Off for Mrs B and my annual wine buying trip at the end of September. With car starting at Zeebrugge off the ferry from UK. Need stuff to do between there and Strasbourg.
I've had great advice on summer luge and spas which we will probably end up doing on the Mosel. I've cycled a fair bit of the northern part of Belgium and the southern part of the Netherlands, plus the route north from Champagne into Belgium so not looking for more cycling opprotunities. So I'm looking for new ideas.
What is Ghent like?
Where can I taste and buy the more interesting Belgian beers (come on you trappests give a "shout out" for Belgian beers!) in bottles for returning to UK?
Any mini-palaces?
Ideas??
I've had great advice on summer luge and spas which we will probably end up doing on the Mosel. I've cycled a fair bit of the northern part of Belgium and the southern part of the Netherlands, plus the route north from Champagne into Belgium so not looking for more cycling opprotunities. So I'm looking for new ideas.
What is Ghent like?
Where can I taste and buy the more interesting Belgian beers (come on you trappests give a "shout out" for Belgian beers!) in bottles for returning to UK?
Any mini-palaces?
Ideas??
Gent is - for me - the most beautiful city in Belgium.
Flanders is quite flat for cycling, if you want to do something more challeging go to the Ardennes. Or cycle along the rivers or on the old railways.
RAVEL is for you.
http://www.velo-ravel.net/cartes_google.html
Itin 3 : véloroute de la bière... should be for you !!
Click on 'carte' and get the map. I didn't see a translated version.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...-BOa_u5sS-zMyk
Flanders is quite flat for cycling, if you want to do something more challeging go to the Ardennes. Or cycle along the rivers or on the old railways.
RAVEL is for you.
http://www.velo-ravel.net/cartes_google.html
Itin 3 : véloroute de la bière... should be for you !!
Click on 'carte' and get the map. I didn't see a translated version.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...-BOa_u5sS-zMyk
If you have not been to Bruges stop by there and then to Gent - to me Bruges is the most beautiful city by far in Belgium - a medieval look thru and thru its old center - Gent is bigger and has vest-pocket Bruges like areas.
Gent is a cycling center - check out shops like Plums (if still in business - used to always stop there on our bike trips years ago)
Check out Trappists abbeys like Westmalle (sp?) for tours and tastings of those potent brews.
Colmar is a neat wine town near Strasbourg and the Route des vins Alsace meanders north of town thru little wine villages (France of course has a zero tolerance for drinks and driving! roadside checks to enforce that)
Gent is a cycling center - check out shops like Plums (if still in business - used to always stop there on our bike trips years ago)
Check out Trappists abbeys like Westmalle (sp?) for tours and tastings of those potent brews.
Colmar is a neat wine town near Strasbourg and the Route des vins Alsace meanders north of town thru little wine villages (France of course has a zero tolerance for drinks and driving! roadside checks to enforce that)
Zeebrugge is Bruge's port and though it itself is blah - some nice resort towns are nearby - like Blankkenberg and Knokke-Heist and the Queen of the North Sea Riviera Ostende- stay there the first night perhaps for something different from the rest of Belgium.
Enroute to Bruges - at least make a brief stop there is never having been there - you can stop at Damme, Bruges old port during its heyday when it was one of the world's busiest ports- left over is a sleepy small town with old Flemish warehouses extant from its ancient past - follow a main canal into Bruges from there.
Enroute to Bruges - at least make a brief stop there is never having been there - you can stop at Damme, Bruges old port during its heyday when it was one of the world's busiest ports- left over is a sleepy small town with old Flemish warehouses extant from its ancient past - follow a main canal into Bruges from there.
Thanks guys.
This is not a cycling holiday (taking car)
Ghent looks good but where do you park?( a rhetorical question)
I've spent a lot of time in Zeebrugge and along the coast (I used to use this route to visit my plant in Roubaix) so often had time to kill. I've cycled around and stayed in Bruges and followed the international cycle path up to Rotterdam, plus sailed into the ports of Belgium and Zeeland.
I've seen Charloi, I know the Mosel like the back of my hand and will be buying wine in Trier.
What about
Bouillon
Chimy
La Roche en Ardenne
Durbuy
Rochefort?
This is not a cycling holiday (taking car)
Ghent looks good but where do you park?( a rhetorical question)
I've spent a lot of time in Zeebrugge and along the coast (I used to use this route to visit my plant in Roubaix) so often had time to kill. I've cycled around and stayed in Bruges and followed the international cycle path up to Rotterdam, plus sailed into the ports of Belgium and Zeeland.
I've seen Charloi, I know the Mosel like the back of my hand and will be buying wine in Trier.
What about
Bouillon
Chimy
La Roche en Ardenne
Durbuy
Rochefort?
