Hi All
Me and 3 riding buddies have had a road riding trip across to Belgium and/or Holland for the last 5 years via the Hull ferry. We have ridden a lot of the northern Flanders and Belgium/Dutch coastal areas over this time and last year headed further in and stayed in Oudenaarde and rode the major 'bergs of the Tour of Flanders (was amazing).
Thinking of other options now and likely a September trip this year.
Any thoughts on Ypres as a base?
Any accommodation food/drink recommendations?
We would ride from the ferry on the first and last day with panniers and is more of a touring type day but the middle day would be pannier bag/racks off and a good day in the saddle - any thoughts on routes? We could head south and east back towards Oudenaarde or across the border to France and Roubaix territory?? Prob around 50/60 miles.
Any advice gladly received!
We did a tour a couple of year aho - ferry to Zeebrugge then inland to Ghent (via Bruges) on Day 1, onward to Ypres on [url= https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/181348633#.T73wEbfscGo.email ]Day 2[/url], then back to Zeebrugge on [url= https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/181348579#.T73vQvgJ760.email ]Day 3[/url]
Don't have the GPS for day 1 sorry
enjoyed it so much, we went back and did the route the other way round, spending a couple of night in Ypres (at BB Hortensia, http://www.bbhortensia.be/index.php?lang=en - very nice it was too), then a couple in Ghent, then a couple in Bruges.
We spent the days exploring the towns rather than riding bikes so can't help on that front sorry.
If you stay in Ypres, make EVERY effort to attend the 8pm Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate
We ate at Utopia (Elverdingestraat 8, 8900 Ieper, Belgium), the flemish stew was AWESOME.
enjoy.
The Peace village hostel is so nice that I take pupils there every two years and have stayed there with my girlfriend as well. Good food and a well stocked bar that tempts the thirsty abstaining teacher. Rooms for 4 and a HELL of a lot different to the traditional hostel.