Flanders: Brussels – Bruges

Belgium from Brussels to Bruges

Surprisingly close and surprisingly beautiful! The special atmosphere of the Belgian capital Brussels attracts visitors quickly. The famous attractions such as the Atomium, the Manneken Pis or the beautiful Grand'Place are, of course, a visit program. But there are also impressive museums and special architecture to discover. Let yourself be enchanted by impressive natural landscapes, culinary delights in excellent restaurants and cultural highlights in historic buildings and important museums. On this round-trip from Europe's capital, Brussels, you can enjoy flat cycling routes between lakes, fields, canals and dunes, dotted with the rich architecture of churches, abbeys, castles and mills.

Gent also breathes history, but at the same time sprays culture and modern urban life. The city has trumps such as the Ghent Altar, the award-winning lighting scheme that illuminates the buildings after sunset.

Similarly, only a few other European cities can boast such cultural facetious features as the Belgian city of Bruges. So great is the number of sights, cultural events and historical buildings that it is hardly possible to explore Bruges within the framework of a Kurztrip. Not surprisingly, that many guests often go to Bruges.

1. day Travelling to Brussels

Don't hesitate to arrive early; the citys multicultural charm expressed in its squares, facades, galleries and little streets will work up your enthusiasm. It is possible to fly to Charleroi (Brussels South) with Ryanair.

2. day Brussels - Mechelen 65 km

The bikes are handed over in the morning. Now it is time to swing on the bikes! You will arrive in Leuwen, the city of a wonderful beer with Belgiums oldest university shaping the citys unique character, in no time. Be looking forward to the days final destination; Mechelen is called the city of chimes and religious capital of Belgium with artwork by Rubens and van Dyck.

3. day Mechelen - Bornem 35 km

Before getting on your bikes, Antwerpen, city of Rubens, is worth taking a short trip to (15 minutes by train). You will be amazed by one of Europes richest cities considering artwork, and flattered by the citys richness displayed in numerous magnificent castles. Walk through the famous diamond district and don't wear your purse too loosely on the impressive shopping mall: The "Meir" extends from the train station to the cathedral. On your bikes you will role along the channel and the little river Rupel to Bornem.

4. day Bornem - Gent 65 km

Long and relaxed are the keywords on your program for today. On flat trails you will bike along the river Schelde?s bank to Gent. The historical city centre awaits you with a great number of sights: St. Nikolaus church, the old harbour with its guild houses, the Belfried with its bell tower and St. Bavo cathedrale with the world famous painting "The Gent Altar" by Jan van Eyck.

5. day Gent - Bruges 50 km

On flat trails you will cycle from Gent to Bruges crossing a never-ending number of bridges today. It is nice that the tour of the city centre can pleasantly be made by foot. The Church of Our Lady and the Beguinage will amaze you and climbing the Belfry (366 steps) will be rewarded with a fantastic view. Above all, Bruges is a shopping paradise for laces, beer and chocolates!

6. day Trip to De Haan 60 km

A trip to the coast really is worthwhile today. Along the Channel you will roll towards De Haan, the queen of Belgiums beaches! Dykes, beaches, and the sea will come your way very frequently today. Its picturesque villas in the famous belle-époque-style with hundreds of balconies, bays, verandas and pillar halls, you will bike back towards Bruges.

7. day Departure from Bruges

If you have more time we recommand you a prolongation in Bruges.

Worth knowing

If you wish to have half board: This is offered for five days, half board in Brussels is not possible.

Arrival by train

Brüssel is easily accessible from all major cities in Germany by tain. Current schedule informations and price information can be found at: www.bahn.de.

Bahnauskunft

Parking facilities at the hotel

There are several parking garages near the hotels in Brussels, they are always available. The parking fees are around 15 EUR per day. There is also on-site parking, the cost is about 25 EUR per day. Parking spaces can not be pre-reserved.

It is possible to park your car at your destination in Bruges. Here, the cost per day per vehicle in a public car park are approximately 9 EUR. Sometimes cars can be parked for free at the hotel. From Bruges you will return in 50 minutes by direct train to Brussels.

Condition of cycle paths

Easy level, market route.

