Brussels to Amsterdam!

The short cut between Brussels and Boom is illustrated by a small part of this route:
[ame]http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bruxelles-Brussel-Charleroi-Thuin-Maubeuge-Fourmies-Hirson-Guise[/ame

we took the LF2. it's long, and the southern belgium part is kind of hilly, so be prepped for it. saying that, it was one of the best rides of my life, and we did it over 3 days of cycling. you WILL have fun. i'm going to organize a fixed/forum ride doing it again this summer over 5 days including events, races, trick comps etc soon'ish. get stoked!

A mate and i cycled from Brussels - Amsterdam - Brussels via the delta projects and coastal stuff. I took only two maps (both around 1:300.000 scale... so we got lost every now and then). I managed to only buy one map out there, keeping the cost down!

The best maps I found for riding in the Netherlands were Falk. The 1:50.000 scale are perfect. Although that may well be the last tour I do without GPS, which seems a little sad really.

The LF2 consists of a Belgian part leading from Brussels towards Leuven, Mechelen, Antwerp and Essen:
http://www.routeyou.com/route/view/116857/route-lf2-belgie.nl
and a Dutch part connecting Essen with Dordrecht, Rotterdam and Amsterdam:
http://www.routeyou.com/route/view/116853/route-lf2-nl.nl

It's entirely signposted in Flanders and in the Netherlands. In Brussels Capital Region (Brussel/Bruxelles, Elsene/Ixelles, Uccle/Ukkel and Watermaal-Bosvoorde) there is some contradictionary information about the signs being present or not. So in that part it's better to buy the guide or to make a few prints.

If you want to skip the beautiful landscapes south and east of Brussels, you can go immediately to the north, along the not so scenic Brussels-Scheldt Maritime Canal and pick up in Boom the LF2 again.

+1 for heading north out of Brussels under the airport and along the canal if you need to get moving.

Also on the way north I diverted from Rotterdam to (beautiful) Deft then to Den Haag. From there the coastal path swoops it's way north through funny little seaside resort towns and was fun great riding along well paved paths through the dunes. We camped near Katwijk which seemed to have a nightlife well beyond many towns five times it's size. The next day was the easy (but hungover) cycle east to Amstelveen and Amsterdam.

If anyone wants any suggestions as to what to do in Brussels (bars, shops etc), let me know I lived there for 18 years.

Wet and Cold but fun travelling up through Holland last weekend:

Anyone know some good places to stay along the north sea cycle route? Riding Brugge to Amsterdam. Taking it easy over a few days so looking for any decent cheap hostels/hotels.
Alternatively is worth going inland to amsterdam

This thread is awesome, hadn't considered train to Brussels, I was planning a similar trip via Calais and Hook of Holland ferries.
Might do this but not sure of return route, tempted to keep going after Adam

Spent 3months doing various figure8 loops around Holland on old Dutch bikes bought for less than 30euros in 2001. Good times, easiest cycling I've ever done, got bored of the flat within a week though, finding any slight incline to get up was such a delight.

Finished up going from Utrecht > Rotterdam > N57 along the Hoogh Plaetweg then into Belgium.

Massive image of Hoogh Plaetweg, you ride along the top of it for miles, peering over the edge watching it churn up the sea on one side leaving glass flat sea on t'other.
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/39016790.jpg

I cycled last year from AMS to Paris. So the other way around. We crossed nlds the first day and
belgium completely the second. Tips; take inner tubes for belgium, lots of flats in the group. Check
where you want to cross the rivers in the Netherlands, find bridges/boats that are open/working.
Don't plan to much, just ride from city to city and enjoy it to the fullest!

Planning to do Amsterdam-Brussels in June/July on my Brompton over a weekend.

Given that I don't want to ride more than 80km a day, I'll be getting the train for parts of the journey.

Any advice on which bits of the journey are worth avoiding by taking the train?

Brux to Antwerp – some isn't great. Some canal paths but also lots of lumpy cycle lanes along straight roads though soulless out-of-town type shit.

Antwerp and Breda are both cool places but the cycling inland around there is perhaps not the most interesting.

It's a tough call though as none of it is worth getting on a train for though.

Take a day off work?

soulless out-of-town type shit.

Some of my favorite cycling is in foreign suburbia and industrial areas.

The current plan is:

• Night in Amsterdam
  
• Cycle along the beach cycle path to Den Haag
  
• Train from there to Bergen op Zoom
  
• Cycle from there to Antwerp; I've never crossed a border by bike and fancy doing it, even though I know it will be underwhelming.
  
• Spend the night in Antwerp
  
• Cycle across to Brussels in the morning.
  

I'm going to do this come August:
Ferry to Hook of Holland
Harlem (67km)
Amsterdam (23km)
Utrecht (40km) staying with mates
Gouda (36km)
Breda (70km)
Antwerp (59km)
Gent (56km)
Brussels ((58km) staying with mates

Not many km between places, but figure with only a few hours riding each day I'll only need 1 night in each City as I'll have time to look around after arriving/before leaving the next day. From Brussels it will be a train to Passau to get on the Danube and head east.

Any tips, please....

Thanks for all the info guys! I moved to Amsterdam almost two years ago and have been wondering where to take a long bike ride. Taking the train down to Bruges and cycling back from there sounds like a great trip. Through Gent maybe, then on to Rotterdam and along the coast back. The key will be to pick a non rainy weekend.