kgveteran

im a avid biker here in the states and really excited at getting a guided tour in three locations in europe.

3hr tours seem to be the norm, any comment from other bikers would be appreciated :0)

PalenQ

If you're an avid biker and want a longer trip why not just set out on your own - bike paths everywhere in those places - I'd concentrate on Bruges and Amsterdam where the countryside can be quickly reached - bike rentals abound. I led bike trips thru those areas for a decade long ago and biking on your own can be great too and you go at your own speed.

I would warm against biking in cities as bike lanes can be very crowded and be sure to know bike path etiquette. You can find nice routes online and from locals who post here. For guided tours the ones from Bruges to Damme, the old port of Bruges that was silted up centuries ago, causing the city to stagnate - one reason it is so medieval looking today - the port activity moved to Antwerp which is still one of Europe's major ports.

In Amsterdam MacBike tours get good reviews and have been around for ages but there are many. And again eschew riding around central Amsterdam - not much fun and can be dangerous for novices.

StCirq

I think you'd need to have a serious death wish to go on a bike tour in Amsterdam. Antwerp isn't terribly bike-friendly, either. And Bruges is too small to bother with a bike.

Get out of town and go biking in the countryside. You don't need a tour; there are bike paths all over both countries.

kgveteran

I dont know the size of these cities/towns, I have no scale of the cities im looking to be visiting, no simple lenth and width Lol. I will look into this.

i exersize during the week at home, its more convenient, on the weekend weather permitting i do a 26mile country road ride, usually takes me 2hrs (roughly 13 m/h). With that reference i can now plug in the city size and get the scale of things.

took me a bit to figure out why i was annoyed with ur advice LOL

grace44

We took a guided tour from Bruges to Damme, a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it very Much. It included lunch in Damme. There were about six of us in the group. The guide was informative and made the trip out into the countryside fun.

kgveteran

Ty :0)

hetismij2

Bike tracks in both the Netherlands and in Belgium have numbered junctions and frequent maps so you can easily plan a route for your self. This (in DUtch) has a planner based on Amsterdam. If you click on knoopunten in the menu it will overlay or the routes and numbered junctions. By zooming out you get a bigger area. Click on a junction (knooppunt) and you can begin to plan out a route. It will give you the numbers of the junctions, and you can print out the route/numbers when you are done. They also have some pre-planned routes. https://www.fietseropuit.nl/fietsrou...and/amsterdam/

There are more sites that do this and similar ones for Belgium I believe. Search for Fietsknooppunten.

If you prefer a guided tour then there are several companies that offer them. They take you out of the city. Riding a bike in Amsterdam is scary for non Amsterdammers never mind visitors.

menachem

You can do it yourself easily. Do you ride road bikes? If so there are lots of social rides over the weekend from Amsterdam. I know the Rapha store has rides, but there are more. Sometimes you pay a small fee for the people who give their time organizing it and then usually intersections are blocked or there are marshalls at tricky points. If you're more into touring, you can rent good touring bikes from a lot of small town stations, you buy a cycling map for a euro and off you go.

You can even plan routes yourself, save them as gps and import them into your Garmin. at https://routeplanner.fietsersbond.nl
You can even build routes according to cycling style.

menachem

It's like this:

Do you see those 2 guys in the red shirts on the red, rented bikes? They just can't get off the corner!

Are you confident enough to cycle in the midst of that. That's the question you need to answer.

Also, knooppunten are extremely recreational and the routes meander a lot without going anywhere. It's for people who cycle a circular route, from and to their homes. Fietsrouteplanner really works well, but you'll have to bring a gps device, although you can also use apps on iphone.

PalenQ

But if you rent a bike at the main train station and take free bike/pedestrian ferries to other side of IJ or harbor you can soon be out of urban Amsterdam and into the polders. Get a map and head for Holysloot and area. But yes to bike in Amsterdam itself is for a novice rather dangerous.

kgveteran

totally off topic:
will most restaurants have menus in english, i can get a feel for the posh locations with very detailed meals, im not about that life LOL, i like a plain meal of legendary food, im not artsy at all, plus you have to dress up..... casual dining is my bag

bruges has a number of dining locations for a small town, so does Damme

StCirq

Arguably, if a menu is in English you don't want to eat there. That said, English is so prevalent in the Netherlands and Belgium that I doubt you'll encounter any problems. It never hurts to familiarize yourself with food nomenclature, though, and basic etiquette. You don't ever have to dress up to eat if you don't want to unless you choose very high-end establishments.

kgveteran

well put :0) thank you very much for all ur encouragement and info !!!

PalenQ

Bruges is not a small town but a fairly large city and thus has many restaurants - Damme is a small town.