6 multi-day cycling routes through Belgium and East Flanders
The most beautiful cycling holidays, with or without luggage transport
Planning a cycling holiday in or from (East) Flanders or Belgium? Numerous long-distance cycling routes make it easy to plan your multi-day cycling adventure down to a tee, including booking lodging establishments. Iconic cycling routes, Euro Velo 5 route or a multi-day cycling trip from Waasland to Zeeland? It's up to you to choose your distance and your pace, and ... cycle away!
1. THE ICONIC CYCLING ROUTES
WHAT ARE ICONIC CYCLING ROUTES?
Nine iconic cycling routes will point you the way to the very best of Flanders: nature to please the eye, impressive heritage, culture of the highest order and goodies on your plate and in your glass. Each bike trip knits together the most beautiful bits of the Flemish landscape, via some attractive cycle paths and around a captivating central theme. An ideal formula for your cycling holiday! The nine long-distance cycling routes are integral to the cycling node network. So you choose or combine them as you please: one day out, a weekend away or a multi-day cycling trip of five – or who knows, even more – days. All the cycling routes are clearly signposted in two directions, so you'll never lose your way.
Three iconic routes, together accounting for more than 300 kilometres, traverse East Flanders: the Scheldt Route, the Art Cities Route and the Hills Route.
THE SCHELDT ROUTE
The mighty Scheldt is the star of the Scheldt Route, a 181-kilometre, multi-day cycling trip from Spiere-Helkijn in West Flanders through Oudenaarde and Ghent to Antwerp. Follow the river, and you'll get to know no fewer than four East Flanders tourist regions: from the Flemish Ardennes through the Lys Region to Scheldeland and Waasland. Between Kluisbergen and Ghent, you'll be bowling along pleasantly with the water at your side; first in the shadow of the sturdy ridges of the Flemish Ardennes, once past Oudenaarde along the open, expansive nature of the Scheldemeersen. Enjoy an extended break or overnight stay in bustling Ghent before heading out for Scheldevallei River Park. There, you'll cycle past the mediaeval castles of the Scheldt and old forts, past nautical heritage and working shipyards. And through the best of nature, because this is also where the Kalkense Meersen, the Vlassenbroek polders and the Polders of Kruibeke are located. Reasons enough to park that bike in good time and discover some beautiful things. Expect to encounter plenty of cafés, too.
THE ART CITIES ROUTE
Flanders is, of course, synonymous with art. Moreover nowhere in Europe are there so many beautiful art cities so close together. Leuven, Mechelen, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges and Brussels: besides one common denominator – world-class heritage – they all have their own character. With the multi-day Art Cities Route cycling trip (332 kilometres) connecting Brussels to Ostend, you choose the art city where you start or end. In East Flanders, there is certainly no shortage of highlights on your cycling holiday! Ghent remains the absolute best, but this long-distance cycling route also crosses through some beautiful stretches of Meetjesland and – again – the impressive Scheldt Valley River Park, between Ghent and Antwerp.
THE HILLS ROUTE
The Heuvelroute (Hills Route) is the very toughest of the iconic cycling routes: 459 kilometres of cycling over the Flemish hills, from the Heuvelland to the Voerstreek. In East Flanders, the route passes through the hills and forests of the Flemish Ardennes, the holiday scenery par excellence for anyone with a weakness for the course and beautiful panoramas. With passages in the cultural cities of Ronse and Geraardsbergen, this long-distance cycling route is sure to appeal to heritage fans as well.
THE FLANDERS ROUTE
Grease your chain in advance for this special multi-day cycling route, as it combines the highlights of Flanders' iconic cycling routes into one 952-kilometre stretch. You can start all over Flanders, from Ostend to Maasmechelen and from Lille to Ronse. Of course, it's entirely up to you whether you want to ride the whole route or just take a day trip on part of this long-distance route. Over the hills of the Flemish Ardennes between Ronse and Geraardsbergen, for example, through a beautiful stretch of Meetjesland between Aalter and Lovendegem, or along the Scheldt between Ghent and Kruibeke. Numerous cosy B&Bs in East Flanders will also be happy to pamper you, so you can jump back on your bike in the morning chirpy and refreshed.
