Tour of France and Belgium

mac9091
mac9091 Posts: 196
edited August 2017 in Tour & expedition
I am looking at putting together a (Private) tour from Kent to France and Belgium, looking at stopping in the following places:

Kent, Calais, Ypres, Mons, Brussels, Bruges, Dunkirk, Calais, Kent

It would be a case of travelling from one town to the next each day with the start point being somewhere outside Calais, away from the trouble. There would be a rest stop or two depending on the distance and one or two of the days have Points of Interest on the way and something to do of an evening. There would be at least one probably two safety wagons, for a maximum group of 12 riders. Looking to arrive in Dunkirk on the evening of the 5th June next year.

The plan is to stay in Hostels some of which look amazing and better than hotels to keep costs down. Depending on the group size we would probably end up getting a couple of rooms between us so no issues with sharing/security.

A couple of questions though if you wouldn't mind parting with some insights.

Would i be right in saying that only the A E and N roads are the only ones that have tolls?

Any tips for bike friendly places to stay (hostels really)? I have a list of expected Hostels but only from a quick look on the internet.

Is there anywhere in the above cities that you would recommend going?
I have the following in mind Menin Gate, Roubaix Track, St Symphorien Cemertery, Bruges beer museum, Dunkirk museum, Dunkirk meorial Day

With the Roubaix Track has anyone been? If so what is the chance of getting to ride on the track?

TIA

Comments

  • mac9091
    mac9091 Posts: 196
    No advice from anyone?
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,227
    Do a search / trawl of this thread for Belgian related info.

    No tolls in Belgium; the A16 and A25 in France likewise toll free.

    Belgian hotels tend to be bike friendly, never had any issues, pretty much always found hoteliers to be happy to put bikes somewhere safe for the night.

    Got quite a bit of experience of West Vlaanderen, Ieper, Poperinge, Brugge in partic; v bike friendly. Even had a lorry driver stop on a roundabout so that I could cross over on the cycle path section in front of him; not normal experience for a Brit.
  • Usefull site here for Belgium http://www.fietsroute.org/cycling/belgium
  • mac9091
    mac9091 Posts: 196
    and there i was thinking everything i said was right :D

    Cheers. Had started trawling through the previous posts. Also came across that page but found it awkward to plan a route and resorted back to strava.