I am planning a bicycling adventure for September. We plan to ride from Brussels around Belgium to visit some Trappist Breweries and Monasteries. We plan to camp and use hostels. Does anyone have any recommendations for this trip? Anything we should see or preferred routes? Great places to stay. I am open to ideas or experiences. Thank you in advance.
by Milkman-333-Cows
22 Comments
I’m Belgian, I don’t have anything of value to add to this post. But this seems like a very nice trip! And also great beers!!
This looks cool! Where did you find this? And is there a gpx on the site?
This is wonderful. Hope you don’t mind me saving (stealing) this? Could be my epic of 2027! 🙂
As a Belgian, Hainaut is not very nice to ride (very poor region, bad infrastructure), but otherwise nice trip! Rochefort nice!
that looks like a really nice tour. Which ai did this and would you share gpx files when you have done the final planning?
Stupid AI slop
Looks like a lot of fun, though I have never been to BE and can’t comment on what the riding would be like any bike tour that takes me to Achel, Rochefort, and Westvleteren gets the stamp of approval.
Two Dutch cycling-podcast makers did this a while back. They called it the Ultrappist, and their podcast is called ‘Tweewielers’. If you Google ‘Ultrappist’ you can find the podcast episode (in Dutch) and a routeyou where you can download the GPX.
Westmalle is nowhere near where it is marked on that map. NE of Antwerp. The concept is amazing, the map not.
https://preview.redd.it/6amr7p3q0p3h1.png?width=1354&format=png&auto=webp&s=2bfa48591fee9e29f5777f9b9ea3e9c747ad085c
this would be more accurate
Nice! Now with a real map!
That map is absurdly wrong. Come back with an actual plan and I’ll comment with some tips.
De Achelse Kluis is a very nice location to cycle, pause and have a few beers on their terrace. But it is no longer a Trappist (since 2023).
If you have a real route in komoot or something else I can comment. It is a nice idea but to really enjoy it you have to make a good plan. A pod big routes and you will enjoy. Make a bad route and it will be terrible. My top picks are Orval and Rochefort regions .
Tag me if you want detailed route feedback. And also mention if it’s gravel or road.
Cool! We have done this exact thing, in 2012, but also included La Trappe in the Netherlands. At that moment we connected all Trappist breweries in the world in one week 🙂
The route between Westvleteren, Chimay and Orval is not ugly, it is possible to connect them with beautiful routes. But I see we took the routes through France.
Let me know if you need any specific details or gpx files. Because 2012 is a long time ago I would recreate the routes with a planner such as Strava or Komoot.
I’d personally take Antwerp over Brussels any day.
When going to Westvleteren, a stop at Bar Bernard (brewery of St Bernardus) is really worth it and just 10km extra.
+ enjoy the scenery of the Westhoek, e.g. make a stop at the Tyne Cot cemetery near Zonnebeke
The location for Achel is nowhere near where it should be
Why are you going to Bruges? There is no trappist here.
Are you interested to add competitive cycling history?
Since when is achel bellow hasselt? Rochefort to Orval is way more than 90km. Westmalle is way more to the north and closer to 100km i would guess. Your info isn’t correct at all.
I’ve done something similar 2 weeks ago, we also did La Trappe and Paix Dieu. We did it in 4 days; around 200km a day, 820km total.
Dm me if you want the routes and some more info.
Did a great Flanders ride in 2023. Not specifically for beer, but it was a large part of the planning. It’s not a Trappist brewery , but I really enjoyed de Dolle in Esen. It’s a small ride away from Westvleteren, and absolutely worth checking out if it’s open when you’re in town.
I stayed at an awesome Airbnb on farm in Westvleteren. Not hostel prices, but a memorable experience for sure. If you are interested in the Airbnb DM me and I can send it to you.
great idea but shitty map that is nowhere near correct. Komoot or strava will produce proper results.