The best traffic-free bike rides around Bois du Laerbeek - Laarbeekbos

Skylane from Brussels with the Atomium and the Belgian flag on top.

This is where the interesting part ends. Brussels is right on your doorstep. Conversely, it's an ideal way to leave Brussels behind.

Nice piece of F212. You can really go for it here. Straight ahead. Be careful at Zellik station.

Nice alternative to the many narrow roads in the forest itself where cycling is not allowed.

The Hoogpoort Castle is a castle in the Flemish Brabant town of Asse, located at Hoogpoort 6-8. On the Figurative Map of the goods of 't hoff te Vrythout ende de hooge Poorte from 1718, there is mention of a prominent country house. In 1749, the property was owned by Barbara Leyniers. In 1831, the house, together with the surrounding 34 ha, was owned by Joseph Leyniers. His widow sold it in 1840 to notary Joseph Crick. He enlarged the property to 177 ha and also acquired the IJzenbeekmolen. Around 1860, he had most of the buildings of Hoogpoort demolished and probably only the old country house was preserved. He died in 1876 and his son, Prosper Crick, renovated and enlarged this house in the early 1890s. In 1905, the estate came to René Florin. In 1908, he had a neoclassical castle built near the old house. This was surrounded by a forest of 4.5 ha and the straight paths were converted into winding paths. The forest is home to woodbine, wild garlic and woodloosifolia. It is this castle that still exists. ( https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasteel_Hoogpoort )

Mort Subite Brewery, formerly De Keersmaeker Brewery, is a beer brewery in Kobbegem in the Belgian municipality of Asse. The first mention of this farm brewery dates back to 1604 and the first brewer mentioned was Joris Van Der Hasselt in 1686. Generations later, in 1869, Felix Jan De Keersmaeker (1840-1912) took over the brewery from Jan Baptist Bastaerts (1787-1869). His son Hubert De Keersmaeker (1896-1945) - mayor of Kobbegem - launched the top-fermenting beer Hert Ale during the interbellum, followed in the 1950s by the bottom-fermenting Kob Pils. The company was then owned by brothers André (1932-2024) and Paul De Keersmaeker (1929-2022), who later became a state secretary in the Belgian federal government. In 1970, De Keersmaeker took over À la Mort Subite, a well-known Brussels café with a gueuze stekerij, from the Vossen brothers. The name Mort Subite comes from the dice game pietjesbak. The loser of this game is called a "dead". When there was little time left, a shortened version was played: the "Mort Subite". This game became common in Vossen's café, after which it was decided to give the café that name as well. Since the takeover, lambic, gueuze and fruit beers have been the most important products in the range, under the name Mort Subite. In 1989, the Eylenbosch brewery from Schepdaal was also taken over. When the De Keersmaeker brothers sold their shares to the Alken-Maes group, they became the new owner. Since 2008, this brewery group has in turn been part of the Dutch Heineken. ( https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brouwerij_Mort_Subite )

The church of Kobbegem is an oriented, Gothic pseudo-basilica, dating back to the end of the fourteenth century or the beginning of the fifteenth. The church is located in a bend in the climbing street and is surrounded by a walled cemetery to this day. The cemetery wall is built of brick on a sandstone base and has bluestone cover plates; bluestone gate pillars with crowning ball ornaments; concentrically constructed cemetery with a large variety of gravestones; to the right of the entrance is the monument for the fallen. The church was protected as a monument by Royal Decree of 25 March 1938. ( https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/76795 )

The cycle highway takes you from one city to another in record time, without having to drive through car traffic.