Netherlands - Belgium countryside driving tour

I'm coming from the city of Lich....in Hessen.

Where in Germany are you coming from? That may help us make some suggestions. BTW, most of the rural areas of the Netherlands aren't all that scenic. There are a couple of well-known windmill clusters, but most of the country is pretty modern and industrialized. Rural Belgium is far more scenic for driving purposes.

I would go to Brugges, Ghent, and Ypres (for the WWI history). Ypres is the smallest and most interesting (but I am a military history fan). Also, Waterloo, which is just south of Brussels, but if you don't want cities, skirt around Brussels. Traffic there is brutal.

For me, the most interesting parts of both countries are the extremes: the ARdnees mountains (especially the villages around Marche-en-Fammene) in Belgium, and the Fryslân area with its lakes and VERY scenic farmhouses. Both are very interesting regions for countryside driving IMO. Other scenic drive is the N57 between Middelburg and Rosenburg, over the DElta Project structures in Zeeland.

OK, then, Lich as a starting point won't have a huge influence. The views from the main highways in Belgium are mostly pretty uninteresting. For a more interesting drive, go along the secondary roads. Even though the French-speaking half of Belgium (Wallonia) is generally poorer and shabby compared to the richer Flemish half (particularly the cities), the most scenic drives in the country are here. Particularly the Ardennes and Maas (Meus) Valley. South of Namur, the Maas enters a deep valley similar to the Rhine. The highlights here are the town of Dinant, and the Abbey of Maredsous (famous for its strong beer and extremely rich cheese). In the Ardennes, check out the tiny town of Durbuys. Touristy, yes, but worth a short stop. In the Flemish section, I find the eastern provinces of Limburg and Vlaams Brabant more scenic for driving than the more western provinces of Antwerpen, Oost and West Vlanderen. Mainly because the countryside has gently rolling hills in the east, but flat in the west. The drive along N20 between Tongeren and Hasselt has that sort of rural splendor that people travel across the ocean to see. In the west, I love the towns of the coast, particularly De Haan and De Panne. Waterloo I found kind of disappointing. I guess I was expecting sort of a US National Park service Civil War battlefield presentation. There's only a few markers to help explain the course of the battle, and some of the surviving buildings from the era are boarded up and derelict. The overall impression is of a non-descript potato field where someone parked a huge statue of a lion.

Thank, Tom

Don't miss Brugge.

Tom said The overall impression is of a non-descript potato field where someone parked a huge statue of a lion. Thanks for that, Tom. For nearly 15 years I have been driving frequently within 5-50km of Waterloo and always wondered if I should make the turn and drop in for a visit. I follow WWI and WWII quite closely but wars with Napoleon don't really float my boat as much. I wanted to see it for completeness. Thanks for helping me have a clear conscience the next time I drive right by. cheers, oder Chuss.

Well, if you drive by Waterloo regularly, you may as well take a look. I'm not saying it's something to absolutely skip, I just wouldn't recommend someone going out of their way to visit on a first trip to Belgium. The Cyclorama is pretty impressive. And you get to see wide-screen highlights of Sergei Bondarchuk's "Waterloo". Imagine a battle scene as massive as those in the "Lord of the Rings", but with no help from computer graphics. Actually Youtube probably has clips... aha, yes they do! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97dBfdNrf9A&feature=related

If I may chime in about Waterloo: we took the jitney wagon last summer around the battlefield. It took 45 minutes approx. to drive on roads. After that you have a better idea of how large the battlefield is, and the positions of the various troops. Turnips, wheat, corn and more growing there in season.
Did not pay to climb the hill, but the ride was worth the money. A vote for the Ardennes, the beach towns, Brugges. Rick Steves has good suggestions in his guidebook- check it out.

Thank you all for the great information! I, too, am a military history buff.

Part of the interest in Waterloo is in knowing the flow of the action that took place. Yes, of course it is overly commercialized, but what historical area isn't these days? I have toured several Civil War battlefields that are just as sadly commercialized. I would recommend stopping off in the village of Waterloo first and tour Wellington's headquarters, which has been made into a fairly decent museum, and where you can get a better sense of how far-reaching and significant the battle was. And then take a tour around the battlefield itself. To me, sometmes standing in a field of potatoes and quietly reflecting on the blood in the soil beneath my feet is fairly humbling.