2026 North to the Nordics and Nordkapp, Sat June 20, 2026

Luxembourg → Brussels, Belgium

The plan was ~3h20m to Manheim via Naturund Geopark Vulkaneifel to hopefully get lunch with Joe and Bridget, then continue on to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. But I'm behind schedule and there seemed to be little enthusiasm for my visit. It was going to add a day and curtail my visit to Luxembourg, Belgium, and Netherlands to spend the 1.5+ days in Germany to go via Manheim, so I blew them off and decided to enjoy my traveling and skip the visiting. Sorry dude!

Breakfast at Hostellerie de la Vallée was quite good so I started the day full and happy.

The plan is to ride through the forests in Luxembourg, taking a roundabout way out of the country North towards Belgium. Then travel NE across Belgium to the big city of Brussels.

Riding on this beautiful Saturday morning, I encountered literally hundreds of motorcyclists out enjoying the forest roads of Luxembourg.

Along the way, I chanced upon a fairy-tale castle called Château de Bourscheid. Built around 1000, the castle is enclosed by a circular wall with 11 watchtowers.

After the castle, I stopped at the side of the road to catch a few videos of motorcyclists cruising by.

I had some cheese and bread at a picnic table in the forest and then bought gas at the last cheap(er) Luxembourg gas station just before the border with Belgium.

The Belgian forests were subtly different to the Luxembourg forests. In Belgium, they are tree farms and less manicured, more littered with ferns.

A remarkable feature of the Belgian country-side are the Belgian Blue cows and bulls. These double muscled monsters are really impressive. I stopped a couple of times to get pictures.

Another fancy castle was the Radhadesh Hare Krishna Temple — Château de Petite Somme. This 19th-century neo-Gothic castle is the main center for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Château de Petite Somme was purchased by the church in 1979 and restored. It's also a sanctuary for cows and has a vegetarian eatery serving organic and plant-based meals. Funny to see this sanwiched between herds of Belgian Blues.

Then a boring (100km) stretch into Brussels, along which I didn't find anything photo worthy. Or maybe it was just hot and I wanted to get there, settle in and walk the city.

I had a little difficulty finding the LATROUPE Grand Place Hostel which was on a pedestrian plaza, not really properly vehicle accessible, but I was on a scooter, so NP! I unpacked and checked in. First experience with a mixed dormatory hostel. It was comfortable, but a little annoying with girls and hairdryers in the room.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I found a garage in which to park the scooter, then took off to walk around the city. LATROUPE Grand Place is on a pedestrian plaza right in the heart of Brussels which is absolutely frantic with tourists and young people, probably from all over Europe. Brussels is Beer, Belgian Chocolate, Belgian Waffles, La Frite (Belgian French Fries), Rubber Ducks(!), and a pissing boy called GardeRobe MannekenPis.

Back at LATROUBE Grand Place, I called Kathi then went to bed. My room was a busy place for a while as several women were brushing their hair and blow drying around the sink next to my bed. I butted in and brushed my teeth, then closed the curtain, and fell dead asleep, tired from a long, hot, but super enjoyable day.


Luxembourg → Brussels

Luxembourg → Brussels (280 km, 7hrs)

Ride Log

Evening Walk Around Brussels

picture locations walking around Brussels