Three countries and four languages! Windmills and canals, stone villages and pine forests, vineyards and wine towns supplant each other to supply the decor. Riesling grapes supply the wine, every type of grain supplies the beer. Brugge and Ghent inspired Memling and Rubens, and are sure to inspire you. Trier says it’s Europe’s oldest city, Luxemburg is the EEC’s smallest country, and you'll end the ride on the banks of the Rhine, Europe’s longest river. A voyage of superlatives!
Tour Details
Duration
8 Days/7 Nights
Location
Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany
Season
July
Tour Type
Road Touring
Nearest City
Brussels/Frankfurt
Physical Condition Required
Good
Destination(s)
Across Luxembourg, Luxembourg Flanders/Ardennes, Belgium Rhine Valley, Germany
Distance Traveled
Varies Day to Day
Fully Guided
Yes
Guest Capacity
19
Support Vehicles
Local Rail Lines - No Sag Wagon
Bike Rentals Available
Yes
Bike Brands
Bikes are custom-built, 21-speed road tourers, designed for the biking that is done.
Accommodations
All hotels (and sleeping berths on overnight trains) are included in the cost of the trip. Blue Marble bypasses chain hotels in favor of family-run inns: pretty in the country, central in the towns. A 17th century courtyard is preferred to an in-room TV.
Transportation to Start Site
Please Contact Blue Marble for details.
Dining
Breakfast (continental) is included, except on overnight trains. It is generally taken at the hotel. Snore.
Most dinners are also included. You are on your own for dinner (and its expense) two nights per “trip week”. Included dinners may be taken in a group, or you may dine on your own, or in smaller “sub-groups”, with suggestions offered by the coordinator. On nights when you prefer one of these latter options, funds will be distributed sufficient to permit a wide selection of restaurants.
Meals are special events, and a focus of the trips, especially in the Latin countries. Choice is never lacking. But Blue Marble pride themselves on their ability to show local cuisines, often different from anglo-American tradition. “Picky” eaters, or those with special diets which exclude food types or groups, may find this focus tiresome. And since special diets are rare in Latin Europe, hosts are surprised by them. Complex dishes may contain some food you wish to avoid, hidden as a seasoning. Chefs who take pride in their creations are not only unwilling (or unable) to remove the offending ingredient, but can be unwilling to even discuss the recipe! Fortunately, the flexibility of the meal program allows you to retreat to a pizza place if the cultural experience becomes oppressive.
About Liquor
Guides showcase regional wines and beers. Guests pay for their own drinks.
Rates
$2,095.00per personCurrency Converter (Rates shown are in US Dollars. Rates and terms are subject to change.)
Additional Rate Info
Optional Private Single Room Supplement: $360 See Blue Marble's website for Canadian and Euro prices.
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Tour Itinerary
Days 1-3: Road Biking: Belgian Flanders Meet in beautiful Brugge, Belgium’s “Venice of the North”. Cycle through farms and out to the ocean. Then spend the evening sipping red Flanders ales in cheery pubs, popping the famous local chocolates, or cruising the flower-bedecked canals.
Canals are again the theme for the next ride. Past the windmills which once drained the undersea polders, and along tow-paths lined with massive trees planted by King Leopold. Stop for a coffee at a café by a lock, or sip a fruit beer in front of an impressive brick town hall. Night in stately Ghent: Brugge without the crowds.
Days 4-6: Road Biking: The Ardennes (Belgium * Luxembourg) A train carries you to Rochefort, in the Ardennes, whose trappist abbey brews Belgium’s greatest beer. Visit the Grottes de Han, underground caverns so massive that you go in by streetcar and come out by boat. Battle of the Bulge battle sites abound. Stop by Houffalize, where gnomes run a brewery, using the piney Ardennes spring water. Or at least you think they are gnomes if you drink enough of the beer.
Cross Luxembourg in a day, through the Valley of the Seven Châteaux. One is a ruin that used to belong to local notable Atilla the Hun. No one discounted Luxembourg when he was running the show!
Days 6-8: Road Biking: The Mosel Valley (Germany) Reach Germany on Thursday, for two nights on the banks of the Mosel. Trier proudly proclaims itself Europe’s oldest city, based on its Roman past (but in that case, how could it pre-date Rome?). Delicious riesling wines compliment Germany’s most interesting cuisine.
Down the valley. Vineyards cover every inch of arable land, and much that looks like it isn’t. Pedal through the wine towns of Neumagen, Bernkastel and Traben-Trarbach. Bernkastel’s tiny “Doktor” vineyard, the valley’s most prestigious, was so named because of the good it did you to drink its wine. It still does. Saturday afternoon sees you on the banks of the Rhine.
COMPLIMENTARY VISITOR GUIDES
Click on any visitor guide below to request a free copy.
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