Ardennes · Meuse · Fagnes · Gaume · Brabant
Travel by bike.
185 municipalities, five countries, one way to see them: slowly, and often uphill.
Leave the beaten track. Stay the night.
Our routes were drawn for the legs. Searched for long enough, they tell the story of a whole land: valleys carved by the Meuse, the Ourthe, the Amblève, the Lesse and the Semois, forests that never end, villages where you stop for a coffee and come back for a week.
Since 2021, every Resist & Ride loop has been scouted, ridden and reworked. They cross Belgium from end to end and spill over into France, Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands. Between two climbs there is an abbey, a castle on a rock, a table, a café where people talk bikes.
This page gathers what you need to travel: the map of the municipalities we ride through, the brevets split into stages, the places not to miss, our addresses, and how to get here without a car.
Here, you don’t ride through the region. You ride into it.
The map
185 municipalities on the route.
Every coloured municipality is crossed by at least one Resist & Ride route.
Pick a family of routes to see its territory. Hover over a municipality to see its name, open a region to zoom in.
A municipality counts once 500 m of route run through it. Belgium: municipalities as of 1 January 2025 (Bastogne and Bertogne merged).
Trips
The brevets, over several days.
The four brevets are open all year round. Register, get the route, pick your dates and split the loop at your own pace.
Our splits stop in towns where you will find a bed and a table. Distance and climbing come from the route; the stages are suggestions, not rules.
Road · 5 days
La Conquête des Ardennes
460 km · 9,000 m+ · loop from Huy
- Day1
Huy → Spa 93 km · ≈ 1,800 m+
The Condroz, the Ourthe at Comblain-au-Pont, the Redoute, then Theux and Spa.
- Day2
Spa → Trois-Ponts 87 km · ≈ 2,100 m+
The Amblève every which way: Stavelot, Malmedy, Stoumont, the Coo waterfall.
- Day3
Trois-Ponts → Rochefort 116 km · ≈ 2,150 m+
Lierneux, Manhay, La Roche-en-Ardenne, then forest all the way to Rochefort.
- Day4
Rochefort → Profondeville 88 km · ≈ 1,550 m+
The Lesse at Houyet, Dinant, Yvoir: back to the Meuse.
- Day5
Profondeville → Huy 76 km · ≈ 1,450 m+
Namur, Andenne, and the Meuse home to the start.
Offroad · 5 days
La Conquête des Ardennes Offroad
409 km · 8,000 m+ · loop from Namur
- Day1
Namur → Han-sur-Lesse 91 km · ≈ 1,600 m+
Profondeville, Maredsous abbey, Walzin, Dinant, then the Lesse.
- Day2
Han-sur-Lesse → Houffalize 77 km · ≈ 1,850 m+
Saint-Hubert and its forest, down to the Ourthe at Houffalize.
- Day3
Houffalize → Bütgenbach 70 km · ≈ 1,350 m+
Gouvy, Burg-Reuland, Sankt Vith: the high plateaus of the East.
- Day4
Bütgenbach → Durbuy 98 km · ≈ 2,000 m+
Lake Bütgenbach, Malmedy, Stavelot, Coo, then Durbuy.
- Day5
Durbuy → Namur 72 km · ≈ 1,150 m+
The Condroz through Havelange and Assesse, back to the Citadel.
Road · 3 days
La Royale Mosane
342 km · 4,070 m+ · loop from Valkenburg
- Day1
Valkenburg → Namur 124 km · ≈ 1,050 m+
Maastricht, the Hesbaye around Liège, then the Meuse from Huy to Namur.
- Day2
Namur → Huy 114 km · ≈ 1,450 m+
Profondeville, Maredsous, Dinant, then the Condroz to Huy.
- Day3
Huy → Valkenburg 103 km · ≈ 1,550 m+
Liège, the Ourthe at Esneux, Blegny, Visé, and back to the Netherlands.
Road · 2 days
Casse-Pattes
202 km · 2,700 m+ · loop south of Brussels
- Day1
Sint-Genesius-Rode → Ittre 116 km · ≈ 1,350 m+
The Sonian Forest, the climbs of the Brabantse Pijl, Wavre, Genval, Lasne.
- Day2
Ittre → Sint-Genesius-Rode 86 km · ≈ 1,350 m+
Ronquières and its inclined plane, Braine-le-Comte, Halle, back through Beersel.
The outlines show each loop from above: the solid dot marks the start, the numbers the end of each stage.
To see
What the route brushes past.
Abbeys, citadels, caves, reservoirs, hilltop villages: everything below is on a route or a few pedal strokes away.
Namur · Dinant
The Meuse, from the Citadel to the rocks
The river cuts deep between limestone cliffs. The routes follow it, leave it for a plateau, then drop back down on roads that fold over themselves.
