Spouse (ebiker) and I (full analog) will be spending 9 days in Belgium in June. 1st 3 days recovering from jet lag in Brussels, 3 days in Bruges, then 3 in Antwerp. We want to rent bikes for at least 1 day in each city and would love to hear about people's experiences. Self guided day trip options? Rental shop reports? Guided tours? We have planned a guided bike tour of the the city for 1st morning in Brussels. That's it. We will be doing the obligatory RS walking tours, seeing the triple triangle sites but want venture out and see some awesome spots by bike too. Any and all suggestions welcome, except for schedule change. We're tied to the 3-3-3 cities.
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2330 posts
Think it’s a good idea planning a guided tour in Brussels. As Bruges is very walkable and with it’s many cobblestone streets it’s better planning bike tours only outside the city.
For exploring the countryside you can make use of the numbered-node cycle network you can find across Belgium as well as the Netherlands. You can plan at home, just make a list of the nodes of the planned route and take it with you. You only have to follow the numbered signposts along the road during your bike tour. However for orientation a good map remains always useful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbered-node_cycle_network
https://www.nodemapp.com/en/biking/nodes/routeplanner
Depending the distance you want to cover you can, what most do, bike from Bruges along the canal to Damme. You can bike further to Sluis in the Netherlands with a detour to nearby city (even with 50 residents not a village!) Sint-Anna-ter-Muiden. Between Damme and Sluis Oostkerke is worth a detour. Follow for instance nodes: 17 – unpaved Spegelsweg / castle – 26 (Oostkerke) – 44 – Krinkeldijk – 74 – Sluis. In Sluis you can bike along the outside of the ramparts, very scenic.
If you want to bike all the day you can take the ferry in Breskens to Vlissingen. The latter has a few attractive streets, better is biking further to Middelburg and Veere.
For going from Sluis to the ferry you can follow the nodes: 96 – 31 – 30 - 34 – 39 – 38 (Retrancement) - 12 – Groede* – 15 – 85 – beach / lighthouse*** - 7 (ferry).
- The ramparts are lovely there, however you have to walk as cycling is not allowed. The part with the best views is at the westside of the village, follow signs Wallenroute from node 31 in Terhofstede.
** Just outside Groede you cycle through Groede Podium, a former bunker village, once part of the Atlantikwall.
***With good weather nice views of the Western Scheldt estuary. You can also go through Waterdunen nature reserve, but you will have to walk as cycling is not allowed.
Posted by
Belgium
301 posts
Posted by
Washington DC
30199 posts
Just a comment about guided tours: Belgium can be quite rainy. I spent about a month in the country last year over the months of July, August and September. I never had anything like a full-day washout, but there were periods of intense rain lasting more than 30 minutes and other occasions when lighter rain fell off and on for longer periods. You could get unlucky if you prebook a tour that can't be canceled. In my experience, meteorologists don't predict rain as accurately as they predict temperatures.
I recall some challenging pavement in parts of Brussels, but if you take a tour, the guide will plan a good route.
Posted by
OP
Victoria, BC, Canada
2 posts
Thanks all for the insights and suggestions. How are the rental shops? Should I focus on the bike shops with rentals or are there rental specific shops ok?
Bruce
Posted by
Belgium
301 posts
I cycle a lot, but I use my own bike, which I transport with my car... so I have no experience with bike rental in my own country.
I do know about Blue-Bike, a bike-sharing system. You can find them throughout Flanders (including Antwerp and Bruges). You can rent bikes by the hour without a subscription, with a maximum price per day. Tourists can also register in the app if in possession of Visa or Mastercard creditcard.
Because everything works with an app (Android+IOS), you need a smartphone with data access (internet) and Bluetooth.
Both Antwerp and Bruges have their own 'Fietspunt' (part of Groep Intro). This is a manned office where you can also go with all your questions about Blue-Bike (bicycles and e-bikes).
Discover it here https://www.groepintro.be/nl/maatwerk/fiets-en-mobiliteit/fietsverhuur/#fietspuntantwerpencentrumcentraalstation
Here is the Blue-bike website itself and the FAQ.
https://blue-bike.be/en/app/