“He was a wise man who invented beer.”
Plato
Brad Ring, Publisher of Brew Your Own Magazine, personally invites you to join him on this exclusive and epic beer adventure.
Belgium is a world of scenic landscapes, castles, stone-built villages, multiple languages and cultures, gourmet restaurants, beautiful walking and cycling paths, and really nice people. Since the first Crusades, the church allowed abbeys to brew and distribute beer as a fundraising method. Consequently, breweries and beer cafes now abound in Belgium! Trappist monks carry on those deep traditions now with their dark, sweet, complex ales while Belgian craft brewers create their own rich brewing history and traditions by experimenting with other beer flavors.
We’ll be traveling through the region known as Flanders where the primary language is Flemish (an offshoot of Dutch). Throughout our tour, we’ll bike through rich, agricultural landscapes on well-maintained, easy paths, and explore remarkable and historic Belgian cities and villages by foot. (Note: there is a significant amount of city walking on cobblestone streets so you’ll want to bring the proper shoes!)
Our evenings are spent in accommodations that range from the country inn on the Saint Bernardus Brewery property to charming award-winning hotels in the city centers of Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels. Each day we stay active on foot and by bike and visit over ten different breweries and abbeys. Your guides will share with you some of their favorite biking trails and off-the-beaten-path beer cafés and restaurants. They will also introduce you to some of their favorite people in Belgium’s beer culture, and of course, help you sample the beers they love so much!
This is a private adventure brought to you by:
Details
- Dates: June 29 - July 5, 2025
- Cost Per Person: $4,550
- Single Supplement: $700
- Activities: Brewery Tours, Biking, and Hiking
- Difficulty: All Ability Levels
- Guides: Yannick de Cocquéau
Other Info: -> The Single Supplement of $700 is good for four of the six tour nights. There are no single rooms available at the St. Bernardus monastery guesthouse.
Book this TourTrip Highlights
- Visiting 13 different breweries from the internationally famous (Westvleteren/St. Sixtus Trappist Abbey, Cantillon, Rodenbach) to small, local craft brewers you may have never heard of before.
- Exploring and enjoying cultures, history and food in cities and villages across Belgium like Brussels, Watou, Ghent, and Bruges
- Riding our bikes through the beautiful and mostly-flat Belgium countryside
- Meeting and hanging out with other home and professional brewers, along with BYO Magazine publisher Brad Ring
DAY 1
Welcome to Belgium! Our adventure starts at 8:30 AM, meaning you should likely arrive in Brussels the day before. After a quick orientation, we head straight to Bruges, a wonderful city with lots of history, impressive architecture, good food, culture and beer cafes. We will whet everyone's whistle with a visit straightaway to Brouwerij Fort Lapin, named after the fortress built in 1664 to protect Bruges’ commercial hub. We will then transfer to Bargeplein to walk through pleasant Minnewaterpark for lunch and a brewery tour at Brouwerji De Halve Maan. Then we will continue our walk through Bruges city center to our hotel for check in. For dinner, we walk to dinner at a local beer cafe with an optional post-dinner pub-crawl in some of Bruges iconic beer bars.
DAY 2
DAY 3
After breakfast we will transfer to Poperinge and pick up our rental bikes for our first ride of the trip. We'll bike on a road that serves as the border between Belgium and France, wind through the countryside, and have options of 25 or 45 kilometers. We'll end up at DECA Brewery for a tour and tasting, accompanied by a light lunch. After lunch we'll jump back in the bus and transfer back to Saint Bernardus for an afternoon tasting of their well-known abbey-style beers. We'll have some time to relax at our guesthouse (we rent out the entire place for two nights). In the evening, we'll visit De Moare Brewery, which is a new brewery opened by Jan, our bus driver on our previous Belgium tours who took the plunge to create his own brewery.
DAY 4
This morning we will enjoy a scenic 20 kilometer bike ride from St. Bernardus through pastoral landscapes and quaint villages to the city of Ypres. In Ypres we’ll enjoy lunch and a private tour at De Kazematten Brewery. Though Kazematten is a newer brewery that opened up in 2014, the buildings where the brewery and brasserie are housed have quite a bit of history. It was originally built as part of Louis XIV’s fortress back in the 1680s and used for storing ammunition and weapons up into the 20th century. After lunch, we drive to one of our favorite cities in all of Europe, Ghent, where we have planned a city walk through historical Ghent ending with a tour, brewery visit, and dinner at DOK Brewing.
DAY 5
We begin our day by shuttling to Lekeren where we will again pick up our rental bikes. We'll enjoy another 20 kilometer ride through the Flanders countryside, ending at Verbeeck-Back-De Cock Brewery. We'll enjoy a tasting and lunch in the garden. From there we’ll shuttle back to Ghent where you will have the remainder of the afternoon and evening free to explore this wonderful city on your own. Our guide can give you plenty of tips on where to go and you'll likely hook up with some of your fellow travelers to enjoy the city.
