Cycling

Cycle-Friendly Flanders

Flanders is a bike lover's dream with hundreds of well signposted cycling routes. While there are 'easy' routes suitable for beginners and families there are also longer ones, challenging your fitness level and skill, such as the Tour of Flanders route, which follows exactly the same path as that of the professional cyclists. www.rvv.be - website of the Tour of Flanders

In other words, there is something for everyone and with bike rental easily available, it's the ideal way to discover some of Flanders most beautiful areas, taking you through farmland and along romantic canals, winding between picturesque towns and quaint villages, enchanting castles, breweries, outdoor cafes and great restaurants. www.fietsroute.org

Your own tour

Not only are there loads of cycling routes, you can also 'devise' your own route by using the cycle node network, which allows you to choose a direction at each node (crossroad of two or more cycling paths). There is a choice between bike-only paths, quiet roads and paths or if you want to cut travel time cycle paths on or next to major roads.

Flanders has also a circular Long Bike (LF) Route (800 km) which loops through the 5 provinces of Flanders and leads you from the coast to Bruges, Ghent, the Scheldt River basin in Antwerp, Lier, the Kempen area, Haspengouw and the border towns with The Netherlands in Limburg, returning via Tongeren, Leuven and the Green Belt around Brussels to Oudenaarde and onwards to the Flanders Fields region and back to the coast. Along the way, there are bike-friendly camping sites and lodgings, providing facilities for you as well as your bike (hose-down area, repair kits, bike shelter).