Hello Belgians! SO Im a german who will be visiting your beautiful country by bicycle soon and would love to get some recommendations from you about things to do, eat, see and also avoid! I love your country so much that im trying to get the most out of my visit as possible 🙂
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To help you out here are a few things I like:
Beer, Biking, history, fries, trash facts, good food, scenic landscapes and music.
If u stop by in ghent and need a place to crash me and my housemates love to take in travellers!!
You could visit leuven as well. It’s a nice city !
The most beautifull province to bike in is Limburg.
Avoid Aalst at all costs /s
Use this site to plan your route so you’ll at least use the nice bikepaths and avoid the worst hills in the Ardennes: [https://www.fietsnet.be/routeplanner/default.aspx](https://www.fietsnet.be/routeplanner/default.aspx)
Be careful in Ghent.
Beautiful city, but lots of tram tracks, so it’s easy to get your wheel stuck and faceplant if you’re not used to it.
I have to agree that the route from Antwerp to Ghent isn’t the greatest, but both cities are definitely worth visiting.
​
For beers in Antwerp you can visit these breweries: Seef brewery and brouwerij De Koninck (there’s a bike shop next door which might be convenient). Ghent has Gruut brewery. You can also go to Delerium brewery in Melle, which is close to Ghent.
​
If you just want to get drinks, for Antwerp I like billie’s bier kafetaria, Ghent has trollenkelder. Both cities also have bier central, which offers a wide arrangement of beers. If you want some live music whilst also being right in the city center, try de muze in Antwerp or miss sippy in Ghent.
For food, depends on what you like, really. Fries can be found almost everywhere, but I like the frituur next to trollenkelder I mentioned earlier.
In regards to history/culture, just walk (or bike) around a lot. You can visit Antwerp’s Cathedral, Gravesteen, Lam Gods, etc. Most of the landmarks are within walking distance of each other.
​
Also, when are you visiting? Gentse feesten are coming up, which is a really great festival.
I see you use Komoot. I would not give to much weight to the bicycle paths it counts. Because a bicycle path here can range from an open, tens of kilometers long stretch next to the canal where cars aren’t allowed, to literally 60cm of bad concrete separated from a major road by a white line.
I usually look for asphalt streets instead of bicycle paths, unless I know it’s a decent one.
Best to follow bike routes. You might do more distance but they guide you through the best parts and most scenic routes. They also try to avoid cars and are clearly marked. You just have to remember the numbers of the route you want follow.
Your route cuts through some very dense population (and trafic) areas.
While there are some very nice cities along that path I’d rather stick to Limburg and the Ardennes.
If you’re starting in Eindhoven and history is your thing, you could consider swinging by Lommel – it has a WW2 cemetery with about 40k German soldiers that’s very serene and nice to look at…. Also, nice bike paths and ‘Biking through the trees’ (though that’s a bit gimmicky)
Don’t mis out on Charleroi! Most beautifull city in Europe.
Eurovelo routes are your friend! Used them to travel across Belgium/Germany/France/Spain and Portugal. https://en.eurovelo.com/
Have fun! May I suggest to pass by a brewery 🍻?, My favourite one to recommend is Orval.
If you are camping and want to meet locals, we have loads of people who will open up their garden for you (no kidding): https://welcometomygarden.org/explore
It gets you along the scenic roads and doesn’t require mobile network.
Your missing the best part and picking the worst route
The part between Brussels and Gent is not really the nicest, how much kilometers of a detour are you willing to make? I’ll make you another one
Avoid Charleroi
You forgot to visit Haasrode, famous for absolutely nothing. Maybe for the pub, den Deugniet, where I’m heading to in 5 minutes. Oh, and Haasrode is near Leuven, which you forgot on your trip. E-Like 30 kilometers east of Brussels. It’s a very old university town.
You are missing the most beautiful part… limburg…
In Brussels they steal your bike and Antwerp… you will see it yourself… 😬
And biking trough Limburg is also a shortcut 🤣🤣🤣
I don’t know if you are dead-set on visiting Brussels, but Leuven might be nice to look into as well. It’s less oversized than Brussels, and if you stay a night in Leuven there is a regular train every 10 mins to Brussels. It takes 20 mins by train. You can avoid the big traffic with your bike like that.
Leuven is also a beautiful city. It evolves a lot around its university and is rather small but full of beautiful architecture. (I might be biased though)
Hi there,
If i am not mistaken you are coming from Eindhoven, the hun route to take is going to Hasselt. The Eastern part of belgium is known for its bicycle routes ( fietsknooppunten ). You can pass by Hasselt to taste the local jenevers… the route will have a better scenery.
I would drive by the Bois des Rêves and the lake in Louvain-la-Neuve
Don’t come in Bruxelles. The last guy who did that got his bike stolen 😁
Beware of drivers they might get agressive towards you, Being on a bycicle makes thé People more hostile.
When you go by Antwerp the ‘anti tank kanaal’ is a great route, it’s a series of bunkers and forts connected by canals. It’s not continous uninterrupted cycling but there’s some great parts!
Bruh, no Hasselt? The pearl of Belgium?
Bastogne and Dinant bro
You’re skipping the most beautiful province and going through the nastiest city, the city with the people who are hardest to understand and the city with the most arrogant people.
31 comments
Hello Belgians! SO Im a german who will be visiting your beautiful country by bicycle soon and would love to get some recommendations from you about things to do, eat, see and also avoid! I love your country so much that im trying to get the most out of my visit as possible 🙂
​
To help you out here are a few things I like:
Beer, Biking, history, fries, trash facts, good food, scenic landscapes and music.
​
thank you!
