Given that we ended up in a totally unplanned destination and had done zero preparation for this trip, our itinerary was pretty much up for discussion at the start. The only restriction was that I had 90 days before I needed to be out of the Schengen zone. After some consultation with a map (always a somewhat dangerous activity on our travels), we determined that the best way to comply with this requirement was to get to Croatia by day 90. A fair bit of cycling to be done then. Following a few discussions with our warm showers hosts in the Netherlands, we decided to do a modified version of the EuroVelo 5 down to Milan and, from there, head east. No big deal. Just zero experience, mountain passes and thousands of kilometres – what’s not to like really?
Our hosts also convinced us that it was an excellent idea to cycle through the Ardennes in Belgium. We were wooed by promises of lovely scenery, charming towns and the best beer in the world. So, again, what was not to like? On reflection, it may also have been mentioned that there were, in fact, hills in the Ardennes. No surprises, we confidently ignored this foreshadowing of the pain ahead and proceeded enthusiastically. Admittedly, this was also partly due to the fact that the people warning us of said hills were Dutch and I am quite certain that to Dutch people pretty much everything above a dijk must seem like a hill. That said, the hills of the Ardennes did take a bit of getting used to, but a week and about 400km later, I think we settled into somewhat of a rhythm.
The Ardennes were also notable for a few other firsts. It was our first attempt at mountain bike style trails on a touring bike with all our gear and it was also our first European experience of wild camping.
Our attempt at mountain biking happened somewhat unintentionally. Typically, Tom deals with the navigation aspects of our outings (largely due to the fact that my level of bike competence has required the devotion of my full attention to the manoeuvring of Bertie, my beast of a bike, until this time). However, after a month or so of travel, I determined that I could probably add some value to this navigation business and proceeded to get involved. On summarily dismissing Uncle Google’s suggestions for the morning, we found a smaller route and took off. Forty-five minutes later, we were crossing the Belgian countryside on mountain bike tracks and experiencing the joys of hike-a-bike for the first time. After a couple of hours of sweating our guts out up hills, falling off bikes, and Thomas roundly swearing off the Dutch style handlebars he had chosen to switch to in Amsterdam (obviously useful on well maintained, flat, Dutch cycle ways, not so much on any type of hill, never mind mountain biking tracks in the Ardennes), we finally made it to a road. Suffice to say, I was banned from participating in the navigation aspects of the tour for the rest of the day (cross roads and time for some decision making, followed by some time in the woods below).
Belgium was also our first attempt to wild camp in Europe. We avoided this in the Netherlands largely because: (i) it is not allowed; (ii) (a generalization, but…) the Dutch love a good rule, so would probably not be super understanding about us breaking them; and (iii) the Dutch countryside really does not allow for it, what with it being flat and very populated (although, on discussion with some of our warm showers hosts, I understand that this is actually done on a small scale). That said, given the massive hospitality offered to us in the Netherlands, it really was not necessary anyway. In Belgium, our warm showers options petered out around day four and we decided it was time to get camping. Turns out, wild camping in Wallonia in Belgium at any rate is actually pretty easy and not a problem. Technically this is not allowed, but given the topography of the area, there are lots of places where one can stash away a tent for a night. The more challenging aspect of our first camping experiences was that we could not get our cooker working, so we enjoyed lukewarm soup while giggling hysterically at the fact that our friends and family would think us somewhat certifiable for leaving our jobs, trading a car for bikes and pottering around Europe pitching our tent on the side of the road and eating tepid canned soup by way of a fun holiday activity. Frankly, I may agree with them.
