Toby writes…
I am an eighteen year old student who is looking for inspiration and perhaps a few suggestions from an experienced rider such as yourself. Me and my friend decided, a while ago, to do a trip from where we live on the south coast to Brussels. After being inspired by your website I have contemplated extending this to Luxembourg for this coming Summer.
Would you happen to have any suggestions or ideas where we could look for detail cycle routes and planning.
Thank You for your time
Kind Regards
Toby

Thanks for your email Toby. It makes me smile to be called an “experienced rider”; I am far from being one – just an enthusiastic amateur.

I suppose if you were to ask me about any part of the Eurovelo 5 route then the bit you are planning to cycle is the bit I am least qualified to advise upon as I removed Brussels from my own route – see “Removing the Belgian kink” – having already visited the city some years ago and wanting to crack on with the journey and make good progress in the first week or so of cycling. That said, the route from Calais to Luxembourg, via Brussels, is actually one of the parts of the complete Eurovelo 5 route that is best defined by the official ECF description of the route – read my “essential” version here – which even gives numbered cycle routes that you can follow in Luxembourg. And I have to say that if I were to cycle the whole thing again, I would actually not miss out Brussels; the route that I did take which took me along the French-Belgian border was not the most interesting stretch of the journey and I did find it difficult to find accommodation, certainly accommodation in campsites. I would whole-heartedly recommend cycling as far as Luxembourg – it’s a great little place with a fascinating history; top tip – spend a couple of hours in the excellent museum when you arrive to make the most of your visit! The best maps to buy, by the way, are the Michelin 1:200,000 maps that give sufficient detail of your chosen route (you’ll never find a definitive route to follow apart from the stretches of the route that follow a cycle path – you’ll just have to make it up as you go along, which is no bad thing) which remaining extremely portable. Good luck, and bonne route! Let me know how you get on.