Other Sources
Maps
The Fietsroute maps are apparently the best currently available for the Flemish area and adjacent Netherlands. However, I know of no rational way to order them for delivery outside Europe. Look for them in Standaard and other bookstores in Belgium. You can see an English language description at Many Maps. (The Many Maps web site REQUIRES the use of Internet Explorer.)
The GeoCart series of cycling maps for Belgium (1:100,000, 9 maps with cycling route guides) are the best I have found for Belgium as a whole. They show cycle paths and recommended cycling routes. Beware that the cycling routes are often on roads, that the paths shown are incomplete and in some cases blocked, and that many bicycle paths are not shown. (Readers will notice frequent mentions of GeoCart errors in the text of this cycling guide. I have periodically written GeoCart, offering them my corrections. There has never been a response of any kind.) IF you have a European bank account that can do fund transfers, you can direct order (click on "Prijslijst" and then scroll down to " Fietskaarten") the maps for EUR 9.80 each. For the southern half of Belgium see the RAVeL section below for a better alternative.
For those in the US, the GeoCart maps can be ordered for $15.95 from OMNI Resources in Burlington, North Carolina. See Belgium Bicycling Maps for a list. (Note 28 September 2006: the link for purchasing on line is not working.) (added 28 September 2006)
For boaters, there is now an official on-line map of Belgium's navigable waterways. It appears to be accurate.
For details on the waterways (water level, etc.) I have used Carte des Voies Navigables de Belgique/Kaart der Waterwegen van België, republished by GeoCart in 1998. Note however that this map (or rather series of 4 maps) contains some grievous errors. For example, it shows the Espierre canal to be navigable, when in fact the locks have been blocked since 1985.
Some of the maps shown in this guide were produced using the Route 66 Benelux Route Planner. This is a highly flexible system which generates maps with any coverage from the entire Benelux to your neighborhood street. You can plan a route, down to a specific street address. When traveling by car I kept the CD in my laptop, and often also printed out maps of the route before starting. I have both the 1998 and the 2000 versions, which have substantially different programs. The latter is more up to date, the former has more non-street detail such as waterways. I also find it easier to do a street search in the 1998 version. The current version is available on the web site for EUR 49.99. Route 66 also has CD's for several other European countries. (The German disk was purchased from www.amazon.de for less than half the cost of the Benelux CD.) I wrote to Route 66 concerning use of their maps thrice in 1999. There was never an answer.
A map of the Kempen en Maasland fietsroute network (marked cycling network) can be bought in most tourist offices in Limburg and ordered online at the Limburg Tourism web site. On the home page, click on "brochures bestellen" in the lower right corner, then on the next page "fietsen" in the selection bar below "brochures." In June 2005 the price for the network guide was EUR 7.50.
There is another and growing selection of "knooppunten" (node or junction) route maps. As with Kempen and Maasland a route is not described with a route number, but rather numbered junctions or nodes. Navigation is easy: you follow the route from 3 to 7 to 9 to 4. But you must have a route map in order to determine which nodes you want. Many Maps sells them. Otherwise, look in Belgian bookstores. The series currently covers the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg, and part of West Flanders.
Cycling Guides
Van Loock, Ward: Fietsen over jaagpaden en oude spoorwegen. Lannoo, 1998, updated new edition April 2006. Twenty cycling tours composed primarily of towpaths and rail trails in the Flemish Region. Includes substantial descriptions of history, places to eat, and sights along the way. Makes use of the node route markings now found increasing in the Flemish region. This is a beautiful publication with excellent color maps. Dutch, but worth purchasing for the maps alone for those who don't have that language. (And English speakers can really make out of lot of Dutch anyhow.)
-"-: Fietsen langs Ardense en Luxemburgse rivieren. Lannoo, 1996. Actually this book should be called "Wallonia and Luxembourg" - the 15 routes cover the breadth of Wallonia and Luxembourg, with excursions into France, the Netherlands and Germany. Includes parts of the Maas/Meuse, Escaut, and Haine rivers and Albert, Charleroi, Centre and Nimy - Péronnes canals. Dutch.
There are numerous other Dicht-Bij-Huisgidsen (close to home guides) published for bikers and walkers by Lannoo.
de Selys, Gerard, and Maesschalk, Anne: Cyclotourisme en Belgique. Le Guide - La Renaissance du Livre, copyright 1998 but the text indicates really 1995. 23 recommended routes, practically exclusively towpath rides, with decent descriptions and history for the routes covered. The blurb claims 1,200 km but that is out and back. Canal km covered is about 600. Unfortunately, some of the best rides I have found are omitted - perhaps because they did not exist when the authors did their research. French. (Previously published by Duculot in 1988, and also in Dutch as Fietstoerisme in België by Roularta Books. A quick comparison indicates that the earlier material was not updated for the 1998 edition. The authors simply added three additional routes.)
