Blog

On March 20, the time had finally come: spring! And in April the spring weather was not long in coming. All the more reason to get out there! And on top of that: it’s high time to take a good hard look at ourselves if we wanted to be able to show ourselves proportionally in swimwear at some point in the coming months. We, Lara and Thobeka, two seasoned cycling talents from the Netherlands, decided to finally take Harmony’s bike ride together. 50 kilometers clean on the hook.

And admittedly, we are quite proud of that. Not a mile of regret.

We have seen a lot of the city. Different types of neighborhoods with historic buildings, workers’ houses, farms… What surprised us above all were the vast natural areas that the city and its border areas are rich in. Beautiful at this time of year. This route is definitely recommended if you don’t know Ghent (well) yet and if you like long cycling. So make sure you have properly inflated tires! It’s quite a climb but we really enjoyed it so would essentially recommend it to everyone.

It was a real pleasure to drive along the ditches and the meadows on one side with stylized residential villas on the other. It has given us great pleasure to plow through nature in this way. It was very quiet with only a few horses or a few donkeys here and there, which we watched from a safe distance. In any case, there was also plenty of opportunity to take a break on a bench and enjoy the view to the fullest.

The starting point of the tour is of course Hotel Harmony itself, right in the center of Ghent. For the first part you cycle right through the city, along the quays. In addition to modern architectural delights, there were a surprising number of churches and cathedrals on the route. We also passed nice restaurants, terraces, shops, etc. Ideal of course to remember for the evening or to visit again the next day.

However, worth mentioning was the packed lunch that the hotel gave us. This is in a super handy bag that you can hang on your handlebars with on top of the route. The route is very clear; it indicates exactly which nodes you have to follow. The colorful signs can be found on poles along the road and are easy to recognize. And the packed lunch itself did not disappoint in the least. Per person two savory sandwiches, two sweet sandwiches/cakes (the decision was unanimous: freshly baked!), a banana, a bottle of water and a bottle from Hotel Harmony that we were allowed to keep and finally also nuts. Welcome calories in this circumstance! And to lick the fingers off, so nice that the napkins were not missing either.

Conclusion: Hotel Harmony takes good care of you, wherever you are! We are fans!