The grand canal in Ghent, a highlight of the tour
Northern Belgium is known as the “Flanders” region, and is home to some of the most scenic cycling in Europe. The mostly flat landscape will take you through lush green farms, quaint country towns, medieval villages, and dirt trails along meandering rivers. Along the way we will pause for refreshments at some of Belgium’s finest breweries and beer cafes, some of which have brewing traditions going back hundreds of years! Of course, there is much more history to sample in this area, but the primary focus of the trip is, you guessed it, beer! Our guides are first and foremost beer lovers, and will ensure everyone on the trip is able to enjoy, discover, and learn all about this magical fermented beverage! Through our own personal research we have been able to hand-pick the best bike routes and locations in order to make this a unique experience that you simply can’t find with any other bicycle touring agencies. With beercycling, you don’t just drink beer every day, you earn it!! Our 10-Day tours of Flanders give you access to the widest range of breweries and cities than any of our other tour offerings. This tour is offered each spring and summer, and is available for private groups on demand. Tour requires a minimum of 4 people, and a maximum of 12.
Current dates scheduled:
Sunday, April 14th to Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Sunday, July 7th to Tuesday, July 16th, 2013
Sunday, July 28th to Tuesday, August 6th, 2013
Registration is now open! – Click Here – This tour is also available for private groups on demand depending on availability and notice. This is not currently available as a self-guided tour.
Enjoying beers a plenty at the Delirium Cafe
Day # 1 - Brussels to Kortrijk - 8 miles - Welcome to the tour! Today we will all meet in Brussels at the Flanders tourism office right next to the charming Grand Place. We’ll do a quick meet and greet, go over some tour details, drop off our bags, and then go for a walk around the historic city center. We’ll grab lunch and then have a few beers at our local favorites like Moeder Lambic and the Delirium Cafe, the later which has an impressive 2,000 beers on it’s menu! After some brief history lessons and sightseeing we’ll then head over to the train station and take a scenic, hour long ride to Kortrijk, which will serve as our starting/ending point for our 10-day tour. Tom from our bike shop will help us setup our new bikes, and we’ll then do a short 8-mile “warm up ride” around the area, including a quick visit across the border into France which is just down the street from the bike shop! Dinner tonight as a group, and if you have any energy left there is a great beer bar or two at nearby we can explore.
Church in the city center of Kortrijk
Day #2 – Kortrijk to Oudenaarde - 26 miles - After our breakfast we’ll set off north, riding for half of the day along a large canal which presents great views and traffic free cycling. It’s a short day on the bikes, so we’ll have plenty of time to go at a leisurely pace, getting our bodies adjusted to the cycling, and stopping for photos and snacks along the way. We’ll have a picnic lunch today before we head into Oudenaarde to visit the famous Liefmans Brewery. Liefmans is known for their long standing history (since 1679!) of making exceptional lambic beers. We’ll get a personal tour with lots of information and history about the brewery, as well as plenty of samples. This will be the largest brewery we visit on the tour. And luckily for us , our hotel tonight is very close to the brewery! Dinner tonight can be with the group, or on your own, and of course there are more beers to explore around town afterwards!
Miek shows us around her brewery in Herzele
Day #3 – Oudenaarde to Ghent - 38 miles - We’ll set off east today, further into the countryside for today’s brewery visit, Brouwerij De Ryck in Herzele. This charming small family-owned brewery is one of our favorite stops! We’ll get a personal tour from the family owner herself, and get a few tastes of their award winning beers in their tasting room which is a converted old horse stable! Lunch today will be at a typical Belgian meal at a cafe nearby. Afterwards we’ll set our sites back west to Ghent, navigating through the small towns and farms along the way (it’s really quiet in this part of Belgium) before landing into the medival city center, full of boat canals, cobblestone streets, and a huge castle right near our hotel! Dinner tonight with the group, or on your own, and we have several amazing beer bars to show you as well, so save some room for more sampling and exploring!
Piet explaining beer making to us at Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Day #4 – Ghent to Ertvelde to Ghent – 27 miles - Today we’ll be doing a day trip up to Ertvelde, near the Dutch border, and then back down to Ghent for the night. This means we can leave our bicycle pannier and extra weight at the hotel! We’ll do a picnic lunch today before arriving at Brouwerij Van Steenberge, another family owned brewery who have won much praise all over the world for their incredible Gulden Draak, Pirat, and Augustijn line of beers. Piet, father in law of the owner, will give us a personal tour today, which of course includes beer samples and a sharing of stories in their tasting room. Back in Ghent we’ll have another chance to explore and check out any beer bars we missed the night before! Dinner is on your own tonight.