DAY 6
We will check out and walk to pick up our rental bikes. Our ride today is a beautiful, flat route along the River Scheldt. We end our ride at Heilig Hart "Sacred Heart" Brewery. The brewery is housed in a former church and boasts of being "artisanal" due to its focus on natural processes. After our visit, we’ll shuttle to Liedekerke for lunch at De Heeren van Liedekercke, which regularly gets voted as the best beer restaurant in the country. Finally, it is back in the bus for a shuttle back to Brussels where we started. We'll enjoy a tour and tasting at famous Brasserie Cantillon. Cantillon uses natural yeasts that are present in the air around us for fermentation. The entire brewery experience is outstanding. We’ll end our final night together with yet another delicious Belgian dinner, this one at fancy Les Brigittines and, for those who might be interested, stopping into a few of Brussel’s extraordinary beer cafés after dinner can be a great way to bring an evening and, in this case, a tour to a close.
DAY 7
We bid each other farewell today as we make our way to the airport -- or not if you have further travel plans!
Book this TourTrip Accommodations
NIGHT 1 >> Hotel Dukes’ Arches / BRUGES
Located in the historic city center, this ancient medieval building is surrounded by canals and cobbled streets and is within walking distance to many of the places we visit during our stay. The hotel was recently renovated and so the historic aspect is accompanied by modern comforts.
NIGHTS 2 & 3 >> St. Bernardus Guesthouse / WATOU
This charming guesthouse is attached to the St. Bernadus Brewery just outside the town center of Watou. Though it is a very simple accommodation, what could be more fun than spending a night in a brewery? Our charming hostess, Jackie, will ensure you feel like you are right at home here. We rent out the entire place.
NIGHTS 4 & 5 >> Hotel Harmony / GHENT
This small family run boutique hotel is situated on a quiet street in the middle of the historic town of Ghent. The four-star hotel is located in three historic buildings, gets outstanding traveler reviews, and features excellent modern comforts.
NIGHT 6 >> Hilton Brussels Grand Place / BRUSSELS
While we don't normally stay at chain hotels on our tours, the Hilton Brussels Grand Palace is an outstanding hotel that is perfectly located. It is only a short walk from the main train station, so an excellent way to start and end our tour.
Book this TourArrival & Departures
You are free to arrive in Brussels anytime you like prior to our early morning meeting on Day 1. This allows you to arrive the day before, making sure to compensate for any potential travel delays. Our adventure ends the last day of the trip back in Brussels after breakfast. You may choose to extend your stay in Brussels or continue your travels via a high-speed train to Paris, London, or Amsterdam, or fly home. The Brussels airport is easily accessible via our hotel via train or taxi.
What's Included?
- One Zephyr guide accompanies this trip, along with your host Brad Ring from BYO Magazine.
- Double occupancy lodging is included. If you are traveling solo, we will match you with another traveler of the same gender. However, you may pay a single supplement to have your own room. Please note on this trip a single room is only available for four of the six nights, as we do not have enough space for single rooms at the St Bernardus guesthouse. However, they have large rooms with multiple beds.
- Five dinners, three lunches, and six breakfasts are included. Gratuity for these meals is also included.
- All your transportation is included once you meet your guides on the first day.
- All formal beer tastings are included plus your first beer at included meals
- NOT INCLUDED Other beverages, desserts, meals not indicated, gratuities to your guides, personal expenses and travel to and from the destination.
Weather
Late June and early July in Belgium bring nice mild temperatures with an average high of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, dropping down into the low 50s at night. You'll want to bring light layers that can easily be put on or taken off. Be prepared for a possible heat wave, as recent years have shown us are possible in Europe. Additionally, Belgium is a surprisingly rainy country so you'll want to bring a waterproof layer as it may rain.
Bikes
You will see that everyone bikes in Belgium! Ironically, the quality of bikes available in Belgium is not as good as many of our other tour locations and the bikes are rather basic models used for everyday transportation such as 7-speed cruisers rather than road bikes or mountain bikes. That said, they are perfect for what we use them for – leisurely rides along mostly flat routes.
Ability Level
This tour is rated For All Abilities and is a moderately active trip but with relatively easy biking on mostly flat routes. Daily mileage varies depending on beer tastings and other activities for each day but is roughly 10 – 15 miles per day. While you will get daily activity either by biking or walking each day in the beautiful cities we visit, this trip is not designed for someone looking for a major workout and tons of mileage (check out some of our other biking trips for that!). Conversely, you should be prepared to be active on vacation or for someone who does not bike.
Belgian Cuisine
A good portion of the Belgian cuisine revolves around cooking with beer. Which is awesome for beer lovers! Many dishes consist of a variety of meats ranging from beef, rabbit, and even horse braised in a variety of Belgian brews. Green vegetables are not commonplace and may not even be an option on a menu, however, some places have excellent, large salads.
Beer
Belgium is one of the great beer cultures of the world, and they have a very wide variety of brews for nearly anyone. Belgian beers bear little resemblance to many American brews. They range from light sweet abbey style brews to dark spicy Cuvee Royale to bright, fruity and sour lambics.
Changes to Your Itinerary
While everything under “What is Included” will remain the same, the actual restaurants, hotels, and activities listed in our itineraries are subject to modifications. Changes that are out of our control are common – a restaurant closes or loses its awesome chef, a winery changes its visiting hours, a hotel gets remodeled, a road or trail undergoes construction. You are entrusting us to create an outstanding vacation for you and so it is possible we may take the liberty of making necessary changes (even at the last minute, during the guides’ scout trip) to the itinerary that will improve your overall trip experience. If there is any one experience that is going to make or break your trip, please discuss this with us in advance! We will attempt to keep our website itinerary as current as possible and communicate any major changes with you in the weeks prior to the tour.
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