2015 would love to go back for a longer stay

[@alternativebelgium]

Good idea, you could walk the battlefields to really have a good feel for the area.

[@columbmurray]

According to Halevy , celebrated French historian writing in 1816, 33 000 french casualties in one day , and 30 000 British. ( The poverty of medicine then meant most would die.)The local peasants stripped the dead and dying at night , the British were too exhausted to prevent it.

[@columbmurray]

Sorry ,not one day.

[@eze8970]

Thank you. Well presented. Sound ok, but as you've said, better equipment would help the distance views. Look forward to the next one. Hope you & your son enjoyed the day! 🙏🙏

[@alternativebelgium]

Thanks! Working in editing the next one

[@lampa298]

Che bello

[@alexanderleach3365]

IT is an amazing battlefield.

[@alternativebelgium]

It is!

[@harrisonj0679]

Man will always find the loveliest places to slaughter each other

[@The_Dodge_Meister]

Strategic but i still like your comment because its too true sadly

[@justicesomeday]

new subscriber here thxs !!

[@alternativebelgium]

Welcome! And thanks!

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

As a Dane I visited this site many years ago, as a Long Distance walker during several years and doing the many 100 km walks (Dodentocht, Night of Vlaanders + ). But I also visited the small Museum to the side, where they replay the battle with small static figures and lights, making them move during the battle. As a teacher friend of mine said after, had he learned more about this battle from seeing this, than ever before!

[@alternativebelgium]

You should visit again, it has changed a lot, the museum got even better and more sites are cleaned up. The Dodentocht is very impressive! Congrats!

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

@@alternativebelgium As a now 75 year old Dane I managed to walk the Dodentocht 16 times, plus most other Belgian 100 km walks around that time, several starting at 100 km Welkenreadt (Euregio), as a first (also a few 200 km, 40 hours "Eurodax" (Being walked in a group, at 6 km/h) walks, in Belgium + one similar 30 hour 150 km! Sadly several times in Brussels, during that, we stopped and had a lecture, but only in Flemish and French, of which I hardly understood anything (Maybe about a famous Belgian, Jugend Architect?)). I'm able to read a Flemish text, if I have an idea what it is about! Also the insane Kluisbergen, 50 km wooden hill climb (7 times), which is today made as a two day 50 km walk, I think? It was expensive as I had to take Monday off, to be able to walk Sunday, instead of just the mostly ½ a day, Friday, to drive down from Denmark during nights, before the start of a 100 km! 😄 Finn. Denmark

[@davidfinch7407]

I visited way back in 1991 with my wife and very young son, he climbed those stairs at two years of age. There was a rumor that an ancestor of mine rode with the British cavalry in the battle and wielded a jeweled saber, but I could never confirm his presence. If anyone knows of any lists of British Cavalry at Waterloo, please let me know. As for the mound, I have a love/hate relationship with it. It's magnificent and provides a great view of the battlefield, but greatly damages the view of the battlefield. I live near Gettysburg PA, and for many years they had something similar with a huge tower stuck in the middle of the battlefield; they eventually had the good sense to tear it down.

[@TheSpritz0]

1st and 2nd Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards, 1st King’ Dragoon Guards, 1st Royal Dragoons, 2nd Dragoons Royal Scots Greys, 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, 7th Queen’s Own Hussars, 10th Prince of Wales’s Own Royal Hussars, 11th Light Dragoons, 12th Light Dragoons, 13th Light Dragoons, 15th Hussars, 16th Light Dragoons, 18th Hussars

[@alternativebelgium]

Yes I agree on the Mound. Great view but it would be more authentic without. It’s also incredible how well small kids can do all those steps so easily. I’m quite sure they have lists like that, there are many researchers working on the Waterloo Battle. Best bet would be in England rather than Waterloo itself, though.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

When on the internet , use the internet to solve other questions : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_battle_of_the_Waterloo_campaign#Cavalry_Corps

[@MStafford-lr9le]

The National Tower in Gettysburg was an eyesore, but it was just a tower, it came down in a day or two. This is worse in some ways - no one is removing a 40-meter-high earthen mound in a day or two, that sucker is pretty much permanent.

[@reduxmod9178]

I'm interested to know if you have ever happened upon any materials from the Battle itself ? Such as a button or musket ball ?

[@robnewman6101]

Last year for my 32 Birthday, my parents and I went to The City of London to visit Apsley House. The Home once of Sir Arthur Wellesley His Grace The 1st Duke of Wellington. This year we're visiting Wellington Arch & the Guards Museum at Wellington Barracks in London. For my 33 Birthday.

[@alternativebelgium]

That’s a great birthday activity for a history fan!

[@rgwholt]

The Lion Mound altered the battlefield greatly ...... As a tribute to a likeable but rather inept young man promoted to a position way beyond his intelligence, and command capabilities .

[@chollocks]

Sharpe didn't like him.

[@MarcoTheHague]

What youre insane. Stop believing in british propaganda bro 😂

[@fastyaveit]

It is my Birthday today, 18th June, this battle kicked off at 11 am on 18th June 1815 which was a Sunday, today is Sunday 18th June 2023 11:30 am Happy Birthday, me 🍰🍰🎂

[@ottosaxo]

You are right, before ABBA, German speakers had two different place names for that battle, and by the way they didn't pronounce Waterloo in the English way until then.

