GPX - German Eifel / Belgium and Luxembourg Ardennes

[Wapping]

Bods might possibly find these GPX routes (created for a trip away to the Eifel and to the classic motorcycle racing in Chimay) helpful, should they want to do something similar.

The routes are:

Chunnel to Ibis Budget in St Omer
St Omer to Winterspelt, a small town or large village, just over the border from St Vith in Belgium, so real ‘Battle of the Bulge’ stuff.
Winterspelt to Chimay
Chimay back to St Omer, Budget Ibis
Budget Ibis, back to the Chunnel
5 days out from Winterspelt

The hotel in Winterspelt is: https://hubertus-winterspelt.de/?lang=en





















The routes might sometimes take an odd direction. That is most often because HERE maps in MyRoute will deviate around known road closures. Thst of course does not mean that the same roads will still be closed if and when the routes are ridden. There again, other roads might be closed. It’s all part of the big Adventure (with a capital A).

For example, in the second route (St Omer to Winterspelt) this road is shut through to September 2024, accounting for the two sides of a triangle detour:

 

[Wapping]

A screenshot of the days out, layered on top of each other. The village of Winterspelt is the green hand, number 1, a reasonably useful base.

Whilst the XT and most other modern GPX devices are more that capable of running fully circular routes, I still harbour an old (and unnecessary) aversion to creating them. That is why all the routes end short of the village on their return. Likewise, I always start routes, not where I will be standing outside the hotel, but rather a mile or so down the road. This gives the GPS a point to aim for, after which the route(s) will run normally, with no more intervention from me.

 

[Wapping]

I have created an alternative route 2 (St Omer to Winterspelt) which removes the hour of motorway between St Omer and Cambrais.

It’s one I have used before, leaving the Ibis Budget hotel in St Omer early, before breakfast. I then stop in St Pol and have a coffee and a bun, an hour or so down the road. I’ll probably stop in or around Dinant for a late lunch, or earlier if I see somewhere decent, just to stop for a sandwich or roll, picked up from somewhere along the way.