- Namur CitadelNamur · on the Conquête, the Offroad, the Royale Mosane and the Monster
One of Europe’s great fortresses; its “Médiane” wall dates back to 1542, under Charles V.
- Maredsous AbbeyAnhée · on the Offroad and the Royale Mosane
Benedictine abbey founded in 1872, perched above the Molignée valley.
- Dinant, the collegiate church and the Rocher BayardDinant · on the Conquête, the Offroad, the Royale Mosane and the Monster
A 13th-century Gothic collegiate church at the foot of the citadel; upstream, a needle of rock about forty metres high that Louis XIV’s troops cut through to open the road.
- Walzin CastleDinant · on the Offroad, the Hardennes GT and the Monster
Perched above the Lesse since the 11th century. Private property: you look at it from below, which is the best angle anyway.
- Freÿr castle and gardensHastière · on the Monster
Renaissance castle and 18th-century gardens facing the Freÿr cliffs, open in spring and summer.
- Poilvache ruinsYvoir · on the Royale Mosane
13th-century fortress above the Meuse at Houx: walls, wind and a view.
Lesse · Famenne · Condroz
Underground and along the ridges
The Lesse vanishes under the limestone and comes out further on. Above it, the Famenne rolls on and the Condroz lines up its square farms.
- Han cavesRochefort · 1.6 km from the Offroad
The Lesse carved this network; it has been explored since 1771. Han-sur-Lesse is an overnight stop on the Offroad.
- Lavaux-Sainte-Anne castleRochefort · on the Monster
A moated castle whose construction was ordered in 1450.
- DurbuyDurbuy · on the Offroad and the Hardennes GT
Cobbled lanes in a bend of the Ourthe; it is nicknamed “the smallest town in the world”.
- Collegiate church of Our Lady, HuyHuy · on the Conquête, the Royale Mosane and the Monster
Built between 1311 and 1536 on the bank of the Meuse, below the fort. Start of the Conquête.
Central Ardennes
The heart of the Ardennes
Forest as far as the eye can see, villages in clearings, valleys where the Ourthe twists. This is where night falls fastest.
- Saint-Hubert basilicaSaint-Hubert · on the Offroad
A former abbey church, raised to basilica in 1927, in the heart of the forest of the same name.
- Fourneau Saint-MichelSaint-Hubert · on the Offroad and the Hardennes GT
Open-air museum of rural life in Wallonia, in a wooded valley.
- La Roche feudal castleLa Roche-en-Ardenne · on the Conquête and the Monster
11th-century ruins on a spur above a bend of the Ourthe.
- Redu, book villageLibin · 0.7 km from the Hardennes GT
One of the first “book villages”, full of second-hand bookshops; the Euro Space Center is a few kilometres away.
- Bastogne, the MardassonBastogne · on the Hardennes GT and the Monster
A memorial unveiled in 1950, next to the Bastogne War Museum: the memory of the winter of 1944.
Semois · Gaume · Lorraine
The Semois and the South
The Semois ties itself into tight meanders below Bouillon, then the light changes: the Gaume, its tiled roofs, its milder climate, and French Lorraine within reach.
- Bouillon castleBouillon · on the Hardennes GT and the Monster
Godfrey of Bouillon sold it to fund his departure on the First Crusade.
- Orval AbbeyFlorenville · on the Hardennes GT
Cistercian since 1131, rebuilt from 1926 next to the medieval ruins.
- TorgnyRouvroy · on the Hardennes GT
Belgium’s southernmost village, its pale stone houses and slopes.
- Montmédy citadelMontmédy (FR) · on the Hardennes GT
A fortified upper town, begun around 1545 under Charles V.
- Monthermé and the Roche à Sept HeuresMonthermé (FR) · on the Monster
A quartzite spur above the meanders of the French Meuse, a protected site since 1935.
Amblève · Ourthe
The Amblève, from Remouchamps to Stavelot
The liveliest river in the region: gorges, quartzite boulders, a waterfall cut by monks, and Spa up above.
- Remouchamps cavesAywaille · on the Conquête, the Hardennes GT and the Monster
Open to visitors since 1912, with an underground boat ride of about 700 m.
- Fonds de QuarreuxAywaille · 2.3 km from the Monster
The Amblève tumbles over huge quartzite boulders that fell from the slopes thousands of years ago.
- Coo waterfallStavelot · on the Conquête, the Offroad and the Monster
Dug in the 18th century by the monks of Stavelot, who cut through a meander of the Amblève.
- Stavelot AbbeyStavelot · on the Conquête, the Offroad, the Hardennes GT and the Monster
Founded in 651; its buildings now house museums.
