Belgium - Wallonia - 5 days

[GTMorgan]

Hi Wapping, did you get any further with these routes/descriptions?
I'm planning a week in Belgium after passing through a couple of times to and from Italy this month, kinda fallen in love with what I've seen of it!

https://www.myrouteapp.com/en/social/folder/9305384?mode=share

This all needs to be tidied up some more, not least getting the routes into better sub-folders with hopefully some descriptions. Anyway, it’s a start. I’ve definitely got some more to add, too.

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I have started you a fresh thread, just in case it gets lost in routes.

Richard

 

[Wapping]

I did do some tidying up, for sure.

There’s probably several thousand miles of roads there.

If you can tell us where you plan on staying and when, I’m sure the forum can cobble you together a very decent week away.

Might we perhaps assume you might also want to venture into Luxembourg, Germany and France, too?

 

[GTMorgan]

I've only done a small SW portion of Wallonia, Chimay, Bouillon area, stayed in the latter for one night, I liked the roads which were smooth and flowing bends, nice towns too. They seem to put loads of picnic areas at the side of roads, great for pit stops. If Wallonia in general is similar to what I've ridden, then I'd possibly spend 5 days or so riding it. It's on the doorstep really in touring terms, can get there in a day.

 

[Wapping]

They seem to put loads of picnic areas at the side of roads, great for pit stops

They do, indeed. I use them a lot. I pick up some pre-filled rolls at a bakery or DIY, each morning.

If Wallonia in general is similar to what I've ridden, then I'd possibly spend 5 days or so riding it

Yup, the Wallonia region is all pretty good. You can get some bits, where the road surface is a bit broken, especially on some of the smaller roads up through the woods. That’s hard winters and hot summers for you. But hey, it’s an Adventure (capital A) motorcycle, so take a bit of rough with the smooth.

Where to stay?

You’ve done Bouillon, circled blue. I’d have a think about:

La Roche en Ardenne, circled and / or St Vith (where the blue line ends and circled) maybe making your week into a two centre holiday.

La Roche en Ardenne (small to medium sized town) is very popular, with a decent square. St Vith (a bit bigger than La Roche en Ardenne) is different and close to the German / Luxembourg border, which brings both into play. Germany I have marked with the horizontal lines, which us the start of tge attractive (and very large) Vulkan Eifel region, which offers some excellent roads. Luxembourg too, right down to Luxembourg City. The German and Benelux section of the forum has lots of ideas and suggestions for routes.

Dinant, too is a possibility. A large town, but don’t let that put you off.

Basically, anything under a line: Dinant, Spa, St Vith you’ll not go too far wrong. Me? St Vith and La Roche en Ardenne, I think.




Your turn now….

 

[wessie]

Durbuy looks nice. Some friends stayed there and it is on my list of places to stop at next time. Just above the middle of the red line in the map.

Hotel Durbuysien has private parking.

 

[Wapping]

There’s a group of ‘beautiful villages’ in Belgium, which might be worth Googling up. Some will be up in the north of the country, some will probably be in the south. You could map them out and definitely create a reasonable route around them.

 

[Wapping]

If you like WW2 stuff, the main museum is close to Bastogne. Bastogne itself, is OK to stop in for a coffee on the square, but it’s not a particularly ‘nice’ town. Not least, as its crossroads location sees traffic from all directions. It was this very ‘crossroads’ quality, which made it a key target to attack and defend, strategically. It also saw the town all but destroyed.

St Vith, Trois Ponts and the little village of Wanne (very nice hotel there, but it’s a small village) all feature very much in the Battle of the Bulge story.

 

[47Steve]

Just a heads up, if you are planning on travelling through Luxembourg, the fuel is much cheaper here than the surrounding countries, should you need to fill up

TA Steve

 

[Wapping]

beautiful villages’ in Belgium

Found it.

It’s actually the most beautiful villages in Wallonia, not Belgium. This plays into your plans.

https://visitwallonia.com/en-gb/3/where-to-go-in-wallonia/villages-of-wallonia?cookie_lang=en-gb

For what it’s worth, Wallonia is one of the few remaining areas which still promotes motorcycling and car driving as a part of tourism. Near enough everywhere else has gone ‘health and wellbeing’. How long this will last, remains to be seen, as the crackdown is starting. Go…. Before it’s too late…. But don’t take the piss; it will only serve to speed the inevitable.

 

[Wapping]

One possible consideration, is that the hotels (assuming you are not camping) are often a bit cheaper in Germany, than they are in Belgium and Luxembourg. That said, like the price of petrol, it’s not truly life changing.

If you are going in truly ‘high season’ it might be wise to book, as you are not the only tourist in the area. For example, Vianden (popular in Luxembourg) does get booked, as can La Roche en Ardennes, both featuring in German motorbike magazine touring tips.

 

[wessie]

One possible consideration, is that the hotels (assuming you are not camping) are often a bit cheaper in Germany, than they are in Belgium and Luxembourg. That said, like the price of petrol, it’s not truly life changing.

If you are going in truly ‘high season’ it might be wise to book, as you are not the only tourist in the area. For example, Vianden (popular in Luxembourg) does get booked, as can La Roche en Ardennes, both featuring in German motorbike magazine touring tips.

we went to Germany in 2025. They are catching up, especially with the the introduction of charges for parking and breakfast following the French model. It's all about getting a low room rate on the apps, until you click through and find the true B&B rate with parking.

 

[Wapping]

That’s interesting, thank you.

Several of the hotels I have stayed in, I’ve been happy enough to park on the road outside. But that’s not everyone’s preferred method, understandably.

The additional breakfast charge is not something I’ve noticed.

I guess a part is the rise of Air B&B’s eating into room occupancy? That and the cost of foodstuffs rising.

 

[wessie]

That’s interesting, thank you.

Several of the hotels I have stayed in, I’ve been happy enough to park on the road outside. But that’s not everyone’s preferred method, understandably.

quite happy to do that in most places but we do city breaks mid trip and garage parking is often the only option.

The additional breakfast charge is not something I’ve noticed.

again, more common in the city hotels

I guess a part is the rise of Air B&B’s eating into room occupancy? That and the cost of foodstuffs rising.

mostly it is the commissions charged by the booking agent. Have a flat room rate and less goes to the agent. Charge the customer on site for parking and breakfast. Add these to an inclusive room rate on the booking site and the agent gets a cut.

I'm increasingly bypassing the booking agents. Find the hotel on Google maps, check streetview and book direct, usually a lower rate and sometimes including breakfast and parking. You might also see an attractive half board rate as with my hotel in Ainsa in a few days.

 

[Wapping]

Certainly the hotel in St Vith is cheaper, when booked direct.