Beer & Bike in Belgium: The Flemish Beer Route

You make your own way to Genk, where you receive a friendly welcome at the hotel. After check-in, there's time to settle into the trip and perhaps take a walk through the pleasant Molenvijver Park before dinner. Here begins your cycling week through Flanders, with Belgian beer culture, beautiful landscapes and several of the region's most spectacular cycle paths ahead of you.

The first cycling day takes you across the Kempen plateau and the journey begins immediately with a real highlight. You cycle along a cycle path straight through Mechelse Heide, one of Flanders' largest heathlands. Here awaits an almost 300-meter-long wooden bridge for cyclists, with beautiful panoramic views over the landscape. The bridge is part of three unique cycling experiences in Limburg – Cycling over the heath, Cycling through the trees and Cycling through water – which you pass during the journey. The ride continues through vast pine forests, endless heathlands in Hoge Kempen national park and over Ophovenderheide. Today's destination is Peer, one of the so-called "Goede Steeden" in the former principality of Liège. Here you'll also find the Pieter Bruegel museum.

Another day filled with nature experiences begins with a piece of history. Shortly after the start, you cycle through Hechtel, a village that was completely destroyed in September 1944 during the Battle of Hechtel. Through Pijnven, another new and unique cycling experience in Limburg awaits: Cycling through the trees. A 700-meter-long cycle path leads you in a double circle up to 10 meters high, so that you literally cycle among the treetops in Bosland van de Kempen. Via the former sand pits around Mol and the canal between Dessel and Schoten, you then reach Arendonk, where you can admire the windmill Toremansmolen. From there it's not far to Turnhout. On the way you first pass the Liereman landscape, one of Belgium's oldest nature reserves.

You set off towards the picturesque Merksplas, where you can look into the visitor center and learn more about the former prison colony. Here inmates learned agricultural work that was then practiced out in the fields. The journey continues via Oostmalle and Malle to Westmalle, where a well-deserved stop awaits at the café opposite the monastery. Here you can taste a classic Trappist beer before rolling on towards the cosmopolitan city of Antwerp. Once there, there's almost too much to see – culture, history, restaurants, shops and big city pulse of Belgian top class.

The city's noise quiets as you glide out from Antwerp into calmer, greener surroundings. In Mortsel you can see Fort 4, a brick and sandstone fort that is part of the eight original Brialmont forts from the 1860s, built as part of Antwerp's defense line. You continue towards Leuven and pass the festival area where the four-day festival Rock Werchter is held every summer. During the day, your legs also get some extra work when some gentle hills appear. The friendly university city of Leuven lives up to its reputation and offers life enjoyment, traditional architecture and Groot Begijnhof, a former residential area for beguines – a semi-monastic women's community from the 13th to 16th centuries.

Today's stage is magnificent and begins with a stop at Vlooybergtoren in Tielt-Winge. Climb up the rust-colored stairs and enjoy the panorama from the unusual viewpoint, which almost appears to float freely. Further ahead lies Haksberg castle nestled among 3.6 hectares of vineyards, where the local wines have been named after Hageland's bird species. Also take time to stop in Scherpenheuvel, Belgium's most important pilgrimage site, with the country's oldest central-plan domed church. The day ends in the beautiful city of Diest, with historical ties to the House of Orange. Diest is still somewhat of an undiscovered gem and offers a pleasant surprise, not least the opportunity to stroll along the river Demer.

Today's flat roads won't take your breath away, but the landscape will. You first cycle to Schulensmeer, known for its many water sports, and then continue into De Wijers – "the land of 1001 ponds". Here you wind your way between fish ponds, colorful vegetation and rich wildlife. In Bokrijk there's an open-air museum that depicts rural life in the early 1900s, with the opportunity to try traditional crafts and skills. Finally, one of the trip's most remarkable and memorable experiences awaits: a 200-meter-long cycle path straight through a natural lake, where you travel at the same level as the swans with water on both sides. Then you return to Genk for a final night in lovely Belgium.

After a final breakfast buffet at the hotel, the cycling trip is over. You leave Genk on your own, with Flanders' beer traditions, historic cities, heathlands, forests, lakes and quite incredible cycle paths in your luggage.