Cycling day trip from Antwerp to Breda

Roll out from Antwerp’s historic heart—home to the Cathedral of Our Lady, Rubens’ legacy, and the famed diamond district—and point your bars north toward the Dutch border. This 64 km ride is blissfully flat (only about 70 m of up) and spends most of its time on dedicated cycleways, with smooth asphalt and some village paving-stone stretches.

You’ll cruise through leafy suburbs and forested greenways, then skirt the heathlands near the border before sliding into North Brabant’s quiet lanes and farmland. Expect a relaxed, traffic-light spin: roughly three-quarters of the route is on cycle paths, perfect for settling into an easy rhythm. Cafés and bakeries pop up regularly in the towns you pass—ideal for a stroopwafel or coffee stop.

Roll into Breda along its green outskirts to the charming center, where the Gothic Grote Kerk and Breda Castle frame lively terraces on the Grote Markt. Fun fact: Antwerp is one of Europe’s largest ports, while Breda is known as the “Nassau city,” a cradle of Dutch royal history. Don’t forget a photo at the border sign—and carry ID, even in Schengen.