PRACTICAL: Plot your multi-day bike trip wit the iconic routes
With the cycling route planner at www.vlaanderenmetdefiets.be/plan-je-fietsvakantie, you can plot your multi-day bike trips along the iconic routes from the starting point of your choice in one, two, three. You can also select your accommodation: zoom in on the map, click on the accommodation icon and add the hotel, cottage or B&B of your choice to your itinerary. You just need to print out your itinerary or export it as a GPX, and you're ready to head out!
2. EURO VELO 5
WHat is Euro Velo?
Euro Velo is a signposted network of 17 long-distance cycling routes scattered throughout the European continent, from north to south and west to east. Together, all the routes add up to 91,500 kilometres. In Belgium, the 5 EuroVelo cycling routes total just over 1,000 kilometres of cycling fun along mostly green roads and small, safe cycle paths.
Euro Velo 5 CYCLING ROUTE
Euro Velo 5 Via Romea Francigena connects London to Brindisi in Italy over 3,200km and follows the route taken by pilgrims more than a thousand years ago when they passed through Lille, Brussels and Strasbourg to Rome, before continuing on to Jerusalem. Those who complete the EuroVelo 5 long-distance bike route will cross through 7 countries and pass by 21 cathedrals and 20 Unesco sites. A small section of it runs across East Flanders, more specifically in the Flemish Ardennes between Ronse and Geraardsbergen.
3. Cycling route between Scheldt and Zeeland
This 127.5-kilometre ride through eastern Waasland is perfect for a multi-day bike trip. Start at the Scheldt in Basel, then set course for Zeeland. Along the way, you'll pass by Doel, Sint-Niklaas and Hulst, as well as natural sites such as the Polders of Kruibeke, the Creeks of Saleghem and the Grenspark Groot Saeftinghe, one of the largest tidal areas in Europe.
4. MEERDAAGS FIETSEN VANUIT SINT-AMANDSBERG (MET BAGAGEVERVOER)
Aalst, Antwerpen, Kruibeke of Brugge: vanuit B&B Villa Emma vlakbij Gent kan je met hun meerdaags fietsarrangement alle richtingen uit. De uitbaters stippelden op het fietsnetwerk vier routes uit naar B&B’s waar je even goed in de watten wordt gelegd als in je startpunt. Elke route bevat een aantal horecastops én een wandeltip voor wie onderweg ook nog eens de beentjes wil uitslaan.
En voor een kleine meerprijs krijg je ook nog een picknick mee voor onderweg. Over je bagage hoef je je geen zorgen te maken, die wordt vooruit gestuurd!
5. DRIE OF ZES DAGEN FIETSEN langs de schelde en de dender (MOGELIJK MET BAGAGEVERVOER)
Benieuwd naar het allerbeste wat Oost-Vlaanderen te bieden heeft? B&B's Expo 13, De Groene Weg en Adamas sloegen de handen in elkaar en stippelden een fietstocht uit tussen Gent, Brakel en Dendermonde. Langs Schelde en Dender, en door de eindeloos groene Vlaamse Ardennen. Dagelijks fiets je een 60-tal kilometer, terwijl je bagage (mits een kleine meerkost) naar het volgende logeeradres gebracht wordt. In de B&B's wacht je een oplaadpunt voor je elektrische fiets en een uitgebreid ontbijt.
INFORMEER OF BOEK HIER DE FIETSVAKANTIE
Nog meer inspiratie voor je volgende fietsvakantie
In deze artikels vind je nog meer leuke meerdaagse fietstochten in Oost-Vlaanderen of praktische tips voor je volgende fietsvakantie