I’ve ridden Belgium End to End twice: Side to Side (De Panne to Krewinkel, west to east); and Top to Bottom (Essen to Torgny, north to south).
De Panne to Krewinkel 282 miles
In May 2022 I cycled Belgium Side to Side: west to east.
Below you can read daily blog posts for the trip, from De Panne on Day 1 to Krewinkel on Day 6.
You can also see a map of the route in detail at the bottom of the page.
De Panne, my start point, is on the western extremity of Belgium, on the North Sea coast a few miles from Dunkirk in France.
From there I headed eastwards across the internal linguistic and cultural boundaries of the country (Dutch, French and German) to the easternmost village of Krewinkel, on the border with Germany.
The total End to End distance was 282 miles, and took less than a week of moderate 60-odd miles days on my Spa Cycles Tourer.
I rode my Spa Cycles steel tourer and went via Bruges, Gent, Brussels, Namur, Liège and Sankt Vith. En route I passed through Belgium’s geographical centre, and visited its highest point.
Day 1: (Dunkirk to) De Panne
Day 2: De Panne to Gent
Day 3: Gent to Wavre
Day 4: Wavre to Liège
Day 5: Liège to St Vith
Day 6: St Vith to Krewinkel
(Day 7: St Vith to Spa)
I got to De Panne by train and ferry (Dover–Dunkirk) and, after completion of the trip, got back from Krewinkel to De Panne by train. I stayed at cheap (for Belgium) hostels and inexpensive (for Belgium) guesthouses.
MAP
Essen to Torgny 209 miles
In April 2025 I cycled Belgium End to End the other way, Top to Bottom: north to south.
Below you can read daily blog posts for the trip, from Essen on Day 1 to Torgny on Day 6.
Essen, my start point, is on the border with the Netherlands near the northern extremity of Belgium, about 20 miles north from Antwerp.
From there I headed southwards across the Dutch–French language border to the southernmost village of Torgny, on the border with France.
The total Top to Bottom distance was 209 miles, and took less than a week of moderate 40-odd miles days on my Dahon Speed TR folding tourer.
I went via Antwerp, Leuven, Namur, Dinant, Beauraing and Bouillon. En route I passed through Belgium’s geographical centre, which I also passed through in the End to End above; appropriately, the two routes crossed here.
Day 1: Essen to Antwerp
Day 2: Antwerp to Leuven
Day 3: Leuven to Namur
Day 4: Namur to Beauraing
Day 5: Beauraing to Bouillon
Day 6: Bouillon to Torgny
I got to Essen by train (York to London, Eurostar to Brussels, Brussels to Essen) and, after completion of the trip, went from Torgny to Bruges by train and on to another trip. I stayed at cheap (for Belgium) hostels and an inexpensive (for Belgium) guesthouse.