Belgium

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Heltor Chasca
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Belgium

Post by Heltor Chasca »

I'm thinking I may tour Belgium next summer. I'll buy maps from the NL I think. I like them best.

Should I scoot through via Harwich-HVH or should I consider somewhere on the South Coast? I live in Somerset. Perhaps a circular?

And what to do in Belgium?

Thanks all.
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robgul
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Re: Belgium

Post by robgul »

What to do . . . the WW1 stuff around Ypres is fascinating ... and very moving.

We've been on a couple of club cycling tours (2102 and 2016) - crossing from Folkestone - Calais and v-v using the Eurotunnel Bike Service and cycling in N France for a couple of days and then Ypres area (this year we went via Roubaix and rode around the velodrome on touring bikes complete with panniers!

If you want our route/itinerary drop me a PM

Rob
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HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
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bohrsatom
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Re: Belgium

Post by bohrsatom »

My experience of riding through Belgium is that the north (Flanders) is much much nicer than the south (wallonia). The northern cities -Ypres, Ghent (my favourite), Bruges, Antwerp, Leuven are all fantastic and the riding in between is good. Think Holland and its knoppunt system and you won't be far off, although there isn't the same density of segregated paths.

In the south the cycle network is just a few RAVeL routes which tend to go alongside rivers and canals or follow the tracks of abandoned railways. The riding is flat but tedious and the scenery is often just derelict industrial sites - Wallonia was a big industrial area but it declined since the 1970s. We visited several Wallonian cities and Tournai stood out as the best. Also Mons was one of the European capitals of culture in 2015; when we visited in 2014 it was still being dug up but I expect it's better now!

If you are going with kids, check out the enclaves of Baarle-Nassau. Although in Holland there are a number of Belgian enclaves and in some of these are even smaller Dutch enclaves. The history is interesting and they will love being able to stand on the street with one foot in Belgium and the other in Holland!
groberts
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Re: Belgium

Post by groberts »

Dover to Dunkirk worked well for me and is easy to get to. Cycling in Belgium is wonderful, an even better experience than my favourite - France. Bruges is a must and the WWI stuff around Ypres is fascinating but do some research beforehand, it adds to the experience.

Here's my trip in 2012, hope to go back again sometime.

https://roundthebendpart1.wordpress.com ... june-2012/
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hondated
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Re: Belgium

Post by hondated »

groberts wrote:Dover to Dunkirk worked well for me and is easy to get to. Cycling in Belgium is wonderful, an even better experience than my favourite - France. Bruges is a must and the WWI stuff around Ypres is fascinating but do some research beforehand, it adds to the experience.

Here's my trip in 2012, hope to go back again sometime.

https://roundthebendpart1.wordpress.com ... june-2012/

Thanks great read.
iviehoff
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Re: Belgium

Post by iviehoff »

You have to be careful just saying "Belgium" without any supporting words, people might think you are being rude.

One think to amuse you in Belgium is that signposts are often *not* bilingual, and generally use the local language, not the name you know the place by or read on a map. The difference between the Flemish and French names can be large. So signposts to Rijssel means Lille, and Doornik means Tournai, a couple of the harder to solve cases. In the case of Courtrai/Kortrijk, the language barrier is literally the bridge you go over into the town, so that one wasn't resolved until we were actually there.
keyboardmonkey
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Re: Belgium

Post by keyboardmonkey »

My experience of cycling in Belgium is limited to one short trip:

http://cycleseven.org/short-cycling-tou ... res-bruges

On page 5 the info on the map series may be of use.
Vorpal
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Re: Belgium

Post by Vorpal »

I love Belgium! I recommend Bruges (Brugge), which is lovely, if rather touristique and Ghent (Gent), which was a sort of rival town from the medieval period through the 19th century. My favourite things in Bruges were a church that had a museum collection of old paintings hanging up, and walking along the canals at night. My favourite thing in Ghent was Gravensteen. If you get tired of flat, you can head to the south of Belgium. It's worth visiting there, as well because the culture and scenery are completeky different.

