Info for Tues 7/2-driving Gent->Maastricht
 

We plan on heading to Margarten on Tuesday to visit the American Cemetery. Our orginal plan was to take the train, but due to an ear infection we no longer want to take the high speed train. DH wants to hire a car and make the drive instead. I googled and found that the trip is approximately 87 miles.

Has anyone ever driven in this area? What can you tell us about the drive?

Thank you for any information you could provide.

Sorry, that date should read 7/21 (21/7/09).

:)

That should be an easy drive. I suggest going via Brussels rather than Antwerp. Getting around Antwerp is confusing. Get a Michelin road map in Gent.

Here is a link to maps of American cemeteries and monuments.

It is a bit of a pain to drive as you go round the Brussels ring road. If you don't set off too early though(to avoid the terrible Brussels rush hour) it will be fine - it is nearly all motorway. It is about 116 miles actually (187 km) and takes about 2 hours to drive though.
The alternate route round Antwerp is no better and you may get tangled up in road works that way.
Bear the return rush hour in mind for your return trip.

I'm not sure the trains are actually high speed to be honest - certainly not TGV/Thalys speeds.

Oops, the link.
http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/maps.php

Thanks for the responses. DH is just chomping at the bit to drive here, lol. He is also concerned about transportation once we arrive at the station -- not so much going from the train station to the cemetery but the return from the Cemetery to the train station. I have taxi information (from another thread) that I will check out tomorrow. Tomorrow our ever helpful concierge will return and he will help DH with a car rental infor as well as directions. I am a little worried about the city traffic that you mention.

I'll let you knw how it all turns out.

There is a bus to the cemetery and back from Maastricht. I think I said about it in your other thread. Easier and much cheaper than a taxi! If not I can look it up again for you if you want me to.
There is no real city traffic to worry about - it is just that the motorway gets pretty solid with commuters morning and evening. A lot of people live around Gent and commute to Brussels plus all those living closer in. Just be prepared for some jams is all.
Remember too you will be going through part of Wallonia so the names road signs will be in French and the town names may be different.
Basically though you need to get on the E40 and stay on it all the way to the junction with the E25 towards Visé and Maastricht, some 150kms later. The E25 becomes the A2 once you cross into the Netherlands. At the Europaplein exit you follow the signs for Aken then turn left towards Margraten. The cemetary is on your right along there.

Like hetismij said, there's no city traffic to worry about. You'd be traveling around Brussels on the ring, not going through the center. So what you should avoid is the highway traffic during rush hour. Once you reach the road to the cemetary, it's simple - from what I remember it's a 2-lane road and there are signs right before the entrance.

Hi STW I just realised that tomorrow is a major national holiday in Belgium with a parade and stuff in Brussels. I'm not sure how that will affect the traffic, but the rush hour probably won't exist. The ring may be a bit busier with people trying to get into Brussels but that shouldn't affect you.
Have a good journey. Try and get into Maastricht too if you have time. Or just have a drive around Southern Limburg, go to Gulpen for the beer or something :)

Dank u!

I have just logged on to the internet in the room. Thank you for the directions. We just found out this evening that tomorrow is a national holiday here (found out when I called the doctor b/c I am worse today). I finally called my US doctor for advice and DH had to hunt down the only open pharmacy in Gent.

We took the train into Brugge today and at the station we inquired about travel to Maastricht. The train leaves every hour (with 1 tranfer). I convinced Dh that the less stressful way to go would be by train (he's still not feeling 100%). So if I wake up not any worse than today, we are going on Tuesday. It may be the only opportunity for DH to visit his uncle's grave.

I apologize for our indecisiveness...nothing about our time here has been easy, lol.

You have all been very helpful and we appreciate it very much.

BTW, the Belgian people are the most friendly and helpful people we have every met. The staff at the Ghent Marriott have gone out of their way to be helpful to us. I would highly recommend this hotel.

I hope you both feeling a lot better today STW, and get to see your uncle's grave. I am sure the pilgrimage will be worth it.
Look forward to hearing if you made it or not!

Hello metisjlj, we made it! But boy what a trip it was, lol. I can't wait to share it with you. When we finally made it there, it was an emotiona experience for us both. We are getting ready to leave Belgium in the morning but tonight we will go out and dance in the streets!