Available rental bikes

You can choose between 21-speed woman's and men's bicycles.  Please note that they don't have a backpaddle braking system. E-bikes only on request (availability).

Backtransfer to brussels

Every friday (in highseason saturday as well) you have the opportunity to book a backtransfer to brussels (duration 1 1/4 hours). The driver picks you up at your hotel and has space for you, your luggage and your own bike. He drives you back to your starthotel and offers you a perfect backtransfer service.

7 day hotline service

Just in case the bike chain breaks, flooding makes it impossible to continue your tour or any other nasty surprise: You can reach us seven days a week and we will do anything to help you as fast as possible.

Passport and visa requirements, health regulations

For EU citizens, there are no special passport or visa requirements and no health formalities to be considered for this trip.

Corona travel information:
Before booking your trip, please inform yourself about the measures in place to contain the Corona pandemic.

An up-to-date overview of applicable measures and travel and safety advice regarding Covid-19 for all countries in the EU and Switzerland can be found here:
https://reopen.europa.eu/en/

You can also find more information on our website at:
Corona virus and holiday planning

Travel insurance

The tour price already includes the statutory insolvency insurance. In addition, we recommend that you take out travel cancellation insurance upon receipt of your travel confirmation in order to protect yourself against financial disadvantages in the event of travel cancellation, interruption of travel, illness or accident.

Coudenberg Palace

From the middle ages, this castle overlooked Brussels from Coudenberg hill. From the 12th century, the successive monarchs and their representatives transformed a small fortified castle into a sumptuous residential palace, one of the most beautiful palace of Europe and one of Charles V’s main residences. This prestigious building is severely damaged by fire in 1731. Some forty years later, the ruins of the palace are pulled down and the ground flattened out for the construction of the new royal district. The remains of this palace make up the Coudenberg archaeological site.

Coudenberg Palace

Bruges

The historical center of Bruges is on  the much-coveted List of World Heritage Sites of Unesco. It precisley describes the - outline of the medieval city, preserving the space and structures characteristic of its history. But the historical center is probably enriched by the architecture and habitats of today.

Bruges

Ghent

Ghent is a historic and contemporary city. The modern everyday life of the active towns-people plays against a great historical backdrop. In Ghent, you can live and work, live and enjoy. Every day anew.

Ghent

Antwerp

Antwerp - the city of Rubens, the world center for diamonds, the city of fashion designers, a world harbor, an exuberant city full of life, a varied shopping paradise without the likes of a cinema, concert and theater city, a gallery of protected monuments and city views, and child-friendly attractions, a hospitable and multicultural metropolis.

Antwerp

St Rumbold's Tower

Building work by the Keldermans family of architects on this imposing Mechelen monument began in 1452. Times and circumstances changed and as a result the tower was never completed. But this did not prevent the 97-metre tower becoming the symbol of Mechelen and a UNESCO world heritage site. The city's most important documents used to be kept in this fortified tower, which was also the belfry. The bells in the tower served to tell the townspeople the time and to sound the alarm in the event of danger. The tower also made a good vantage point: from here you could see the enemy arriving from a long way off.

St Rumbold's Tower

Mechelen

Welcome to Mechelen - once the capital of the Netherlands under the rule of the Burgundians. As the only city in Belgium, Mechelen is listed 4 times on the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage! Here you will find the highest monument density per square kilometer and many intersting sights.

Mechelen

Brussels

Belgium's fascinating capital, and the administrative capital of the EU, Brussels is historic yet hip, bureaucratic yet bizarre, self confident yet unshowy, and multicultural to its roots. All this plays out in a cityscape that swings from majestic to quirky to rundown and back again. Organic art nouveau facades face off against 1960s concrete developments, and regal 19th-century mansions contrast with the brutal glass of the EU’s Gotham City. This whole maelstrom swirls out from Brussels’ medieval core, where the Grand Place is surely one of the world’s most beautiful squares.

Brussels

De Haan

By tram into the nostalgic seaside resort

Even on arrival with the coastal tram at the historic wooden tramway station, the visitor takes a nostalgic feeling, which is comparable to looking at old photo albums of our grandparents. It is a feeling reminiscent of the turn of the century, when the citizens discovered the sea and the summer freshness and attracted the summer holidays.

De Haan