There aer some really nice canal paths in Belgium

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=104710
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=94654
also, there is a site specifically for long distance routes in Belgium (it's probably linked in one of the threads above, too)
http://www.fietsroute.org/Long-Distanceroutes-LF.php

Enjoy!
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borisface
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Re: Belgium

Post by borisface »

I'm a little surprised that none of the other posters have pointed you in the direction of the Ardennes. Although Bruges and Ghent are lovely towns and very accessible from the UK, the countryside is pretty flat and monotonous, lots of suburbs and the roads are busy (although there are cycle paths which often run alongside the busy roads). To my mind, if you draw a line roughly from Mons to Liege (Luik) the countryside south of there towards the borders is very rural with pretty towns and villages such as Bouillon, La Roche en Ardennes and Namur. It is hilly though and at the Signal de Botrange you have Belgium's highest point which is a fairly stiff climb. You will find quiet roads, large forests and it is sparsely populated. You can also dip into France, Luxembourg, Holland and Germany, I did a great one week tour about ten years ago when I did just that. The area around St Vith has cross-country skiiing and is German speaking - they don't seem to like it if you speak French, which of course I did.
Bogawski
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Re: Belgium

Post by Bogawski »

+1 for the Ardennes,
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Belgium

Post by Heltor Chasca »

I'm loving these replies. Thanks all.

I'll be completely honest, I'm not into my war history. I'm one for forests, scenery, landscapes and I'm a sucker for the odd hill. I quite like the idea of bagging a few countries over a short period too. I'll keep listen g and reading. Thank you.
chocjohn9
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Re: Belgium

Post by chocjohn9 »

Hello from sunny Belgium, Heltor,

Belgium consists of three places really.
(1) There's the capital, with all of the institutions and super aggressive car drivers.
Then if you draw a line, east to west, through Brussels -
(2) To the north, there's Flanders, super flat, fairly windy because they don't believe in hedges, many canals with lovely cycle paths running along side, cycle shops even in large villages, people who will not appreciate you speaking French to them but are happy to take your money and some well known tourist places: Brugges with it's cobbled streets, Ieper and Poperinge which are both very sobering, around Kortrijk is a bit grim on a bike and Ghent has it's nice parts. Leuven has a decent centre and good university - pity then that the French speakers were pushed out. I go to Lier quite a bit because quite a few Audaxes start from there. More canals....
(3) To the south, there's more interesting scenery in my view. Rolling hills, hedges, huge sections are covered in lovely forest, I much prefer the architecture in this part, the houses and Namur is beautiful, ditto the countryside around Spa - St-Hubert, Hansur-Lesse and/or La Roche-en-Ardenne. For beer and cheese, how can you beat Chimay? It's further from the UK, but worth it.....
The French and Flemish rarely mix, they have different everything. It's a huge shame and it really holds them back. And, only when I started to wear an Audux UK cycling top, did both "sides" start to speak to me. They each thought I was from the other "side" and for the first 25 audaxes I did here, I didn't even get an hello out of anyone. Crazy.....

Eurostar offers a bike service. Turn up at St.Pancras (at least an hour before) and pay £20 for your bike but you can only get off at Brussels - not Lille or Calais.
The ferry is also £20. Turn up and and pay for the next one, this is what I do.
Eurotunnel I avoid. There are only two trains a day - 9am and 3pm I think.

* Remember that if there is a cycle path, then by law you have to use it. Drivers tell you in their own special way, if you don't.
* Take tools etc with you. If you break down - as I have done a few times - other cyclists will not stop to help you out.
* Be careful with Garmin maps. Roads are just marked as roads, that's it. So, it could be a dual carriage way, a standard road, a dirt track, a bridal path - anything! I've been caught out many times. Mind you, on your Surly, I don't suppose it will matter :D
* If you are passing through the East of Brussels, then feel free to contact me. I do a decent - and unbelievably cheap - cup of tea :D
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sabrutat
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Re: Belgium

Post by sabrutat »

I rode through Belgium last summer and the Ardennes really sticks in my mind. While I rode I listened to the Hardcore History podcast series on WWI, which really capped the experience.
Vorpal
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Re: Belgium

Post by Vorpal »

Yes, I meant the Ardennes :oops:

Anyway, the museum of Belgian Beers is on the way. :mrgreen:
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
DMan01
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Re: Belgium

Post by DMan01 »

A few years ago I took a ferry to Calais, cycled through France, across Belgium and then back from HVH to Harwich. That could be a good option if you want to see a large chunk of the country whilst also picking up a bit of France and Holland on either side? Plus if you take the HVH overnight it saves you a night of accommodation! The Belgian 'LF' routes are mostly well organised and sign posted but aren't quite up to the same uniform high standards as across the border in the netherlands in my experience
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