Route from Rotterdam to Dunkirk

lawl95

Me and my friend are fairly new to cycling and are planning a short trip from Rotterdam to Dunkirk over 3 to 4 days is there a particular route that it is low traffic and well maintained that any body would recommend ( preferably stopping in Antwerp and Bruges)

FJS

For the Dutch part of the route: http://www.fietsersbond.nl/fietsroutepl ... index.html - very dense network of cycle routes planner; it's in dutch but pretty self-explanatory, or get some help from google translate. The routes have hubs with numbers that are actually indicated with signs

cities like Dordrecht and Bergen op Zoom are worth a visit, but going south west from rotterdam through Zeeland is probably the quietest and most scenic; can be windy though!

BTW, I personally like Gent much more than Brugge (Bruges); similar pretty historic city centre, but much less touristy, and, a it's a university town with good bars and restaurants aimed at locals rather than tourists.

Bodhbh

I'd at least consider doing it the other way around as you might get hammered by the prevailling winds coming from Rotterdamn direction. Then again, you can work things around the wind and it blows the wrong way anyhow.

There's a cycle path which pretty much covers the whole Belgian coast. Main pain is probably avoiding Dunkirk town without getting lost and getting in/out the docks there, but there are a couple of nice small towns if you loop around the back (Bergues?).

fietslogies

For the Belgian part of the route: http://www.fietsnet.be/routeplanner/default.aspx

If you want the wind to be your best friend, you'll have to cycle your trip indeed in the opposite way. But, even that is no warranty

If you want scenic tracks along the waterside, get inspired by a few of my routes in Belgium:

Ghent - Antwerp (71 km):
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Gent-Lokeren-Temse-Antwerpen-Durme-Schelde

Dunkirk - Furnes (22 km):
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bergues-Dunkerque-Veurne-Canal-de-Dunkerque-Canal-Dunkerque-Nieu

Ghent - Comines (near Ypres) (75km):
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Ghent-Deinze-Courtrai-Gand-Deinze-Courtrai-Gent-Deinze-Kortrijk

Bruges - Ghent (45 or 55 km):
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Cycling-from-Ghent-to-Bruges-and-back-95-towpaths

Comines - Ypres - Furnes (45 km):
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Ieper-Diksmuide-Nieuwpoort-Diksmuide-Lo-Veurne-Nieuwpoort

Ghent - Antwerp (90 km):
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Ghent-Dendermonde-Antwerp-Gand-Termonde-Anvers-Gent-Dendermonde-

Furnes - Ostend - Bruges - Ghent (105 km):
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Ghent-Dendermonde-Antwerp-Gand-Termonde-Anvers-Gent-Dendermonde-

More combinations are possible if you check my signature or this basic map: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Belgium-cycling-routes-by-Fietslogies-summary

lawl95

Thanks will take that into consideration and now are planning to do it the other way around how long do u think it would take to ride from Antwerp to Rotterdam along that scenic Zeeland route and what are the cycling paths like within and around towns like Rotterdam Antwerp and Ghent. Thanks again.

FJS

All Dutch cities and towns (as well as most roads outside them) have extremely (compared to the UK) extensive cycle path or cycle lane networks. This is slightly less so in Belgium, but still much, much better than in the UK.

How long will Antwerp-Rotterdam take via Zeeland? I guess it's at least 150 km, through Zeeland, and considerably more if you follow (parts of ) the North Sea coast and nice towns like Middelburg. Considerably less if you go to Bergen op Zoom and only nip into a bit of Zeeland north of there. The route planner (link above) let's you calculate endless different route combinations

lawl95

Is 150km possible to cycle in a day as I have never done anything that long thanks

fietslogies

I'm not so familiar with the stretch north of Antwerp and in the Netherlands.
All major roads in Belgium (starting with an N on the map, e.g. the N70 between Ghent and Antwerp) have cyclepaths. Efficient, a bit boring and quite close to cars and trucks. One meter or so, not really appealing to me 2 pictures of that N70 in Sint-Amandsberg (outskirts of Ghent). This is rather universal in Belgium.





But in many villages and cities, streets have been relined to give cyclists more space. Then it looks a bit like this:



That's why I always suggest to go for tracks with less or no traffic. Such as the towpaths along canals and cyclepaths on former railway lines.

For Ghent and it's vicinities, the full red, purple and green lines on this map are recommended.

http://www.gent.be/docs/Departement%20Ruimtelijke%20Planning,%20Mobiliteit%20en%20Openbaar%20Domein/Dienst%20Mobiliteit/Fietsplan_recto.pdf and http://www.gent.be/docs/Departement%20Ruimtelijke%20Planning,%20Mobiliteit%20en%20Openbaar%20Domein/Dienst%20Mobiliteit/Fietsplan_verso.pdf

In Antwerp, the Ringfietspad is a great and very safe (but also noisy) way of cycling around the town.

http://www.routeyou.com/route/view/116856/fietsroute-ringfietspad-antwerpen.nl

FJS

lawl95 wrote:

Is 150km possible to cycle in a day as I have never done anything that long thanks

Impossible to answer. There are people who ride 1000+ kms non-stop, so 150 is possible, but probably not if you've never done anything near that, at the end of several days of cycling. It is completely flat, and there might be a tailwind, but if you've never done distances like that I wouldn't plan on it, and plan a night in a place like Zierikzee or somewhere on the coast with beach resorts like Renesse. Or, if you don;t have the time, forget Zeeland and go straight north (less quiet), about 100 km.

lawl95

Thanks really useful information and have now been able to remodel our plan completely so that we will actually be using a sensible route.