Has anyone taken the U-drive canal cruise through Belgium? Planning on a trip from Nieuport to Brugges, on to Ghent and then back. If you know of any nice places to stop along the way or insider tips on U-drive cruising in this area, please let me know.
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Good trip, we did it last year. From Nieuport to Brugge is a small, country canal with loads of places to stop with bars and food. Brugge is bigger and the canal to Ghent is HUGE until the last little bit into the town centre. It%26#39;s an excellent trip.
You need to make friends with the lock keepers. You phone them to let them know you are coming and they will tell you when you can go through the locks and bridges. The lock keepers who come to visit you will have good suggestions on where to moor and good places to eat and drink.
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Thanks for your report. I%26#39;m curious to know if all of the lock keepers you encountered spoke English? (We speak no French and certainly no Flemish!) We%26#39;ve chosen Belgium as a first U-drive trip because we were told most people will speak English. Also, there are only two of us on a boat that sleeps 4+2. Will we have any trouble mooring or operating the locks without more bodies on board? Anything you would have done differently? Again, many thanks.
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Hi we%26#39;re interested in doing this also but wondered if it is possible to cruise further south in Belgium. Would like to go down into the Ardennes. Anyone any experience of this ??
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There are lots of potential canal routes in Belgium. Check out LeBoat at www.leboat.com They are the U.S marketing arm of a consortium of the three big European U-rent canal boat companies, Connosieur, Emerald, and Crown Blue. Their web site lists all of their routes. They have been terrific to work -- very knowledgeable and responsive. Check out their %26quot;boat of the month%26quot; specials if your dates are flexible. You can save up to 25% that way. We%26#39;ll post how it went when we return in late September. Have fun!
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While it may seem strange to be %26quot;replying%26quot; to my own post - I just want to let folks know that we%26#39;ve just returned from our canal cruise through Belgium and it was simply spectacular. We chose the itinerary that takes you to Brugges, Ghent, through the artists colony of St. Maarten Latem and briefly to Deinze before returning to base and I definitely recommend it. At first it seemed odd that it would take us 1 week to cover the territory you could cover by train or car in a couple hours -- but the slow pace of canal cruising (our first time but definitely not our last) was relaxing and very beautiful. It certainly helped that we had clear, sunny and relatively warm weather for all but the first half-day when it rained some. The boats available through www.leboat.com are excellent and the staff at the base station is kind, attentive, and helpful. Be sure to take their advice on planning your trip -- and pay close attention/write things down when they do this with you upon your arrival, as there is a lot of detail that you might otherwise forget. It is particularly important to stay on schedule -- because this is a %26quot;return trip%26quot; which means you need to get the boat back to the original base station. Bridges and locks (though there are relatively few on this particularly itinerary compared to most others) can slow you down if you have to wait for them to be opened/operated and you don%26#39;t want to get stuck several hours away from the base station on the day you are supposed to have the boat back. For this 1 week trip, plan to overnight on the canal 1/2 way to Brugges. Then I%26#39;d recommend two nights in Brugges but leave by 9 AM on your last day in Brugges to make it to Ghent early enough in the afternoon to do some sightseeing there. You can sightsee some more in Ghent the next morning but I%26#39;d leave by 1 PM in order to enjoy the beautiful Lei river trip down to Deinze and still make it through the last bridge that gets you into the Deinze yachthaven before it (the bridge) closes for the night. Deinze itself is not much of a tourist attraction so you don%26#39;t really need any sightseeing time there -- it is just a place to stop for the night before heading back. Leave Deinze early in the morning (9 AM or so) in order to get back to Brugges for one more afternoon and night. There will undoubtedly be things you wished you%26#39;d done on your first two days and nights there and now is your chance! But, leave by 9 AM the next day in order to be sure to make it back to base that evening (which will be the evening before the boat is due back). This last segment is long and has the majority of the %26quot;waiting-required%26quot; bridges and locks. Plan to spend the last night on the boat at the base so you%26#39;ll be there and ready for check-out by the required 9AM the next morning. There are good restaurants a short taxi ride away from the base or you could head into Oostende or Veurne or Diksmuide (longer taxi trips) for dinner on your last night. The base manager, Ivan, and his family are great people and do a terrific job. We offered to take them to dinner at their favorite restaurant. At first, they didn%26#39;t think we were serious -- but they ultimately agreed to go and we all had a great evening. Belgium%26#39;s people are warm, life-loving, welcoming, and a pleasure to get to know. They are very kind to their visitors of all nationalities and usually speak many languages, including Flemish, French, English, and German. This was one of our favorite trips of all times. Of course, it helps to be a %26quot;boat person%26quot; and to understand that you are living in the close quarters of a boat and not in a 5-star hotel. But, we wouldn%26#39;t have traded it for anything -- and we were very sad to say goodbye to our floating home away from home!
One final tip -- Brugges is a hopping tourist-filled place on Saturday and Sunday but really shuts down after about 5 PM on Sunday and much of the village (including some of the restaurants) on Mondays. We found it interesting to see it in both its %26quot;bustling high-energy%26quot; state and it%26#39;s quiet %26quot;no tourists%26quot; state and the way we did the itinerary allowed us to see both sides. Consider this though, as you plan your trip. If you don%26#39;t like the idea of spending Sunday night and Monday there when many shops and restaurants are closed, you can consider reversing the direction of the itinerary -- going (via Deinze) to Ghent first and hitting Brugges during the week, on your way back to base. Consult with Ivan and Kristal about this as they will have to review the appropriate timing for you.
Have fun! Wish we were going to!
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