You been to Charleroi ? poor one.
Bouillon is quite nice indeed, with a splendid castle, complete with torture chamber (added for tourists I've heard).
Chimay is nice but very small.
La roche en ardenne - long time no go, very touristy, nice too.
Durbuy is very very small, you basically have 2 café, one restaurant and the labyrinth if you are at the right season.
A must for Chinese, I4ve been twice, my wife never and she survives.
Rochefort - I don't remember, sorry.
You visited les grottes de Han ? Splendid caves.
If you have the car, follow 'la vallée de la Molignée', beautiful.
Bouillon is quite nice indeed, with a splendid castle, complete with torture chamber (added for tourists I've heard).
Chimay is nice but very small.
La roche en ardenne - long time no go, very touristy, nice too.
Durbuy is very very small, you basically have 2 café, one restaurant and the labyrinth if you are at the right season.
A must for Chinese, I4ve been twice, my wife never and she survives.
Rochefort - I don't remember, sorry.
You visited les grottes de Han ? Splendid caves.
If you have the car, follow 'la vallée de la Molignée', beautiful.
La Roche en Ardenne, Houffalize, Vielsalm, Malmédy are all very nice. And there's lot of beers anywhere! It would be even nicer if you took your mountainbike with you. A great area for biking.
Canoëing or kayaking on the Ourthe (start is in Durbuy) is also nice. For the longer trails of 12 and 23 km, you need to reserve one day ahead. Check Durbuy Adventure.
<<Zeebrugge is Bruge's port and though it itself is blah>>
Zeebrugge has some of the finest restaurants along the Belgian coast and a lot has been done in the last years to make the town much more attractive that it used to be.
Canoëing or kayaking on the Ourthe (start is in Durbuy) is also nice. For the longer trails of 12 and 23 km, you need to reserve one day ahead. Check Durbuy Adventure.
<<Zeebrugge is Bruge's port and though it itself is blah>>
Zeebrugge has some of the finest restaurants along the Belgian coast and a lot has been done in the last years to make the town much more attractive that it used to be.
Dinant is also nice
And Durbuy has Radhadesh, European Hare Krishna headquarters. Very good food and an interesting tour of the castle and the grounds, but no beer of course.
And Durbuy has Radhadesh, European Hare Krishna headquarters. Very good food and an interesting tour of the castle and the grounds, but no beer of course.
<<Zeebrugge is Bruge's port and though it itself is blah>>
Zeebrugge has some of the finest restaurants along the Belgian coast and a lot has been done in the last years to make the town much more attractive that it used to be.>
Yeh I have not been there for years and was comparing it to the other resorts I cycled thru. Thanks for update.
Zeebrugge has some of the finest restaurants along the Belgian coast and a lot has been done in the last years to make the town much more attractive that it used to be.>
Yeh I have not been there for years and was comparing it to the other resorts I cycled thru. Thanks for update.
Metz http://www.tourisme-metz.com/en/home.html
Nancy http://en.nancy-tourisme.fr/
Troyes http://en.tourisme-troyes.com/
......are cities I would suggest.
I cannot recall any really "outstanding" villages in the Champagne area.
Belguim Beers?
Torhout Broodherberg Wijnendale Wandeling http://www.wijnendaelewandeling.be/ Website is not good but the list of Biers to be sampled are fantastic.
Here is a list of brouwerijs in the country. Hopefully, you can visit the ones that produce the drinks you like!
http://www.belgium-mapped-out.com/breweries.html
Nancy http://en.nancy-tourisme.fr/
Troyes http://en.tourisme-troyes.com/
......are cities I would suggest.
I cannot recall any really "outstanding" villages in the Champagne area.
Belguim Beers?
Torhout Broodherberg Wijnendale Wandeling http://www.wijnendaelewandeling.be/ Website is not good but the list of Biers to be sampled are fantastic.
Here is a list of brouwerijs in the country. Hopefully, you can visit the ones that produce the drinks you like!
http://www.belgium-mapped-out.com/breweries.html
Chaumont, in the Champagne - Ardennes area is nice, but small, some nice restaurants, countryside. That city and Troyes could be good stops on the way.
Maybe there is a choice to be made between a "northern" arc (Belgian Ardennes, Luxembourg, Trier, Metz Strasbourg) or a "southern" arc (Lille, Laon, Reims) and then either Verdun, Metz, Strasbourg or Troyes, Chaumont, Nancy.
Maybe there is a choice to be made between a "northern" arc (Belgian Ardennes, Luxembourg, Trier, Metz Strasbourg) or a "southern" arc (Lille, Laon, Reims) and then either Verdun, Metz, Strasbourg or Troyes, Chaumont, Nancy.
