Gallipoli visitors urged to plan ahead

Australian visitors to Gallipoli this Anzac Day are being reminded to dress appropriately and expect big crowds and long delays.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) says there's no restriction on numbers attending on the Gallipoli peninsular this year unlike for the next year's centenary.

That's been limited to 10,500 places, 8000 of them for Australians.

A ballot for attendance at Gallipoli in 2015 closed on Friday with 42,582 applications received, 1000 in the last hour and more than 10,000 in the closing two days.

DVA said on Monday the winners would be notified before this Anzac Day.

Anzac Day at Gallipoli, especially the dawn service, has attracted growing crowds.

DVA advises those attending this year to dress appropriately as there's no shelter and they could be exposed to the elements for up to 24 hours. Visitors will need good walking shoes to cover up to eight kilometres on steep and uneven dirt roads.

More and more Australians are also attending Anzac Day events in France and Belgium, commemorating the 46,000 Australians killed in fighting on Western Front.

Those going to the dawn service at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France, need to plan ahead as the access road is closed to all private vehicles the previous day.

Further details about events at Gallipoli can be found at www.dva.gov.au/gallipoli and about Western Front events, at www.dva.gov.au/france.