- Spa, the Pouhon Pierre-le-GrandSpa · on the Conquête and the Monster
The town that gave its name to every spa; the spring’s pavilion dates from 1880.
- Franchimont castleTheux · 0.7 km from the Hardennes GT
An 11th-century fortress above the Hoëgne valley.
Fagnes · Eifel · Oesling
The high plateaus of the East
The roof of Belgium, its moors and reservoirs, then the East Cantons, the German Eifel and Luxembourg’s Oesling.
- Signal de BotrangeWaimes · on the Monster
694 m: the highest point in Belgium, in the middle of the Hautes Fagnes.
- Lake BütgenbachBütgenbach · on the Offroad
A 1932 reservoir on the Warche. Overnight stop on the Offroad.
- Reinhardstein castleWaimes · 0.6 km from the Offroad
A 14th-century fortress clinging above the Warche.
- Burg-Reuland castleBurg-Reuland · on the Monster
Medieval ruins above the village, a stone’s throw from the German and Luxembourg borders.
- Bourscheid castleBourscheid (LU) · 2.1 km from the Monster
One of the largest castles in the Grand Duchy, on a ridge above the Sûre.
Liège · Lower Meuse · Limburg
The Meuse heading north
The landscape opens up, slag heaps and orchards take over from the forest, and the Meuse runs on to Maastricht.
- Blegny-MineBlegny · 0.8 km from the Royale Mosane
A coal mine closed in 1980, now open to visitors and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
- Fort Eben-EmaelBassenge · on the Royale Mosane
Built from 1932 to 1935, taken on 10 and 11 May 1940.
- Maastricht, the VrijthofMaastricht (NL) · on the Royale Mosane
A great square lined with listed buildings, including St John’s Church.
- Valkenburg and its cavesValkenburg (NL) · on the Royale Mosane
Marl quarries dug since Roman times, at the foot of the Cauberg. Start of the Royale Mosane.
Brabant
South of Brussels
Towering beeches, cobbled lanes, short steep hills: the playground of the spring classics, an hour by train from anywhere.
- Sonian ForestHoeilaart · Overijse · 1.6 km from Casse-Pattes
A beech forest of which 270 ha have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2017.
- Lake GenvalRixensart · on Casse-Pattes
A former pond turned resort lake, straddling the language border.
- Lion’s MoundBraine-l’Alleud · 1.5 km from Casse-Pattes
A 41 m mound raised in 1826 on the Waterloo battlefield.
- Ronquières inclined planeBraine-le-Comte · 0.5 km from Casse-Pattes
Boats have climbed 68 m here in giant tanks since 1968. Visits have been closed since 2022: you admire it from the road.
Addresses
Cafés on the route.
Cafés run by people who ride. You stop once, then come back all season.
Le Coffee Ride
Coo · Stavelot
A cycling café on the bank of the Amblève, a stone’s throw from the Coo waterfall. On the Conquête and the Offroad.
WebsiteLa Redoutable
La Redoute · Aywaille
On the Côte de la Redoute, the Liège-Bastogne-Liège climb. At km 60 of the Conquête.
WebsiteMUR – Coffee & Cycling
Huy
The first coffee stop of the Conquête, two kilometres after the start. The Royale Mosane rides past it too.
La Bordure
Arlon
A cycling café in the south of Luxembourg province. The Hardennes Gravel Tour rides through Arlon.
WebsitePractical
Come without a car, ride as a guest.
Getting here by train
- Conquête des ArdennesHuy station
- Conquête Offroad · MonsterNamur station
- Royale MosaneValkenburg station (NL)
- Casse-PattesSint-Genesius-Rode, 2 km away
- Hardennes Gravel TourPoix-Saint-Hubert station
Stations dot the municipalities we ride through: Coo, Trois-Ponts, Spa-Géronstère, Dinant, Houyet, Jemelle, Barvaux, Melreux-Hotton, Gouvy, Vielsalm, Libramont, Bertrix, Arlon, Virton. Handy to shorten a stage or head home by rail.
Bikes on trains
SNCB: a bike supplement is added to your ticket, with no reservation, subject to space. It costs more at weekday rush hours; folding bikes travel free.
No boarding or alighting with a bike at Brussels-Central, Brussels-Congres and Brussels-Chapelle.
In the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, bikes ride free on CFL trains, subject to space.
Seasons and terrain
From May to September, the days are long and the tracks dry. Autumn is russet and muddy; the Ardennes winter has to be earned: frost on the ridges, dark by 5 pm.
The routes use roads and tracks open to everyone. Stay on authorised paths, respect forest closures on hunting days (notices at the edge of the woods), close the gates, take your litter home, greet the walkers.
