Touring in Belgium. what to see.

[ton]

going for a weeks tour to Belgium in april.
going to catch the end of the Paris-Roubaix bike race, but what else to see/do

anywhere worth a visit.

[MikewsMITH2]

Bruges, Brussels, Ostend are all worth a visit. We did a great ride along the canal from Bruges .Also, there is a continuous promenade along the coast of 50 miles. Was featured on "Coast" http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011w3xm

[Vorpal]

I like Ghent, as well.

[chocjohn9]

Top 10 Things to see/not see -
1. Do cycle the coast road from Dunkirk to Ostend. It takes a couple of hours and is wonderful. There are good paths along the canal too. Ostend is a typical sea side "resort".
2. Bruges does little for me but a lot for everyone else.
3. Ipes (Ypres) for the WW1 stuff, apt for this year.
4. Kortrijk isn't great for cycling.
5. Damme is nice.
6. Avoid the area between Antwerp and Brussels. Oh and the whole of Charleroi.
7. Namur and the region around is just lovely. Great town surrounded by gentle rolling hills.
8. Spa is OK for the spas - yes, that is where is word in English comes from plus the Formula 1 track.
9. Chimay for the monk's beer and cheese.
10. Waterloo, just 10k south of Brussels, more war stuff. Brussels is OK, nothing too much to see. The gleaming new European buildings may give you a vomiting fit.

General -
1. Bear in mind that Belgium really is not very big! Coast to Brussels is a straight forward 7 to 8 hours cycling. BTW, other cyclists will probably blank you.
2. If Belgium were a clock, draw a straight line at 2 o'clock to 8 o'clock. To the west it is flat and dull, to the east and south, rolling hills and more exciting.
3. If there is a cycle path, you HAVE TO use it. Car drivers will be very unkind to you if you don't. But if you have right of way, they are very nice
4. Make sure you have good maps/GPS. The signposts are terrible. The road surfaces aren't great either.

Have a good trip.

[MikewsMITH2]

2. Bruges does little for me but a lot for everyone else.

Bruges is a fabulous medieval town with wonderful architecture, museums, galleries, street markets, canals, restaurants and really friendly people. Apart from that it is boring.

[Vorpal]

Bruges: climb the Belfry

[geocycle]

Ghent, check out triptych in the cathedral, is great as others have said. The Ardennes is good touring country. A country with Chips and Mayo, chocolate and beer as national delicacies has a lot going for it.

[Peter Molog]

This is not abaut what to see, but where te stay, assuming you are sleeping in a tent.
Some Dutch and Belgian cyclists made an overview of cycle-friendly campsites.
The site is in Dutch/Flemisch, but mapreading is international (I hope ).
The sites indicated in red are (temporarely) closed.

Peter

[jamesgilbert]

That is incredibly useful, it's not hard to translate the reviews either with the internet search engine translator of your choice.

[Vorpal]

Touristy things I liked seeing in Belgium...
The Belfry in Bruges - on a nice day, 366 steps to the top will reward you with an amazing view
Saint Anna's church, Bruges - not a typical tourist site, this church has lots of art by Flemish painters
St. Michael's church, Bruges - again not a typical tourist site, but the interior is impressive, and it has plenty of its own artwork
Gravensteen, Ghent
I saw, and enjoyed the main tourist sites in Brussels.

If you're into stately homes and gardens visits, I liked Groot-Bijgaarden
There is also the National Botanic Garden at Meise

[Bowak]

If you're a motor-racing fan you have to call by Spa-Francorchamps. That place is like a cathedral to me and it's in the Ardennes so I'm assuming there should be some good forest/hill routes around.

[sedda]

I liked Antwerp - and the cycle friendly JFK tunnel. Ghent was a pleasant surprise,it's full of little 'finds' - the psychological museum is well worth a visit. I'm not sure (looking back) which canal I followed between Ghent and Ypres but it was great to be amongst so many cyclists without a car in sight. Echoing others, Ypres is a must, especially this year.

Sarah
http://sarahsjogle.blogspot.co.uk (which includes my travels through Belgium)

[Sweep]

Yes I like Antwerp. Some handsome buildings but also felt like a living place.

I discovered recently that it had more V2s land on it than London but I suppose they had had plenty of time to sort it out by the time I arrived - and maybe didn't suffer so much terrible Brit 60s improvements.

I spent a short break in Brussels once (escaped to go to Antwerp) but have had real trouble remembering pretty much anything about it. Which must rank it as being pretty spectacularly boring. On balance I think I'd rather spend a day in Peckham (I'm not dissing Peckham) and of course they should shift some of the EU there.

Bruge is of course very nice but almost too nice.

[Bendy Legs]

Antwerp is great - went there to see the Tour de France a few years back.

[mr riff raff]

If you're into racing which I guess you are as you're going to see P-R then go and see the Muur. You will be astounded, I promise.