The lovely trail from Ghent ot Bruges
Day # 5 – Ghent to Bruges – 28 miles - Good morning! Today we’ll take the direct, leisurely canal path to Bruges, stopping for lunch at a cafe along the way near a charming small harbor for canal boats. Then it’s off to Bruges! Bruges is truly like walking around in a movie, surrounded by chocolate shops, winding canals, and delicious smells and tastes coming from every street corner. After checking into our hotel we’ll walk over to take of tour of De Halve Maan, which is the only active brewery in the city of Bruges. The tour is part brewhouse, part museum and is full of interesting Belgian beer history. Afterwards sampling the Brugse Zot Blonde is a MUST! Dinner tonight as a group at a beer-themed restaurant with a HUGE beer menu. After dinner we can show you the best beer bars in town, and there are a lot of them here!
Enjoy some local food, like mussels cooked in beer!
Day # 6 – Day off in Bruges – zero miles - Today is a much needed day off the bikes and everyone is free to explore the town on their own. Canal cruises, horse and carriage rides, visits to local windmillls, and even a tour at a “French Fry Museum” are all good options. For those wanting to do some more biking we’ll give you a map with instructions for how to reach the Belgian coast, which is only 10 miles further west. Dinner is on your own tonight but we will again plan on meeting for beers around town for more fun! Bruges has several “hidden” bars down tiny alleyways that we can’t wait to show you!
At De Dolle Brouwers
Day # 7 – Bruges to the North Sea to Diksmuide – 36 miles – Today we’ll reach the beach as a group, stopping for a seaside picnic lunch along the way! We’ll then set our sites to the historic world war battlefront town of Diksmuide, which will be our home for the night. After checking into the hotel we’ll take a quick ride to nearby Esen, home to De Dolle Brouwers (“The Crazy Brewers”) who haven’t been in business of trying to follow Belgium’s normal brewing traditions, but instead are creating exceptional, unique beers that must be tasted to be appreciated.. After a few beers and a poke around their small family owned brewery, we’ll return to Diksmuide for a beer and cheese tasting at our hotel! Dinner tonight is on your own.
Holy decisions
Day #8 – Diskmuide to Watou - 21 miles – An easy day today on the bikes as we set south toward the French border. But today is a very special day… We’ll be some of the few lucky enough to visit the Westvleteren Abbey! There are only seven breweries in the world that get the branding “Trappist”, and this is the smallest of the seven. All the beer is made by monks, and all profits go directly into supporting themselves and the community. They also happen to make, what many have called, the best beer in the world, the Westvleteren 12. You be the judge for yourself! The cafe across the street and the Abbey are the ONLY places in the world this beer can be purchased. After our “religious experience” at the cafe, which includes lunch, we’ll head South, visit a hop field nearby, before checking into our hotel in the border town of Watou, famous for being the home of the Saint Bernardus Brewery, which we can give a quick visit. Everyone has the afternoon off to explore on their own. You can bike around into France, check out the brewery, or just relax on the hotel, lots of options! Dinner tonight as a group at a very special beer-themed restaurant in town.
The city center of Ieper at night
Day # 9 – Watou to Ieper – 22 miles - We’ll start our day with a visit to the nearby town of Poperinge, best known for being the Hops capital of Belgium! We’ll give a visit to the local Hops Museum, and possibly to another local brewery in town for a fun tasting. Picnic lunch today before heading into the World War I/II historic battlefront city of Ieper. Ieper has many strong ties to the war, as evident by all the cemeteries, museums, and ceremonies that are held here. You have the afternoon off to explore town. Dinner on your own, and we will meet afterwards for the Last Post Ceremony, which honors those who lost their lives many decades ago. The ceremony is very touching and runs 365 days a year!
A fond farewell at Cantillon!
Day # 10 – Ieper to Brussels – 16 miles - Sadly, the last day of the tour! We’ll ride back towards Kortrijk, completing the loop and dropping off our bikes back with Tom. Then it’s back on the train to Brussels where we will take lunch before heading over to famous Cantillon brewery. Cantillon is a very old and respected maker of “Geuze”, which is sort of like a champagne tasting beer that is really wild compared to anything else. We’ll take a self-guided tour there before saying our goodbyes.
Total mileage: ~222 miles (357 km) - After 10 days on this tour you’re sure to be more knowledgeable about Belgian beers and we hope the memories from this trip will last a lifetime! Registration for our 2013 tours opens on January 1st. Check back soon for more info! Cheers!
Current dates scheduled:
Sunday, April 14th to Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Sunday, July 7th to Tuesday, July 16th, 2013
Sunday, July 28th to Tuesday, August 6th, 2013
Registration is now open! – Click Here – This tour is also available for private groups on demand depending on availability and notice. This is not currently available as a self-guided tour.
Follow along with previous BLOG entries from this tour here!