Sure Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Mechelen, Lier, Turnhout. But in that area, what are some of the smaller places, and/or pretty areas, and/or impressive sights?
For instance the canal-side bike ride from Bruges through Damme to Sluis is sublimely pretty with charming towns. What else? I'm trying to stitch together a cycle itinerary and want to stay in/pass through the good stuff between the big names.
Mentioned Sluis above, so yes crossing border into the Netherlands is just fine.
Thanks very much!
Your topic title is a bit confusing given how you also list Lier and Turnhout as examples of usual suspects in northwest Flanders. These cities are in the eastern part of Flanders, not in the west.
What exactly are you looking for? Will you be cycling from 1 base? Or making a round trip?
My imprecision is noted. Aware of it, and on purpose.
I don't intend my question to be any narrower than it already is. It's the exact question I want to ask exactly how I want to ask it.
Thanks very much!
The area around Ypres is interesting, deep WW1 history, some excellent breweries, you could dip into France, even consider to the west of Brussels, more breweries, then the Waterloo battlefield area (but then creeping into Wallonia
Hank - here a route to follow from Bruges to Sluis. Even if you have already done this, the detours I suggest can be of interest for the next time.
Indeed the countryside along the canal to Damme (Damse Vaart) and further Sluis is really charming, especially with good weather. Worth a detour is Oostkerke, for this you can bike along the canal at the right side and follow signs to this village. You can also bike along the left side too following for instance the Romboutswervedijk and back to the canal once you hit the Schipdonk canal that crosses the Damse Vaart at the Siphon. Have to remark that the Romboutswervedijk has a stretch of hundred meters of cobbled stones and a few hundred meters is unpaved.
From the Siphon you can bike following the gravel path along the castle to Oostkerke, or a bit further the more busy Monnikeredestraat. Worth doing is biking further to the windmill just outside Oostkerke before turning back to the canal to Sluis. On the way to Sluis worth a little detour is the Sint-Jacob de Meerderekerk, just before crossing the freeway. Certainly not to miss is Sint-Anna-ter-Muiden west of Sluis, just a few streets, very charming and believe it or not it still has (since medieval times) city rights.
From Sluis or from Sint-Anna-ter-Muiden (directly through the “polders”) you can go to Retranchement and further along the beach all the way to Breskens. If of interest you can take the little ferry to Vlissingen for exploring the island of Walcheren. I will explain this in my next post.
In Sluis you can bike around it’s historic ramparts. Unique is that most of the buildings are still inside the ramparts and walking over it you have nice views of the surrounding countryside. It’s windmill in contrary to those in Belgium is open to public and quite often working. You can also climb the belfry there.
Cycling further into the Netherlands you can go to Terhofstede and Retranchement. For this follow in Sluis the Hoogstraat, direction Cadzand and turn off left some 100m after the little canal. Worth doing in Retranchement is walking the “Wallenroute” at the westside of this village. Further north you can bike over the dunes to Cadzand-Bad with nice views of ‘t Zwin nature reserve.
If you like you can bike all the way to Breskens along the well paved bike and footpath’s on top of the dunes. With sunny weather nice views of the beaches, the sea and going more east the entrance of the Western Scheldt estuary. Cadzand-Bad is not of real interest, but further east you can go to the “Zwarte Polder” and from there to Groede, with it's charming main square and a historic street with shops from grandmother’s time. North of Groede you will bike through the bunker village “Groede Podium”. It was once part of the Atlantikwall, nowadays an open air museum and ironically a playground for children too.
Continue further back to the beach, you can do this going through the recently created nature reserve “Waterdunen”, a paradise for birdwatchers. Know that biking is not allowed there, you have to walk. Instead you can also follow the mainroad to Breskens if you prefer that. The latter not of real interest, best is going straight to the ferry to Vlissingen.
Biking routes are well signposted, in contrary to those for cars – white text with blue background – it’s red text with white and red background. For planning very convenient is putting together an itinerary with the help of route nodes. You can use them in Belgium as well as the Netherlands, they are signposted too. For the suggested route above you can follow from Sluis to Breskens the nodes: 96 – 31 – 30 – 29 – 32 – over the dunes to 83 – 82 – 15 to Groede. Further to 16 – through Waterdunen to the lighthouse, from there to the ferry in Breskens. The webside is Dutch only:
https://www.fietsknoop.nl/planner
For Vlissingen and further see my next post.
As already said you can explore the Walcheren island what is actually nowadays a peninsula. Vlissingen or Flushing was damaged very heavily during WW2, so much has lost then. Nevertheless the Bellamypark is charming and the Keizersbolwerk a fantastic place for watching ships passing by very close. With a bit of luck it can be one of the world’s biggest container ships on the way from Antwerp to Rotterdam. There is a windmill on top of the dike there and open to public, but not working as far as I know. Nearby a monument about the landing of the Allies at Uncle Beach November 1 1944. Also a Jewish monument about those who lost their lives during German occupation.
From Vlissingen you can bike further along the canal to Middelburg and Veere, both really charming places. From the latter it’s not so far to Domburg, an old fashioned sea resort once a wellnes center for nobility and even royalty too. Seems it was there that artist Piet Mondriaan found inspiration for his typical abstract painting style. There is a stayoke in nearby medieval castle Westhove, if interested book as early as possible.
You can bike further north to the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier. Halfway there is a visitor center at Neeltje Jans about the construction of this movable dam. You can join a guided tour if you like.
Wil what an incredible response! I'm going to rely on what you wrote to plan a ride going north out of Bruges. I've been through this zone on a bike before, but just transiting to Middelburg so did pick up on all the side trips and interesting sites.
Thanks very much for all the effort you put in. Too kind.
Hank
Paul thanks for the reply. I think I will plan a route that loops south and east from Bruge. If you zoom in a little on this elevation map you can see that north of Bruge/Ghent is flat river delta all close to sea level. To the south though there's a little more contour to the land. So maybe ride Ghent--Bruges--Wil's ride out and back Bruges-- down toward Kortrijk (if not all the way)--Oudenarde--Ghent. Something like that.
I found a tour booking website that only lists Belgian bike tours. Out of 23 options, one is called Flanders Most Beautiful Cycling Holiday Itinerary quite similar to the thumbnail above. So maybe we're on to a good route. I do like Oudenaarde - it's the most cycle racing focused town on the planet probably, and the Liefman's brewery is there.
Now I just need to work on specific routing to keep the KM a pretty as possible :)
Hank - You're welcome. If you plan biking from Oudenaerde to Ghent via Sint-Martens-Latem include a detour to Ooidonk Castle with lovely countryside along the Oude Leie river. Nowadays it's canalised, but old (Oude is old in Dutch) stretches are still there. You can follow this river all the way to the historic center of Ghent. The castle is one of Belgium's finest and still owned by the original family, not open to public every day but the garden is as far as I know.
Wil thank you for yet another tip. I've ridden that route up the river from Oudenaarde to Ghent before (actually started that day in Lille and ended in Bruges). It's a pretty route, and extremely cyclist friendly, nice and wide. But I did not stop at that beautiful castle.
Oudenaarde to Ghent stopping castle and a picnic will make a really good day for the family.
Thanks!
