Travel report: Out and about by bike in West Flanders

Day 1 of the tour: Roeselare - Tyne Cot War Cemetery - Ypres, Sunday, May 15, 2022

We start our "Cycling vacation in Flanders" cycle tour this morning after a very hearty and varied breakfast at the hotel. The sun is shining from the sky. We first cycle through the suburbs and residential areas on the outskirts of Roeselare. We cycle through the undulating Flemish countryside using the ingenious Knooppunten system, which we have already learned to appreciate in the Netherlands. The route runs partly along a former railroad line. It's beautiful and very quiet because it's Sunday. The birds are chirping, we hear roosters crowing, the leaves rustle in the wind and it smells mostly of spring, but also sometimes of 'fresh country air'.

Now we are sitting on the Tyne Cot War Cemetery, looking over the white gravestones for the 12,000 fallen British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and four German soldiers, past the cross to the towers of Ypres. A very impressive and touching place that makes you feel the senselessness of war.

Day 2 of the tour: Ypres - Poperinge - Diksmuide, Monday, May 16, 2022

After a good breakfast, we set off on today's stage at 9:45 am. It's cloudy today and a strong wind is blowing from the west.

We cycle through the Flemish countryside with views of the Kemmelberg and the surrounding hills of the Flemish Ardennes. We don't make much progress because the wind is blowing against us from the front. We have to make way for tractors several times. On the way to Poperinge we cycle through hop gardens.

At 2.10 pm, we arrive at the B&B 'Het Witte Huis' right on the market square. We are accommodated in the new building at the back behind the garden in a very nice room with a view of the rear of the historic house.

After a short break, we sit down in a café on the market square, drink a cappuccino and eat an ice cream with fresh strawberries with a view of the town hall and Belfry. It's still windy, but the clouds have disappeared apart from a few fair-weather clouds, so the sun is shining from what looks like a freshly washed blue sky.

Continue along the small paths through the polder landscape. For the last stretch to Bruges, the route runs alongside the Ghent-Bruges-Ostend canal. At 3.40 pm we reach the Velotel on the outskirts of Bruges, where we stay until Friday. After a break, we go to the hotel's restaurant for dinner. My husband orders an espresso to round off the meal. What he gets is more like a small dessert. Beautifully presented next to the espresso is a small milk jug, a mini muffin, a caramel sweet and an egg liqueur.

Freshly fortified, we cycle into the city center. When we arrive at the Grote Markt, the Belfry is shining in the mild light of the evening sun. A beautiful picture! The square and the surrounding cafés are still bustling with activity. We stroll through the alleyways to Rozenhoedkai, where the swans are swimming by. We enjoy the beautiful evening on the medieval streets and squares of Bruges. 

Then we reach our destination for today, De Haan. We park our bikes at the streetcar station and walk through the streets lined with Belle Époque houses. We meet Albert Einstein, who lived here for a few months before emigrating to the USA via England. We walk to the beach, sit on the promenade and watch the hustle and bustle.

Back at the Velotel, we end the day with an Aperol Spritz.

We actually want to go to the Begijnenhof 'Ten Wijngaarde' first, but when we get to the Minnewater, we have trouble getting through the groups of schoolchildren. So we ride to the Grote Markt and park our bikes in the bicycle parking garage. As soon as we are outside, it starts to drizzle, so we visit a few stores. 

Churches also offer protection from the rain, so we visit the St. Salvator Cathedral and the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwen-Kerk. Both churches are very impressive. Afterwards, we visit the Begijnenhof, as both the rain and the groups of schoolchildren have cleared. Afterwards, we have a cappuccino in a very nice little tea room.

And the journey continues along the Damme Vaart to Sluis in the Netherlands. Sluis, another old fortified town, is a pleasant surprise. There is a lot going on here. In addition to restaurants of all kinds, there are also stores. We walk through the streets and find a Dutch whisky in the town hall square as a thank you for our cat sitter.

Very funny: as we walk through the streets, we see a stork strolling along the road. A woman passing by feeds it some chips. That must be a Belgian stork!

Day 6 of the Tour: Bruges - Roeselare, Friday, May 20, 2022

For days, the weather forecast has been predicting more or less rain in the late morning, sometimes with and sometimes without thunderstorms. Since yesterday evening, it has been forecast to start raining from around 11 o'clock. That's why we looked for a direct route to Roeselaere yesterday evening and get up at 7am today. We take the time to have a hearty breakfast, check out and are on our bikes at 9:05 am. It starts to drizzle about halfway along the route. We stop briefly at a chapel, pull the rain covers over our rucksacks and bike bags and carry on. There is a heavy downpour in between, but we survive it dry under a few trees. We reach the Parkhotel in Roeselaere at 11:30 am without having had any rain to speak of. We are lucky, we get our room and our luggage is already there.

It is now 12:45 pm, we sit in the dry, drink a cup of tea or coffee and listen to the rain beating against the windows. In the afternoon, after it has stopped raining, we go into town. We have dinner today at the Koers Café in the Koers Cycling Museum. It's very nice there and the food is plentiful.