Cycling in Belgium – practical bike touring guide

Belgium is one of the best countries in Europe for cycling. With a dense network of cycle paths, thousands of kilometres of signposted routes, good train connections and a perfect blend of historical cities with picturesque countryside, it’s an ideal destination for both beginner bike tourers, experienced backpackers and sporty road cyclists.

I lived in Belgium for 18 months, and currently visit it frequently with my bike (as I live just about 20 km from the Belgian border). In this article, I’ll share everything you need to know about cycling in Belgium: the best cycle routes, smart tips for route planning, accommodation, wild camping rules, and transportation.

Cycling in Belgium at a glance

Best season	From April to October
Difficulty	Easy from moderate
Beginner/children-friendly	Yes
Bike infrastructure	Great
Best cycle routes for beginners	Flemish coastal route, The Art Cities Route
Best cycle region for hills	The Ardennes, The High Fens,
EuroVelo Routes	EV5, EV12, EV19

Is Belgium good for bicycle touring?

With an extensive network of cycle routes, good cycling infrastructure and a generally cyclist-friendly culture, Belgium is a great destination for cycle touring. Especially those less-experienced, looking for easier routes will love it there.

For such a little country, it offers a great variety of landscapes. From the forested hills of the Ardennes, to the wide Flemish flatlands and beautiful sandy beaches – you can experience it all within just a few days on a bike. The cultural richness and amazing architecture is another reason to visit Belgium – medieval cities, grandiose castles, and amazing museums attract cycle travellers who are looking for more than just beautiful views.

It’s not all sunshine and roses, though. Quite literally. The Belgian weather is quite capricious: within one day, you can experience sunshine, hail, rain, wind and then sunshine again. And on a cloudy day, especially in autumn, everything looks quite depressing.

If you love cycling in places with unspoilt nature, Belgium might also be slightly disappointing for you. The country is quite urbanised and there’s not much wilderness left. There are still plenty of forests, beautiful valleys, or moors, but it’s hard to find a place that feels untouched by the human hand.

Another issue is that the accommodation can be quite pricey. Luckily, there are a few ways to organise your bikepacking trip in Belgium on a budget (I’ll get to that later).

Cycling infrastructure in Belgium

Knooppunten

Belgium has one of the most developed networks of bike paths in the world. Especially Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part) is a paradise for cyclists. And the best part is – you don’t even need a GPS for navigation.

Thanks to a Belgian mining engineer, Hugo Bollen, you can navigate around Belgium (and the Netherlands) using knooppunten (the cycling nods) – a system with numbered signs placed at every crucial intersection.

How do The knoopunten work?

1. Before your ride, go to the Bike Nodes Planner. You can find multiple official cycle routes there or create your own (customised routes are only available for premium users). Click the second icon on the right side of the map to see the available official routes and click the one you want to ride.
2. Your route will appear on the map, and when you zoom in, you’ll find circles with numbers along it. Click the numbers on the start and the end of the route and then on the icon with a bullet point list.
3. You’ll now see the list of nodes to follow. Print them or write them down on a piece of paper (or in a note on your phone). Stick the paper with the number to your handlebar. Now you can navigate phone-freely and take a well-deserved rest from the screen! Just look out for the next number on your list and follow the directions towards it.

RAVeL routes in Wallonia

The RAVel network is a network of routes available exclusively to non-motorised users: cyclists, pedestrians, horse-back riders etc. They connect localities across all of Wallonia (the French-speaking part of Belgium). The RAVel routes often run along canals, rivers or following disused railroads.

Most of the time, they are well signposted and easy to navigate. You can find a map of all RAVeL routes na tej stronie.

Cycling highways

In the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders, you will find a network of Cycle highways (fietssnelwegen in Dutch). They are created to be the fastest way to get from A to B, so they are not always the most scenic ones. The cycle highways are convenient, wide, and for the most part, separated from motorised traffic (sometimes car are allowed but need to give priority to bicycles – this kind of road is called Fietsstraat (a cycle street).

You can find a map of all cycling highways tutaj.

The Best cycling routes in Belgium

Jak dojechać?

Belgium has an excellent train network connected with the neighbouring countries and other EU countries. You can easily get there from Germany, France, the UK, or the Netherlands. 

Belgium is small. You can cycle the whole country by bike within a week, but if needed, taking a bike on a train in Belgium is easy.

You can book your tickets tutaj (remember to add a bike supplement; it costs 4 euros). 

Pogoda

Make sure to bring a good rain jacket. Belgian weather tends to be gloomy, with about 200 days of rain every year.

Ukształtowanie terenu

With the highest point at 694 m (Signal de Botrange), Belgium is not a mountainous country. Yet you will find some challenging climbs, especially in the Ardennes. 

Traffic rules

1. There is no legal obligation to wear a helmet.
2. After dark, your bike has to have a white front light and a red rear light. 
3. You have to use a cycle path if there is any.

Safety

Some cities have secure bicycle parking at train stations. In bigger cities, make sure to never leave your bike without a solid lock. Brussels is notorious for bike thefts, and I would never leave my bike on the street (even locked!) for several hours there.

