The cycling tours go over gently forested undulations and across open farm land, along the rivers Scheldt, Somme, Oise andSeine; the Belgian-French border also appears to be more or less the watershed between the river basins of Scheldt and Seine.
We advise you to arrive one day earlier to Bruges, so that you will have plenty of time to discover this interesting city. When you arrive on board the ship in Bruges by 2 p. After a welcome meeting there is time for bicycle fitting and a short test-ride. Our tour guide will take us after dinner for a walk through the center of Bruges, also called the Pearl of Flanders.
Bruges is one of the most beautiful Flemish cities. The old center, dating from the Middle Ages, is almost completely intact.
Half way the canal between Bruges and Ghent our barge will be waiting for us. Once everyone is on board the anchor will be lifted to continue by barge to Ghent. During the Middle Ages, Ghent was one of the richest and most powerful cities in Europe. The city has its origins in Roman times, at the confluence of the rivers Leie and Scheldt. This favorable site resulted in great prosperity, which had its peak late 13th, early 14th century.
Textile manufacturing brought great wealth. Many old patrician houses have been preserved. Nowadays Ghent is a lively university city. Since the city council made the center free of cars this is a very welcoming and impressive open area. After breakfast we will cycle back downtown Ghent, where we hop on a small boat for a nice canal tour through the historical center.
