cycling in Belgium

[mmmmartin]

6pm at the Menin Gate is an experience you will not forget

Indeed it is, and very moving. Although if you hang around for a couple of hours for the 8pm bugling ceremony, that is even more moving.

 

[Julia9054]

Hiring a bike in Bruges and cycling to Zeebrugge and back along the canals was what got me back into cycling about 8 years ago.

 

[Broadside]

Bruges is a lovely place to visit, we cycled the area last year and Menin Gate and the various cemeteries are worth good by to if that is your thing. We found the cycling around the hillier parts more fun including the cobbles and the Koppenburg so I would recommend this too.

 

[steveindenmark]

Excellent beer all over Belgium.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Note that in Belgium, as well as the issues mentioned above, the paths are sometimes concrete blocks with gaps which gets a bit annoying with the ...thump.........thump.........thump........

Generally better than the UK though!

 

[TonyMartin]

Evening all....... the intention is either a campsite near Ypres and then cycle out daily to Bruges/Ghent or a longer tour Ypres > Bruges > Ghent > Leuven > Ypres probably staying in local Pensions or Airbnb. Looking forward to it!!

Tony

 

[mmmmartin]

Accommodation in Ypres in expensive because it is a year-round tourist destination. In the summer they have normal tourists and in the winter they have the Brits over for Remembrance Day, plus there is a constant trickle of family members arriving to commemorate the day an ancestor was killed. So camping would be much cheaper. There is a good campsite in Ypres. And excellent cycle tracks in all directions. Worth buying a cycle routes map.

 

[StuAff]

Alternative: stay in Poperinge, which has some excellent accommodation options and is only six miles from Ypres.

 

[BalkanExpress]

[QUOTE 4627920, member: 259"]Come on, you'll have to explain that one. I can just make a short list of knooppunten and it's dead easy to get to where I want. What's bad about that,?[/QUOTE]

I have mixed feelings.

The system and in particular the website makes for easy route planning along, usually, quiet roads and in theory all you need to do is jot a few numbers down.

In practice, I often have problems with the signage and need to either cast around to find a sign or revert to the map. The latter can be tricky as by following the signs it can take a while to work out exactly where I am. If I used a gps and downloaded the route I would probably have fewer problems, but I am not a big tech user.

 

[bladesman73]

it went well mate, so many people on bikes, no idiots on the roads, paradise!

 

[Firestorm]

we stay in a little place in near Kortemark
Barn to put the bikes in, close to Diksmude and the frontline path to the coast and nearsh to Ypres
Usually go in may but leaving it til September this year

 

[TonyMartin]

Many thanks Looking forward to the trip now!

 

[Ian at fleet]

I am riding to Ypres from Dunkirk next month, never cycled this before could anyone reccommend a map I could buy I have a Garmin but want to be able to check route. I will have 3 others with me and don't want to get us lost.

 

[mjr]

Alternative: stay in Poperinge, which has some excellent accommodation options and is only six miles from Ypres.

Seconded, for future reference. The Hotel Palace were absolutely wonderful to us this year - we stopped at the front, someone went in to say we've arrived, then the manager went to meet us at the side gate so we could park securely in the courtyard. The hotel is close enough to hear the wonderful chimes if the double-glazed windows are open and the breakfast was excellent, too.

If you're in Ypres for dinner, the Brasserie Petrus on the north side of the main square is reasonably priced but very good food.