West, Luc: Fietsen langs Belgische waterwegen. Globe (Roularta Books), 1998. Fifteen routes (all but two entirely in the Flemish Region) covering about 770 km of waterway. Extensive historical touring notes. Dutch.
Maes, Paul: De Schelderoute. Visum Gids (Roularta Books), 1993. This is a travelogue of the best kind: the description of a trip in nine days, following as closely as possible the entire Schelde/Scheldt/Escaut river from its source in France to its mouth into the North Sea in the Netherlands, and loaded with observations and notes on geology and history. And he does a good job with the bike paths. The river is officially 420 km long, the tour about 450 km. Well worth having if you can read a bit of Dutch.
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Guidebooks are available for RAVeL 1 (in three sections), RAVeL 2 (but without the SE branch shown on this map), RAVeL 3, and RAVeL 4. The series covers over 95% of the waterways of the Walloon region that I include. (RAVeL 5 is currently a concept rather than a defined route.) The maps are some of the best I have seen anywhere, perfect to guide you along the way. The text provides some history. The primary text in 1 - 3 is in French, with summaries in Dutch, German and English. The newest, RAVeL 4, is available in a Dutch/English edition and also a French/German edition. Spiral bound and the right size to carry in the map holders you see on some bikes. (RAVeL stands for Réseau Autonome de Voies Lentes - a separate network of slow routes.) You can see more about the RAVeL network, and order the guide books at EUR 2.50 each (with a bank transfer) at the RAVeL web site.
The RAVeL site now also provides downloadable detailed maps, route descriptions in French, Dutch, German and English, and pictures.
For a comprehensive coverage of the rail trails of Belgium and Luxembourg, see Perrin, Gilbert: Guide des Chemins du rail. Editions Labor, 1997 (volume 1) and 1998 (volume 2). The contents are out of date in at least two locations, but since the books show the entire rail routes and not just those already developed as trails at the time of writing, you have most of the information you need. French
All of the above with the exception of Route 66 are published in Belgium. Perhaps the best single place to buy the books and maps is the travel bookstore Anticyclone des Açores, 34 Rue Fosse aux Loups, 1000 Brussels near de Brouckere. FNAC in City 2 is also a good source. For materials in Dutch the Standaard bookstore by the opera is one of the best.
Other Sources
The physical descriptions of the routes are from personal observation from August 1997 through March 2001 unless otherwise specified, with additional material from other contributors as noted. Updates continue as I receive information. Dates and historical descriptions have been garnered from a large variety of sources, including the Blue and Michelin guides, builders plates and building plaques, articles in Le Soir and Het Nieuwsblad, Franz Hayt's Atlas D'Histoire (published by De Boeck Wesmael), Encyclopedia Britannica online, Gids voor Vlaanderen (Lanoo) and Kanalen van de Koning-Koopman by R. Filarski (at the Brussels central library Flemish branch). The Verschueren Groot Encyclopedisch Woorden Boek (cited as "Verschueren") is the source of some official distances. The World Wide Web has produced a number of interesting hits, including the site of the company that constructed the barge lift at Thieu, the official statistics of the Port of Antwerp and the Belgian railways, and the abstract of a thesis on the peat canals of Brabant in the Middle Ages. I have generally made no attempt to verify dates. In a few instances where different sources provided different dates I selected the one which seemed to make the most sense.
Related Web Sites
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Stichting Landelijk Fietsplatform provides an overview of long distance cycling routes in the Netherlands and Flanders, and ordering information for the fine guides (beautiful maps and descriptions of the routes and sights) produced by the Fiets Platform. Dutch with some English.
The cycling web ring seems to have been a failure. There are only twenty sites listed. (The whole "web ring" concept was a way to provide a means for navigating the web when there were no real directories. Google has now gotten so good at indexing things that the ring concept should probably be abandoned.) English
Fietsroute.org is dedicated to describing marked cycling routes in Belgium and other countries. Now has about 200 routes. A link Fietsrouteplanner takes you to a distance map for cycle routes around Belgium. Dutch.
