Okay is our "final" itinerary for short family cycle tour in Flanders

Hi,

8/17
Oudenaarde has a nice market square and a museum about the “Tour of Flanders”, double world champion Freddy Maertens (but never won the ToF though) I think still works as a host there. Little lovely church along the Schelde.

8/18
The route between Oudenaarde and Geraardsbergen is not perfectly flat, slightly rolling but a bit more northern route can be worth to look at. But I understand the extra 25k or more between the two places on top of the planned 50k in one day will be too much. Famous among cyclists is the “Muur (wall) of Geraardsbergen” , a very steep section in the Tour of Flanders, in many cases the decisive place for winning the race. It is a real killer, but the local postman seems to have no problem with it on it’s standard bike. Lovely chapel on top of the “Muur”, local delicacy is the cake “mattentaart”.

Think Ninove has not so much to offer, but the church is nice.

8/19
Think too it is worth cycling further to the Rupel in addition to the route I suggested in my other post. The “Notelaar” at the right river bank is a nice place for a stop. There are little passenger ferries you can make use of for crossing the Schelde. Think they will be certainly in service in August, but contact the local TI’s to be sure. Between the Rupel and Lier it will be harder to find a scenic route as you have to bike through the southern outskirts of Antwerpen. If you have time you can think about visiting Mechelen too, worth a visit for sure. Ludwig von Beethoven’s grandfather came from Mechelen.

8/20
Going from Lier to Dendermonde by train (1h) you have to make a change in Mechelen, maybe a good opportunity for a visit. Dendermonde knows the tradition of the giant horse “Het Ros Beiaard en De Vier Heemskinderen” , ask the TI there for info. Near Gent in Laarne is also a medieval castle. http://www.slotvanlaarne.be/pagina23aa.html

8/21
From Brugge to Gent anyway is nice the canal to Damme with the scenery and a bit further to the Sifon and if you like Oostkerke and very touristic Sluis too. From the Sifon you can bike along the canal to Gent. There is also a 50k long castle route around Brugge, not all are medieval, have the looks but are build in the 19th century, however Kasteel Wijnendale is nice, authentic and I think worth a visit if of interest.

8/22
Still I think the section of the Leie between Gent and Deinze is interesting as noted in my other post, but don’t like to push it. I know there is a lot of residential area, but nevertheless a lot of lovely spots, you can look around with googel streetview for an impression like around Tempelhof and Pontstraat in Sint-Martens-Latem and ofcourse the castle. The Leie between Deinze and Kortrijk is canalized, maybe not so interesting as following the winding Schelde from Gent, but have to say further no clair opinion about this.

Was also thinking about biking somehow to historic Doornik / Tournai also along the Schelde. Train connections are a bit complicated, but there is a direct train from there to Lille, needing just a half hour. Biking from Oudenaarde can be an option and as long as you can bike along the Schelde the route remains flat.

Instead of hotels you can think about staying in B&B’s (or smaller family hotels) as it can be good places for getting local info and most of the time they are good value for the money.

Flanders is notorious for their ribbon development, following rivers is a good way to avoid them as much as possible.

How busy your schedule is, is hard for me to say as it depends completely about the physical condition and how much you like to bike around along the suggested route, ofcourse the weather plays a role too, well you know better than me. Likely there are decisions to be made, but is with a (too) busy schedule more easy if you ask me.

August is holiday season in Belgium, so you won't be the only one biking around there.

Wish you and your family a whole lot of fun coming August.

Wil

Wil again so helpful! Thanks very much - I'll read through your responses with my map and guidebooks open to be sure I'm maximizing your advice.

We've done 1 bike tour around lake constance, and I am in the planning stages for a second next year along the Mosel. There are many bike tour companies that do tours all over Europe. They can be a help as far as planning goes. Also of note - if you use google maps, and say mode of transportation is bicycle it shows elevation change.

Jill hi! Thank you for offering some help :)

We've done 4 self-guided package bike tours in Europe (Black Forest, Alsace, and the Danube twice) over the last two summers, and felt it was now time to "graduate" to cycle touring on our own. For my wife, myself, and our little girl the average cost of the package tours we looked at this year was $250-300 per day, essentially for a hotel room with breakfast, luggage transfer, and a map/book with directions. So we decided that we could strip our luggage down enough that hauling panniers wouldn't be too much of a burden and do it ourselves. It's cheaper this way, but that's less of a benefit than being able to completely control our agenda, decide when and where we want to splurge for a luxury hotel, etc.

But there's a lot more logistics on the from end! I kind of like the arranging of things for the trip thankfully because it's a minor major project.

We picked Belgium and the Loire because there's so much bike touring infrastructure in both places. In the Loire there are even luggage transfer services (but we'll carry our stuff), and you can rent a bike at one end of the river and return it at the other.

You're certain right the elevation profile when you route Google to show bikeways is extremely handy!

Have a fabulous Mosel ride - that one's on our short list and we might do it through a tour company when the chance arises.

Henry

Well given some of the above feedback, and lack of availability of family rooms in some locations, we've altered our pathway and booked hotels/b&b's at the following place.

17/9 Rent bikes in KORTRIJK and ride up the Schelde river to TOURNAI. 30km

18/9 Train to ATH to avoid hills of Flemish Ardennes. Ride down the Dender river ATH to AALST. 54km

19/9 Ride AALST to MECHELEN 46km

20/9 Ride from MECHELEN up Schelde through Wassland to DENDERMONDE, then train to GHENT. +-50KM

21/9 lay day in GHENT, or ride locally or to Bruges for day trip

22/9 ride GHENT to KORTRIJK for 4pm departure.

thanks again - should be a great trip!

Good that your itinerary is partly in Wallonia, kept it's character throughout the years so you can find more of the old stuff like those tiny drawbridges. Succes with your trip!

yes thank you again Wil - feels like we've figured out a really pleasant, optimized itinerary with your help. As the French say muchas gracias ;)