My personal highlights in Belgium

See the map with my favourite spots in Belgium tutaj.

Cycling through the water and through the trees

Belgians have a great talent to create stunning attractions out of their rather dull landscape. What was once a humdrum, average lake, and a very regular forest is now visited by thousands of cycle tourists. Not every day can you cycle below the water mirror or up in the treetops.

In general, the whole region of Limburg is known for perfectly organised cycling trails. One of my favourite landmarks there is Reading between the lines, a piece of modern art in a shape of a church you can look through. You can arrive there for the sunset and then camp on a free campsite 100 meters away. 

Antwerp, Gent and Brugge

The famous Flemish trio will impress you with architecture and art. It will take you 2,5 hours on the fast-speed bike lane F4 to get from Antwerp to Gent. From Gent to Brugge, take a relaxing route along the canal.

Brussels

The European capital is less touristy than the Flemish cities but has a lot to offer. For a long time, it was not a bike-friendly city, but luckily this has massively improved over the past years.

You can’t miss out on the Grand Place. (Interesting fact: if you pay close attention to the city hall building, you’ll realise that the door is not placed symmetrically. The legend says that the architect of the gothic building jumped off the tower when he realised this mistake. More likely, asymmetry occurred because multiple architects designed the building over a long time, and they all had to keep the boggy foundations in mind).

Take a trip to the European quarter and from there to the African Museum in Tervuren – it’s a lovely bike ride with a lot of greenery around. If you decide to visit the famous landmark Atomium, check out the nearby cemetery of Laeken. It is a hidden gem, with royal crypts and stunning statues (among them Thinker by Auguste Rodin).

And if you want to escape the busy city life, you can cycle the Green Belt of Brussels or take a spin in the Sonian Forest – a Primeval Beech forest that has been inscribed to the UNESCO list.

The coast

Visit Knokke for the prettiest sandy beaches, Blankenberge for the unique 90s vibe, and Ostende for street art, forts and good food (try the famous Belgian mussels!)

Ardennes

Craving some hills and forests? The Ardennes, being the remnants of an old mountain range, are a perfect place for outdoor lovers. In High Fens Nature Park, you will find amazing bike trails, like the Vennbahn, an old railway on the German border. 

My personal favourites in the Ardennes are Bouillion in the Semois Valley, Lake Gileppe, Remouchamps, and Robertville. In the latter, make sure to visit Castle Reinhardstein, Cascade du Bayehon, Nose of Napoleon and Lake Robertville.

You absolutely cannot skip Dinant! You can get to the birthplace of saxophone via beautiful EuroVelo 19 leading along the river Meuse. This charming little town offers one of the best views in Belgium, with a citadel located on the steep, rocky cliffs and cute, colourful houses.

Doel 

Are you bored of idyllic chateaus and cute Flemish towns? This rather apocalyptic, semi-abandoned village near Antwerp has a completely different vibe. At the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the local Flemish government decided to build an industrial port in the location of the 700 years old village of Doel.

Most people sold their properties and relocated, but some residents refused to leave, forcing the authorities to put the project on hold. Being a rather depressing place, Doel attracts disaster tourists and urbex amateurs.

Low-budget Accommodation

Belgium, like most Western-European countries, is quite pricey. I am always hesitant to spend 50 euros/night, knowing that in countries like Macedonii, Bośni lub Kirgistan, this amount would allow me to stay five nights in a nice B&B. Luckily, there are many ways to make your bike trip in Belgium affordable, if you are on a budget.

Spanie na dziko

Wild camping in Belgium is illegal. However, there is still a way for you to stay in your tent surrounded by nature for free, without risking a fine. Strefy biwakowe (bivakzone) are small campsites, usually without any facilities (you can count on an outside privy on some of them). Bivouac zones are accessible for non-motorised tourists only and spread all around the country, both in Flanders and Wallonia. 

Warto wiedzieć:

• Some camping areas are only open over the summer
• Sometimes a reservation (free of charge) is required (however, from my experience, it is not executed). Best to always check the conditions on bivakzone.be

Welcome to my garden

Belgian are very often willing to participate in citizen non-profit initiatives. Welcome to my garden is one of them. It is like Couchsurfing or Warm Showers, but instead of inviting travellers to their homes, the hosts simply offer them a part of their garden to pitch a tent. Thanks to this platform, you can even camp in the centre of Brussels! 

Niektórzy gospodarze, zwłaszcza w mniejszych miejscowościach, mają opisy profili tylko w języku niderlandzkim lub francuskim.

Warm Showers

Warm Showers is popular among Belgians, with over 4800 users. Many of them are actively hosting, so finding a place to stay with fellow cyclists should never be difficult. 

Useful Resources

RAVel – an official website of network of bicycle paths in Wallonia with a route planner

Bivakzone – free campsites in Belgium

Knoppunten – a route planner usinge the system of Knoppunten

Fietssnelwegen – a website about cycling highways

Cycling in Flanders – a more sporty side of cycling, including information about the most famous climbs from the big cycling races

Visit Limburg – information about the best cycling routes in Limburg

Have you done bike tours in Belgium and can recommend some cool routes/places to visit? Let me know in the comments!

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