
By popular request! Join us on this style-specific cycle tour, sampling the best Saisons, farmhouse beers, and Bier de Gardes!
Belgian and French farmland and farmhouses provide the scenery as we explore the breweries producing the best farmhouse beers on the planet!
- Tour is rated 2/5 difficulty due to stretches of minor hills and small sections of cobblestones. Cycle between 25 and 41 miles each day.
- This is a rural tour, with many small villages, traditional family-owned breweries, farms, and smaller cities.
- We’ll visit at least 7 breweries, with a private tour at most of them! Beer tastings are included in your trip fees!
- 5-nights hotel, bike / bag rentals, breakfast, lunch, snacks, brewery tours, and beer samples all included. Vehicle support provided for groups of at least 8. Optional group dinners are organized each evening, with everyone paying for their own meals and drinks.
- Make new friends and visit a different brewery every day as you discover two countries at a speed allowing you to absorb your surroundings.
Breweries
This tour features mostly older, traditional farmhouse breweries, with a few more modern facilities thrown into the mix!
Breweries that we visit on most tours include:
De Blaugies – Producer of your tour guide’s favorite Saison, this Belgian brewery is located close to the French border. We’ll receive a private tour of the old brewery followed by a catered lunch in the cafe (paired with beers!) If we are lucky, we’ll be able to try the product of De Blaugies’ collaboration with Hill Farmstead!
Brasserie Dupont – The quintessential Saison! Even more refreshing when sampled from the source. We’ll tour the brewery, see the bottling line, and munch on cheese over beers in their tasting room.
Brasserie Au Baron – Our favorite French Saison. We’ll enjoy a few of the brewery’s beers while having lunch at its restaurant, just on the French side of the border.
Brasserie de Silly – The oldest making Saison producer is our finish line for most tours. The family has mastered the brewing craft for 6 generations here, starting from 1850. We’ll get a private tour from the owner, Lionel.
Brasserie de Brunehaut – Also located on a farm property, this brewery makes wonderful organic beers. Our guide for the private tour will be the owner himself.
Brasserie De Ranke – Maker of an excellent Saison and Sours, we are in for a treat!
Brasserie Thiriez – Legendary family farmhouse producer making some of the best beers on this tour. We’ll have a tour from owner Daniel.
Stops at other breweries change based upon availability and time of year. Breweries we have visited on previous tours include: Brasserie de Cazeau, Brasserie Desevaux, Brasserie L’Abbaye des Rocs, Brasserie St-Feuillien, Brasserie de Silly, Brasserie des Légendes, La Brasserie à Vapeur, Brasserie des Carrières, Brasserie du Pavé, Alvinne, Brewery Omer Vander Ghinste, Brasserie Dubuisson, Brasserie Jenlain, Saint Bernardus.
Itinerary / Stats
Locations and distances vary from tour to tour but are generally as follows:
Day 1 – We’ll meet at 9:30 AM in the historic town of Mons, Belgium, less than an hour from Brussels by train. We’ll get our bicycles set up and then take a warm up ride to a massive beer-paired lunch at Brasserie Blaugies for a tour and then back to Mons for a free night.
Day 2 – Gorgeous bike trails and farm roads lie ahead. We’ll tour two breweries, including private tours at Brasserie Deseveaux and Brasserie Au Baron just over the border in France. We’ll spend the night at at a lovely hotel in the quiet town of Peruwelz, Belgium.
Day 3 – We’ll start with a morning ride to Brasserie Dupont! Always a highlight! One other brewery awaits us today as we make our way to Tournai, Belgium, also home to the best bottle shop of the tour, Le Bierodrome.
Day 4 – One or two additional breweries today as we again cross the border into France, cycling to Lille. This is the largest town of the trip, with no shortage of great beer bars to explore.
Day 5 – Today will be back in Belgium as we make our way to a charming B&B in the quiet countryside. We’ll visit a brewery or two today along the way.
Day 6 – We will end on a super high note today! Some tours end with a visit to the oldest Saison producer, Brasserie de Silly with a private tour from the owner, Lionel. Some tour end with a visit to the legendary Brouwerij Liefmans in Oudenaarde, a historic property on the Schelde River and home to the best Oud Bruin beer in the world. Both breweries are nearby train stations (Silly and Oudenaarde) with an easy, quick ride back to Brussels.