The scenic Flanders region and pulsating city of Brussels make for a great cycling adventure! The two are filled with multicultural charm that includes beautiful landscapes, historic buildings, museums, grand cathedrals and many cultural highlights and culinary delights! As Belgium’s capital city, Brussels is home to a wide array of elaborate architectural wonders, such as the vast royal palace, and the lavishly pinnacled Town Hall (Hôtel de Ville) and many late 17th century guilded houses that both stand on Brussels’ famous central market square, the La Grand Place (also its biggest tourist attraction and perhaps the most beautiful square in all of Europe!).

Also located on La Grand Place is the Breadhouse (or Maison du Roi in French) in spectacular neo-Gothic style. With a 96m high tower, the Town Hall stands out from afar. It is beautifully decorated in the Brabantine Gothic style with a heavenly spire, on which stands a golden statue of the archangel Michael slaying the devil. The oldest portions of the Town Hall were built in the early 1400’s, and its elegantly decorated façade contains statues of nobles, saints and other figures. Another spectacular church is Saint Michael and Gudula’s Cathedral (Michael is the patron saint of Brussels). This archiepiscopal cathedral is frequently used for royal weddings. Brussels is also known for its Museum of Fine Arts (with Belgium’s largest collection of fine art, including works by Peter Paul Rubens), and the Atomium, a remnant of the 1958 World’s Fair.

Starting in Brussels, this tour takes place on predominantly quiet flat roads and bike paths along the well-signposted Flanders Cycle Route. The scenery will be filled with lush meadows, canals, sandy dunes and coastal villages as well as castles, abbeys, churches and windmills. The tour will also make a stop in the oldest Belgian university town of Leuven, the town of Gent (or Ghent) with its famous St. Bavo Cathedral filled with artistic treasures (Jan van Eyck!), the authentic coastal villages of De Haan and Ostend, and lastly, the cozy little town of Bruges! Bruges is very much like Brussels, in splendor and architectural wonders – just on a smaller scale.