Belgium Coast – Antwerp: fast

131 km from the coast to Antwerp

Nieuwpoort – Bruges – Zelzate – Antwerp

Visit Bruges
Route on Komoot

Intro & context

fast and easy back to the city

A couple of days earlier, I used the Belgian network of cycling highways to travel between Antwerp and the coast for an event I was attending there.

That trip was nice, but there are many alternatives that could significantly shorten the trip…

For this more concise way, I picked all the shortcuts recommended by the ‘fast and short’ option on Komoot, tweaked here and there, resulting in a 131 km course instead of 154 km.

Goal: to come up with a compromise route that is enjoyable, scenic, and fast to travel on the roads between Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and the Belgian Coast.

There’s a significant difference between traveling on roads dedicated to cyclists and being just another user of roads meant for cars, which is the case on most streets, lanes, roads, and avenues.

I prefer the first option.

It’s good, however, to keep all the options open. Sometimes you do just want to travel fast, also by bike. Sometimes I like to change things up a little: I had taken the F4 about three or four times by the time I took this trip. I enjoyed trying something else, and I look forward to designing and sharing a compromise or the best route.

1/ Leaving Nieuwpoort

20 km along the canal

Coming to Nieuwpoort, I had driven along the canal on the no-car bike road. This time, I tried the other side… mainly because of the 2 km of dirt track in the beginning, which I wanted to avoid at all costs.

This road is 20km of car road without a sidewalk or cycling path. I regret my decision, but there’s very little traffic on a Sunday at 8 am, so as long as I stay alert, I can take full advantage of the empty road.

Except for avoiding the dirt track, though, I see little advantage to taking this road instead of the one on the other side, which is reserved for cyclists.

2/ Onward to Bruges

20 km through suburbia

This road, on the other hand, is very much acceptable. I cycle through a combination of Flemish rural villages and the long and straight steenwegen connecting them. These last ones are old roads, usually with a dedicated cycling path, connecting villages and cities. They have all kinds of large businesses and shopping malls on the side, interspersed with plain fields. It’s easy to cycle them, but hardly scenic.

My battery level isn’t too bad. The previous trip is still fresh in my mind, though, so I’ll start looking for a place to charge around Bruges. After Bruges, the road runs next to the highway, so I might not find an opportunity anymore.

I take breakfast in Varsenare, a pretty village with a town square and lots of nature and trees, at 34km.

It’s an excellent spot for a break. These villages usually still have a dedicated bakery, so I take advantage of it to buy some pastries and have them with coffee on a bench. Just lovely.

I need to keep these villages in mind, and stop there if I can.

3/ Through Bruges

I don’t like cycling in cities

This time, I had really picked the shortest route, namely, straight through the city center of Bruges.

Maybe this is obvious to you, but hey, it’s now confirmed: this is a bad idea unless you want to visit Bruges. Cycling through a medieval tourist city with cobblestones on all the streets, tourists trying to find their way on foot, by bike, or by car when no one knows where to go, isn’t advisable.

The city was so busy that I didn’t feel like stopping anywhere – I just wanted to get through. I was sure I’d find a decent lunch spot beyond.

Next time, I’ll go around Bruges and use the ringroad again.

3/ From Bruges to Antwerp

over Zelzate

Until Zelzate, this is more of the same type of roads: rural Flanders and long, straight car roads.

I take a charging break at the Canada Poland World War II Museum in Adegem (Maldegem) and charge my battery to the maximum, just to be on the safe side. The place is beautiful and peaceful. I resist the urge to visit the park and museum. It’s time to go home.

I cross Zelzate easily and start on the part I had been worried about: the road next to the E34 highway, which connects Maldegem and Antwerp.

After Zelzate, the road I had been worried about starts: from there on it’s a straight stretch towards Antwerp along the E34 highway. The road is excellent: nice concrete, wide, shared with cars, but there’s no traffic… There are trees on the side for some shade.

It’s 25 km of cycling next to a highway, however, and with no lunch spots or break points anywhere. No one lives there, there are no villages, no gas stations… It’s no man’s land.

I could have followed this route until Antwerp, but I was afraid that I might need a break. I cut it short at about halfway to continue on into the villages west of Antwerp, towards the tunnel leading to the city. I wasn’t sure I could do 40 km of cycling next to a highway!

Very soon after Zelzate, the rain starts.

The weather during the week had been ok: a soft drizzle that came and went, refreshing until it wasn’t anymore, and by then the rain had stopped.

Now, it’s downpour horror.

The weather channel told me it would last 20 minutes, so I just continued… in the end, it lasted until I got home, 2 hours and 40 km later.

I get home with an excellent time – no breaks on the final bit – and jump in the shower to warm my freezing bones and muscles.

 

Conclusion

Except for the final bit, I feel all went well. I explored a different option, and will adjust my final route based on what I cycled on this day.

I added my other reviews in the same region here, so you can check out parts of the road and the process.

I’ll write up a longer post outlining some conclusions about this route soon.