​
Edit: [my new and improved route thanks to you all!](https://imgur.com/a/4xOk8Gx)
If u stop by in ghent and need a place to crash me and my housemates love to take in travellers!!
You could visit leuven as well. It’s a nice city !
The most beautifull province to bike in is Limburg.
Avoid Aalst at all costs /s
Use this site to plan your route so you’ll at least use the nice bikepaths and avoid the worst hills in the Ardennes: [https://www.fietsnet.be/routeplanner/default.aspx](https://www.fietsnet.be/routeplanner/default.aspx)
Be careful in Ghent.
Beautiful city, but lots of tram tracks, so it’s easy to get your wheel stuck and faceplant if you’re not used to it.
I have to agree that the route from Antwerp to Ghent isn’t the greatest, but both cities are definitely worth visiting.
​
For beers in Antwerp you can visit these breweries: Seef brewery and brouwerij De Koninck (there’s a bike shop next door which might be convenient). Ghent has Gruut brewery. You can also go to Delerium brewery in Melle, which is close to Ghent.
​
If you just want to get drinks, for Antwerp I like billie’s bier kafetaria, Ghent has trollenkelder. Both cities also have bier central, which offers a wide arrangement of beers. If you want some live music whilst also being right in the city center, try de muze in Antwerp or miss sippy in Ghent.
For food, depends on what you like, really. Fries can be found almost everywhere, but I like the frituur next to trollenkelder I mentioned earlier.
In regards to history/culture, just walk (or bike) around a lot. You can visit Antwerp’s Cathedral, Gravesteen, Lam Gods, etc. Most of the landmarks are within walking distance of each other.
​
Also, when are you visiting? Gentse feesten are coming up, which is a really great festival.
I see you use Komoot. I would not give to much weight to the bicycle paths it counts. Because a bicycle path here can range from an open, tens of kilometers long stretch next to the canal where cars aren’t allowed, to literally 60cm of bad concrete separated from a major road by a white line.
I usually look for asphalt streets instead of bicycle paths, unless I know it’s a decent one.
Best to follow bike routes. You might do more distance but they guide you through the best parts and most scenic routes. They also try to avoid cars and are clearly marked. You just have to remember the numbers of the route you want follow.
https://www.fietsnet.be/routeplanner/default.aspx
It is in Dutch, but it is not difficult to figure out
Your route cuts through some very dense population (and trafic) areas.
While there are some very nice cities along that path I’d rather stick to Limburg and the Ardennes.
If you’re starting in Eindhoven and history is your thing, you could consider swinging by Lommel – it has a WW2 cemetery with about 40k German soldiers that’s very serene and nice to look at…. Also, nice bike paths and ‘Biking through the trees’ (though that’s a bit gimmicky)
Don’t mis out on Charleroi! Most beautifull city in Europe.
Eurovelo routes are your friend! Used them to travel across Belgium/Germany/France/Spain and Portugal. https://en.eurovelo.com/
For Walonnia look up Ravels: https://ravel.wallonie.be/nl/home.html
and for Flanders your good with LF routes: https://www.groteroutepaden.be/nl/vlaamse-icoonroutes
and ofcourse ‘knooppunten’ https://www.fietsnet.be
Have fun! May I suggest to pass by a brewery 🍻?, My favourite one to recommend is Orval.
If you are camping and want to meet locals, we have loads of people who will open up their garden for you (no kidding): https://welcometomygarden.org/explore
If you’re looking for an app for the fietsnet website, I found this really useful https://apps.apple.com/bb/app/fietsplan/id1572059322
It gets you along the scenic roads and doesn’t require mobile network.
Your missing the best part and picking the worst route
The part between Brussels and Gent is not really the nicest, how much kilometers of a detour are you willing to make? I’ll make you another one
Avoid Charleroi
You forgot to visit Haasrode, famous for absolutely nothing. Maybe for the pub, den Deugniet, where I’m heading to in 5 minutes. Oh, and Haasrode is near Leuven, which you forgot on your trip. E-Like 30 kilometers east of Brussels. It’s a very old university town.
You are missing the most beautiful part… limburg…
In Brussels they steal your bike and Antwerp… you will see it yourself… 😬
And biking trough Limburg is also a shortcut 🤣🤣🤣
I don’t know if you are dead-set on visiting Brussels, but Leuven might be nice to look into as well. It’s less oversized than Brussels, and if you stay a night in Leuven there is a regular train every 10 mins to Brussels. It takes 20 mins by train. You can avoid the big traffic with your bike like that.
Leuven is also a beautiful city. It evolves a lot around its university and is rather small but full of beautiful architecture. (I might be biased though)
Hi there,
If i am not mistaken you are coming from Eindhoven, the hun route to take is going to Hasselt. The Eastern part of belgium is known for its bicycle routes ( fietsknooppunten ). You can pass by Hasselt to taste the local jenevers… the route will have a better scenery.
I would drive by the Bois des Rêves and the lake in Louvain-la-Neuve
Don’t come in Bruxelles. The last guy who did that got his bike stolen 😁
https://bx1.be/categories/news/chinois-tour-monde-a-velo-se-voler-deux-roues-a-gare-midi/
Stay away
I see you will not even come close to Liège 🙁
Beware of drivers they might get agressive towards you, Being on a bycicle makes thé People more hostile.
When you go by Antwerp the ‘anti tank kanaal’ is a great route, it’s a series of bunkers and forts connected by canals. It’s not continous uninterrupted cycling but there’s some great parts!
Bruh, no Hasselt? The pearl of Belgium?
Bastogne and Dinant bro
You’re skipping the most beautiful province and going through the nastiest city, the city with the people who are hardest to understand and the city with the most arrogant people.