[@lampualadinidx9060]

Nice video, i follow u miss🚀

[@jakku30]

Madam could you please comment name of cities u told 220 kms south where battle of waterloo was orginally fought

[@Petra44YT]

The Vogelsauer Treppe in Wuppertal has 241 steps, if you count both parts. So I guess I could handle that hill, too.

[@alternativebelgium]

Sure! However, I do have to mention that the steps at Waterloo are very tough (steep and high steps, but that's my personal experience, perhaps others don't agree)

[@garycates9911]

Amazing ! Thank you. KZbin dropped your video in front of me. This is an aside ; about 200 years latter my Fathers favorite sibling was killed in the snow of 44 - 45 . He was mortaley wounded by " machine gun ripple across the chest " , but died of namonia and was placed in the ground of Belgium. His name was / is Jesse Lee Cates. My Grand Fathers name and my only Brothers name. Is there a grave yard for Americans close by ? Though out his life my Father's best friend was a 1919 belt fed Browning.He was with the 11th Airborn in the Pacific. I had often wondered ; Dad why the hard edge ? Was it from breathing too deeply of those soft south Pacific breezes back in the 40's , or the deaths of your Brother and friends ? Thanks . A Yank from Montana.

[@alternativebelgium]

There's a very large American cemetery near Liege (American Ardennes cemetery). I'll go there one of these days to film. It's very impressive. I took my son there (he was born in the US, so he's a US citizen) and I was very impressed.

[@garycates9911]

@@alternativebelgium Thank you very much for your reply. I am looking forward to this up coming video. I will never be able to see my Uncles marker ; Belgium even now is a very dangerous place . One could get ran over by a tractor !! It's much safer here in W. Montana among the big cats , Grizzlies ect. You do be careful. Gary

[@jeffsmith2022]

Namonia?...

[@stevenleroux7033]

So interesting thank you

[@alternativebelgium]

Very welcome!

[@eldonhagen1257]

In my opinion, it was bad judgement to build a huge mound of earth as a battlefield monument, because it destroyed the essence of the battlefield...the very ridge that was the central element of Wellingtons position. Battlefield scholars and military strategists must be frustrated by this. Regardless, I'd still love to visit there someday!

[@Vlad65WFPReviews]

Yes, when you go to see the Waterloo battlefield, you can never see the Waterloo battlefield.

[@BUR71]

От былого ландшафта поля 1815 года мало, что осталось. Между позициями была низина и по всему фронту англичан был крутой подъем.

[@dulls8475]

My Great Great Great or it might be 2 Greats thought at the Battle of Waterloo. He lost a leg and not only that he was in the Royal Navy...anyone guess why he was there?

[@alternativebelgium]

Hmm… please tell us!

[@michaelscott5653]

Do you know if Hougoumont is still standing?

[@alternativebelgium]

Yes, it most definitely is and you can visit it as well. I have some images, I’ll try to make a video of it one of these days.

[@davidcollins2648]

Napoleon only moved up to La Belle Alliance later in the afternoon and spent the morning to the South.

[@brucefreadrich1188]

I found out about "Waterloo teeth" recently. If you don't know - look it up, but be warned makes for some gruesome reading. (Although it does give you some thing to throw out for small talk next time you visit your dentist.)

[@asmith2406]

The real question is what could be seen where the ridge was the British troops were behind.

[@Niki-ln5be]

You should go to iwo Jima with a metal detector

[@michaelwhite8031]

Battles are 10% planning and 90% luck.

[@sanziohanzo]

Poor resolution... kills it.

[@alternativebelgium]

Sorry about that, just used my IPhone to film this. It was also very sunny that day and I had to shoot against the sun a few times. If I continue making these videos, I'll upgrade my equipment ;)

[@allanspence1347]

@@alternativebelgium the information is the main thing. I am taking my Son to see this in September. thank you.

[@flitsertheo]

@@alternativebelgium A decent DSLR camera (such as a Canon Eos) doesn't cost more than an Iphone and can make both high-res pictures and 4K movies.

[@NigelsWargaming]

Even as a Brit. I am of the view it was Prussian/German victory. The King German Legion where a significant contribution to Wellingtons Allied army. I visited in the 1980s when stationed in (West) Germany. What jumped out to me which wasn't on maps, was how close La Hayne Sainte was to the Allied Centre.

[@MrLooperg]

The mound was constructed there by the Belgium king whose son died in the battle.

[@alternativebelgium]

Thanks for your comment! Technically, you're right. Belgium was then one country with the Netherlands. King William was the Dutch king before also adding what is now Belgium to his Kingdom. His son got injured on this location (not killed though, lucky for him)

[@MarcoTheHague]

The belgian king good lord are you mad? Fuck me that aches my heart as a dutchman.

[@BrianandMoe]

That wild hair in the face was annoying otherwise good job

[@wisecoonie]

Ten eerste, “Lasne” spreek je uit als “Laan”. Ten tweede, uw Engels heeft een gruwelijk Vlaams accent. “Pruusians”…. Mens toch. Ook “Blücher” (met Umlaut dus) spreek je heel anders uit.

[@S3eauchemin]

About as interesting as Stone Mountain.

[@carausiuscaesar5672]

British officer:Right lads ladies and non binaries🏳️‍🌈🇬🇧Remember the great cause for which we fight:100 more years of aristocratic rule!can i have three hoorahs ?!