Belgium was disappointing - must plan better next time!

[Zakattak]

We don't do planning as things never seem to go to plan

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Fail to plan,,plan to fail!!

We normally get up in the morning panic then look at where to go that day

 

[Orion]

Yes definitely , I play it safe with Duval or Jupiler not really into the strong stuff 7-8% is ok for me

Other than the usual city visits to Bruge, Ghent etc and the battlefields around Ypres, we’ve to the Classic road races at Chimay a couple of times and they have a nice selection of Trappist beers.

 

[Folkranger]

Belgium is a great place apart from weather similar to the UK.
Use to be very poor for Aires but about 10 years ago they passed a law making councils provide parking for motorhomes. But a lot of then are only 3 or 4 van Aries.
Its well worth the effort.

Belgium has warmer weather than the UK, from my perspective.

 

[Lenny HB]

Fail to plan,,plan to fail!!

We normally get up in the morning panic then look at where to go that day

Sounds perfect.

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[TinaLes]

Well if all else fails, there is always Park4Nite
LES

 

[Dutch 68]

The aire at Han-sur-Lesse is one of our favourite stopovers on the way to Luxembourg and Germany

Caves are beautiful there

 

[MisterB]

Caves are beautiful there

At €24 each to get in .....

 

[Arnside037]

We haven't done the Bruges Ghent visits yet,, so can't comment, but we have done the Ardennes and Bastogne (Nuts City) which is just in Belgium. The WW2 Battle of the Bulge bits were very interesting, and the cycle path betwee Bastogne (Belgium) anď Wiltz (Luxembourg) was really good.
We stayed in a hol home by the coast many years ago and were not impressed with this side of Belgium. So conclude that it depends of which bit of Belgium you choose to visit in your (meticulous ) planning.

 

[Coolcats]

We love Belgium, the beer Bruges and the film.

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[haganap]

We used to call Belgium Boring Belgium and drove straight through it.

Then we met a funster (can't remember his name) from Sheffield who was married to a Belgium lady and lived out there. Gave us a few recommendations and we actually bothered to stop there at other places other than Ypres and Brugge. It's actually an amazing place, does require a bit of a plan but some of it is stunning.
If you like a bit of 1st and 2nd world war history its amazing.

 

[Imala615]

We went before we had the van so stayed in a hotel but that’s the arch watched a coach trying to go through

My vans 2.3 wide so a bit of room but wouldn't want to try it with a coach and there's a bus stop just before you go through the arch

 

[MisterB]

we actually detoured through Dinant as the road sign picture looked really good. it was a nice town and i would have been quite happy to drive along the river, but bad planning meant we didnt have a clue where we were etc. we also drove past a space centre at one stage, which also looked interesting. I am sure that Belgium has a lot more to offer than then WW1/WW11 sites, it just takes more planning than we put in, especially if we're only looking for free aires .....

 

[jockaneezer]

I remember Rhod Gilbert doing a sketch a while back about how, if you had enough money, you could hire the whole of Luxembourg by the day, the only disadvantage was it came with a chemical toilet, Belgium !
We've stayed on the aire at Dinant and found the place interesting, but a little run down ? Had a few days at one of the bigger sites at Westende which was mostly statics, but had some nice long sandy beaches and learnt a lot about what happened there to make it the front line for most of WW1.

 

[Dutch 68]

At €24 each to get in .....

Has gone up a bit if that’s the case, but they are amazing ……

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[Lenny HB]

At €24 each to get in .....

Normally Belgium gives really good discounts to old fogies.

 

[MisterB]

We've stayed on the aire at Dinant and found the place interesting, but a little run down ? Had a few days at one of the bigger sites at Westende which was mostly statics, but had some nice long sandy beaches and learnt a lot about what happened there to make it the front line for most of WW1.

I found the story of HMS Vindictive really interesting, a bit of a suicide mission in my eyes!! I knew about it as I had looked it up on the internet, but I happened to ask an older couple if they knew where it was. The man's eyes lit up and he told me all about it for ten minutes or so, he seemed really pleased to tell the story. He said that most people living in Ostend don't know anything about it or care for the history of the local area, which he said was sad.
It was nice to see the wreath of poppies aswell as meeting someone local who just wanted to keep history alive.

 

[Ninjabob]

If you take your motorbike with you and like the twisties then Bouillon is a great area and a nice town to visit.

 

[mitzimad]

Weve always found places to stop in Belgium which app where you using?

 

[MisterB]

p4n - plenty of places but the reviews on most of them weren't encouraging and we were travelling a particular route and only looking along that route and trying to avoid paying for facilities we wouldnt use (as on campsites)

i am sure that with a bit more planning we could have sorted suitable park ups (that we felt comfortable in) - which is why the thread has the caption 'must plan better next time' and hopefully we can look a lot closer at some previous recommendations from forum members.

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