BBR/FBC (Belgische Bond voor Rijwieltoerisme/Federation Belge du Cyclotourisme) is an organisation with 12528 members. They organise activities all over the country and even abroad. Non-members may participate for a small fee which includes a one day insurance. They range from 30 to 150 km from nice touring to a ride for trained people. One can start individually or with a group, there are plenty of options. The ride is marked with signs painted on the ground and a route description is provided. Dutch and French. (from Karel Roose) (Dan note 22 June 2006: the web site has been rebuilt with Java and does not function properly with Firefox.)
VVV Holland has a neat route planning program. Enter any point in the Netherlands as the start and any other as the end. It provides a text route guide. (Note 22 June 2006: Rebuilt using Java, and not nearly as user friendly.) Dutch
offers a large selection of marked mountain bike routes around Belgium. Includes maps. Dutch.
For those who can handle some German, bikeline offers a series of 186 (at last count) guides and maps. The series concentrates on Germany, but includes materials for most of Europe. Very nice maps, and descriptions including lodging recommendations. They can be ordered online from buch24. To see the bikeline series, type "bikeline" in the box next to stichwort and then click the double arrow. buch24 also has other materials on cycling - click "Radsport & Radfahren" in the list in the left column. On the next screen, click "Radtouren." German
Fietsroutes op
het net has links to some 275 cycling routes in Belgium
described by varous organizations and iindividuals. My favorite
submitter: a pub near Olen named "Pisspot of Kaiser Karel." Dutch
is a non-commercial index site for cycling in the Netherlands and Belgium. Find your way to well over 1,000 routes. Dutch, some English.
is a commercial site that attempts to index everything having to do with cycling in the Netherlands, including organized tours and hotels that welcome cyclists. There are also extensive links to Belgium, and some to other countries. Dutch
Fietskaart Informatie Stichting sells guides for a variety of long-distance routes - really long in some cases, as to the Black Sea. Dutch
GPSTracks has a growing collection of routes with GPS directions, in Belgium, Netherlands, France and Germany. Of particular interest to cyclists are Fietsroutes and MTB (mountain bike) routes. Dutch
For those with lots of stamina and time, the North Sea Cycle Route circles the North Sea - some 6,000 km in seven countries. English
Belgium for Biking is a collection of contacts for cycle tourism in Belgium, including escorted trips and places to rent bikes. This is a page on the Belgium Tourist Office US web site - click around the site for all sorts of information on tourism in Belgium. English
CR-Corporation has a guide to seven cycling routes leading in all directions from Maastricht, including one from Maastricht to Paris! Dutch
Promotie Binnenvaart Vlaanderen (Flemish Waterways Promotion) has a variety of maps and information on the Belgian waterways network and connections into France and the Netherlands. Some of the network information in Wallonia is incorrect - verify before sailing. Dutch
Europese Binnenvaart has a marvelous map of the entire European inland waterway network in Adobe format. Click "klik hier" in the caption to the right of the small copy of the map. Dutch
contains a growing list of cycling and walking routes, complete with maps and route descriptions. Dutch and French.
The Wikipedia now has articles on the histories of the Belgium canals, with links to related sights such as the fort at Eban-Emael. Dutch, English French and other languages, but as with Wikipedia generally the text is most complete in the original language. Switching among languages to see which is the longest (and has any illustrations) will show you the original language of the author.
For information (in Nederlands), diagrams and an inventory of Bailey bridges in Belgium, see http://www.baileybrug.info/.
Cycling in North Wales has a number of routes described, with maps, and links to several cycling clubs. English
The Bali Cycling Federation is developing a lovely site. Included is a true mountain route around the INSIDE of the caldera of a volcano. (The volcano seems extenct.) I have visited Bali several times, and friends were back in summer 2003. The Balinese are probably the loveliest, friendliest people in the world. Don't let a few Islamic terrorists from elsewhere scare you away from Bali (or New York, Washington, etc.). English
Government
The AWZ (Waterways and Maritime Affairs Administration of the Flemish Region) site describes the waterway system and has notices on construction projects. (Dutch, French, parts in English)
"The European Greenways Good Practice Guide" and the related "Cycling: the way ahead for towns and cities" are European Union policy documents. The EU is promoting cycling not only for recreation but as a partial solution to urban air pollution problems. English, French, Spanish, German
Hardware
Bike
maintenance and supplies from
La
Maison du Velo
Avenue Milcamps, 235
Milcamplaan
1030 - Schaarbeek
02 742 07 45
www.lamaisonduvelo.be
Last updated 29 December 2006
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