Short tour in Holland/Belgium - recommendations ?

[cisamcgu]

Hi all

Mrs Cisamcgu and I are planning a Eurostar based tour in late summer. Hopping onto the train in London with a couple of Bromptons and going to Lille.

Then having a week or so to ride around and staying in small hotels/B&B. We are not adverse to travelling on trains/buses for parts of the route, and don't want to ride more than, say 40km, in a day.

Hopefully ending up in Lille or Brussels and getting the Eurostar back home. So - where to go, what to do ? Any ideas or thoughts, fellow cycle-chatters ?

Thanks
Andrew

 

[mjr]

40km is 25 miles, so I suggest:

Day 1. Exit Brussels past the big flag in Cinquantenaire (which is missing from streetview - huh?), head for the Parc Parmentier, then to Overijse, Neerijse and Leuven. 25 miles.
Day 2. Ride to Mechelen, looking at the chicory museum on the way if you like, but there's plenty in the former Burgandian capital. 22 miles.
Day 3. Ride via Londerzeel and Opwijk on the Leireken rail trail to Aalst for the carillon and generally a really cool town IMO. 23 miles.
Day 4. Ride to Schellebelle ferry (bizarre heart sculpture on the north bank) and to famous Gent along the canalside. 20 miles.
Day 5. Ride to Geraardsbergen, frequent feature of the Tour of Flanders and Trans-Continental Race. 26 miles (oops).
Day 6. Ride to Tubize, which has a nice town hall but not much else, or ideally Braine le Château or somewhere near, but really this is to position for visiting Waterloo battlefield. ~25 miles.
Day 7. Ride back to Brussels via Waterloo. ~25 miles

https://cycle.travel/map/journey/90946

 

[Rocky]

A couple of years ago two of us started at Lille and followed Eurovelo 5 going through Brussels and Luxembourg. We, too, went on Bromptons. When we had had enough (we diverted along the Mosel to Nancy) we caught the train back to Lille. It's a lovely ride - well suited to Bromptons.

 

[cisamcgu]

@mjr - many thanks - I shall have a look this evening

 

[cisamcgu]

@Surly Bruce - Oh - what a fine idea - did you pre-book any accommodation ? And is it very hilly ?

 

[mjr]

@mjr - many thanks - I shall have a look this evening

No worries. I just added a link to the journey plotter I was using. I visited Brussels many years ago and Leuven, Mechelen, Aalst and Gent last year. Geraardsbergen and Waterloo are places I've read about in other people's blogs but not managed to tour to yet.

 

[Rocky]

@Surly Bruce - Oh - what a fine idea - did you pre-book any accommodation ? And is it very hilly ?

We used Booking.com and booked as we went along. We stayed in a mixture of B&Bs and cheap (but clean) hotels and once used AirBnB. It's not particularly hilly although i do remember a couple of longish climbs in the Ardennes - but nothing we couldn't do with ease in bottom gear of our Bromptons.

(both of us are not in our first flush of youth BTW )

 

[srw]

The last time I looked Eurostar weren't optimistic about still being in business in the summer if certain political events happened, so I wouldn't get too excited.

That said, if you download the Fietsknoop app you have all the map you ever need, and voice instructions.

 

[cisamcgu]

Current plan is :

Liverpool -London

Eurostar to Lille- 1 night
Train the Ypres (or maybe ride)- 1 night
Ride to Roeselare - 1 night
Ride to Bruges - 2 nights
Ride to Ghent- 2 nights
Train to Brussels - 1/2 nights
Eurostar to London - 1 night

Then home to Liverpool

Should be with prevailing winds, give time to visit WW1 cemeteries and drink beer in Bruges and Ghent

Sensible ?

 

[mjr]

Should be with prevailing winds, give time to visit WW1 cemeteries and drink beer in Bruges and Ghent

Sensible ?

Looks doable. Is the night in Roeslare after 22km to give more time to visit cemeteries/museums that day?

 

[cisamcgu]

Looks doable. Is the night in Roeslare after 22km to give more time to visit cemeteries/museums that day?

Exactly : it is a short jaunt from Ypres, and then another shortish trip to Bruges, so hopefully plenty of time for sightseeing and such-like

 

[mjr]

Exactly : it is a short jaunt from Ypres, and then another shortish trip to Bruges, so hopefully plenty of time for sightseeing and such-like

I only rode part of it but the Stroroute between the two passes close to Tyne Cot and has sightseeing info boards along the way. Here's a video, although they're heading in the opposite direction to you:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0kNtJWFo4A


I also rode part of the cycleway alongside the dead-straight N32 and it was less picturesque but a very easy way to get out of central Bruges.

 

[cisamcgu]

I only rode part of it but the Stroroute between the two passes close to Tyne Cot and has sightseeing info boards along the way. Here's a video, although they're heading in the opposite direction to you:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0kNtJWFo4A


I also rode part of the cycleway alongside the dead-straight N32 and it was less picturesque but a very easy way to get out of central Bruges.

Brilliant - many thanks

 

[johnblack]

Current plan is :

Liverpool -London

Eurostar to Lille- 1 night
Train the Ypres (or maybe ride)- 1 night
Ride to Roeselare - 1 night
Ride to Bruges - 2 nights
Ride to Ghent- 2 nights
Train to Brussels - 1/2 nights
Eurostar to London - 1 night

Then home to Liverpool

Should be with prevailing winds, give time to visit WW1 cemeteries and drink beer in Bruges and Ghent

Sensible ?

I can't recommend Ghent enough, we base ourselves there every year for The Ronde, one of the nicest cities, plus you can bike straight down the Schelde to Oudenaarde, which is a nice town and has the Ronde museum if that's your kind of thing.

 

[User66445]

Agree about Ghent, possibly more interesting than Bruges. Mechelen I didn’t find that interesting, but I stayed there for work over several months which might explain it.

Don’t try French outside Brussels, by the way, nor Dutch in the French parts. Also, avoid too much beer!