Our second wild camping experience was slightly more successful and certainly more romantic sounding. Thomas took me to France for a night! Always knew he had it in him. That said, in order to get to France, Tom took his turn at questionable navigation decisions and we ended up at 7pm attempting to hike our bikes through the Bois de Florenville in the south of Belgium for two hours across fallen trees and electric fences for the porcine population (although we did, for a minute, speculate that maybe the French were just trying to keep the Belgians out, or vice versa). When we finally happened upon a picnic site, notwithstanding the fact that it was not hidden at all, I readily agreed to stop and set up camp. Happily, we did have some very excellent Belgian beers to pair with our very HOT packet soup (yes, we figured out the cooker on night two). I will admit that the location was somewhat compromised by the rather present tick population that needed to be rugged up against, but it really was otherwise quite idyllic. Also, Thomas managed to forage some wild raspberries for breakfast the next morning (win!).
In terms of actual route, we came into Belgium through Achel. This was an obligatory Trappist brewery stop (no, the beer tour did not end when we left the Netherlands). We spent an afternoon appreciating the brew and then hit a couple of small towns (Zolder and Fernlemont) and stayed with warm showers in both places. We then proceeded to Namur, which was a very lovely old city with a great citadel I swore loudly attempting to cycle up.
We did not really follow the EuroVelo 5 through Belgium as there were too many places that we felt warranted a visit, but that were not en route. That said, we did follow it briefly between Namur and the lovely Dinant, which was a totally spectacular riverside town (the subject of the featured image at the start of this post), before diverting again to Rochefort. There was not actually too much to do in Dinant (although it is possible to visit the castle in the picture), but I think that the views alone were worth the visit.
One of our main deviations from the route was made in order to visit Bouillon – which was very clearly an excellent decision. Bouillon was notable for being the site of our first free camping endeavour described above and, perhaps somewhat more importantly, the site of a stunning town and insane cliff-top castle. We went into this one and it was well worthwhile. Several drawbridges lead to the castle and its clifftop positioning affords unsurpassed views of the charming town. This is coupled with great displays and a lot of history (the family went on the Crusades and were a bit of a big deal in the area, but I think they lost the castle and never really got it back thereafter) and made for an enjoyable morning spent poking around all corners of the place. Evidence of Bouillon’s beauty below.
Finally, we also hit Orval Abbey for more trappist beer after our somewhat ticky wild camping experience. The abbey was nice to visit, but the real highlight was definitely the rather excellent brew.
Before signing off, a quick note on the food in Wallonia (and more particularly the beer). Obviously, the beer was first rate. That said, the Belgian culture in this regard is quite different to that of the Dutch. While the Dutch are on board with the craft brew/hipster approach to this institution (the perfect stereotype of a bearded guy wearing a tartan shirt and riding a fixy bike with a milk crate strapped on the front), the Belgians focus on trappist brews, abbey ales and generally traditional styles. They do not seem particularly interested in creating new and unusual beverages (no kiwi infused goses or smoked ales here) and prefer that beer taste like, well, beer. As such, while the beer is excellent, there is less obvious variety and it can be quite heavy (pretty much everyone brews a double, a triple and a quadruppel – or they sometimes simply refer to it as a white and a brown beer). We visited Achel, Rochefort and Orval – along with trying numerous other brews purchased from supermarkets around the country (including all the Trappist brews, other than Westvleteren). Full commitment to this review of Belgian beers in evidence below. Thomas really wanted to make it to Westvleteren, but I resolutely refused to cycle 400+km there and back off route in order for him to drink a beer. Spoil sport, I know.
The other enjoyable development in French Belgium was that we started to see good bakeries and pastry shops in the towns through which we cycled. A good indication of things to come and we very much approved. Finally, and I know that this is blasphemous, I was not actually that impressed with the Belgian Friteries (purveyors of all things fried) in Wallonia. I have, on previous trips to the Flemish parts of Belgium, been impressed by this institution, but I felt that the Friteries in Wallonia did not really stand up to their Dutch counterparts.
So, in summation, while the weather was a bit questionable at points, we were overall very impressed with Wallonia. The scenery was lovely, the towns were charming, the beer was excellent, the roads were potholed, the people were friendly, and it had an excellent relaxed vibe with which we could happily get on board – we would definitely recommend a visit.
June 2020
Fun to read the impressions on my home country
We had the best time! 🙂