Belgium & France: Bruges – Paris or Paris – Bruges Premium

During this 15 day bike & barge trip through Flanders (Belgium) and northern France, from Bruges to Paris, you will cycle through attractive areas, not yet discovered by mass tourism. This tour is characterized by a wide variation in landscapes and has all the ingredients a good bike & barge tour needs to explore these interesting regions.

The first stage in Belgium features highlights like magnificent Bruges as unbeatable start of a beautiful discovery tour, history in medieval Ghent, tapestry in Oudenaarde, Vincent van Gogh’s heritage, a nice Belgium beer at end of your daily cycling tour. Highlights in France are World War I battle fields and memorials in the Somme valley, the Chateau de Chantilly and its art gallery the Musée Condé that houses one of the finest collections of paintings in France, and – last but not least – beautiful Paris, the “City of Lights”.

The cycling tours go over gently forested undulations and across open farm land, along the rivers Scheldt, Somme, Oise and Seine; the Belgian-French border also appears to be more or less the watershed between the river basins of Scheldt and Seine.

As well as being able to discover many picturesque villages each day – both on your bicycle and on foot – you will be able to:

• Visit the UNESCO World Heritage-listed historical center of Bruges;
• Explore Ghent where several masterpieces of medieval painting are to be found, “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb” by Jan van Eyck, being the most famous of all;
• Pass through Oudenaarde, the town of the tapestry weavers;
• Visit the town of Péronne with her fascinating “Grande Guerre” museum;
• Admire the splendid chateau of Chantilly; a luxurious castle with an impressive art collection and horse dressage;
• Walk to the grave of Vincent van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise;
• Visit many highlights of Paris.

The ship – Your sailing hotel
In between cycling excursions, you cruise along with the ship, which travels to a new destination every day. You dine, sleep and eat breakfast on board. You’ll receive a packed lunch every day, and you can usually choose between a longer or shorter bike ride. It’s also possible to spend a day on board if you like. There are rental E-Bikes on board, this tour will be offered as an E-Bike only tour.

Fully Guided
Accompanied by a competent, professional and multilingual tour leader, you and the group will visit interesting sights and places on the daily cycling tours. During the bike tour, they will explain the local history and culture behind the things you encounter along the way. You can also choose to ride individually with the help of our Ride with GPS app and the Boat Bike Tours cycling map (available on board).

Total distance 421 - 546 km