The VisitFlanders tourism board in Belgium will launch a dedicated cycling website – flandersbybike.be – at the end of March. It will feature information about new routes, bike rental, luggage transport (for cycling holidays) and resting points.
Some of the local themed routes include the Zenne cycle route close to Brussels’ green belt and home to a number of the region’s Gueze breweries and castles. The Voer Valley Cycle route will start and finish in Leuven and take in a number of beautiful castles and landmarks like Tevuren Park (home of the Africa Museum). Elsewhere, the Scheldeland (River Scheldt region) will offer a scenic route via the asparagus (also called “White Gold”) growing region of Flanders.
Another route follows a former Vagrant colony route with fascinating stories of nature and heritage situated north-east of Antwerp. The Ghent Cycling route covers 37km of cycling around the city centre offering a view of its hidden gems and local hotspots as shared by its residents.
The flandersbybike.be website will go live in late March 2021.
UCI Road Cycling Championships
Cycling is one of Belgium’s most popular activities and the European country hosts many major events.
This year the Flanders region is hosting the 2021 UCI Road Cycling Championships from 19-26 September. Time trials will start in the coastal town of Knokke Heist and finish in Bruges whilst the road races start and finish in Leuven.
In a press release VisitFlanders said: “It is hoped to be the biggest cycling event of the year and with its September timing, it is hoped it will attract travellers from all over the world, after the period of travel inactivity during the pandemic.”
For more information on cycling in Flanders see visitflanders.com
Main image: © Stefan Jacobs via VisitFlanders/Flickr