Ascension in Belgium

Quoted message said:

I'm doing a long weekend ride in the Ardennes 18th-22nd May. Thurs
17th is Ascension Day, a public holiday in Belgium. I never book
hotels in advance and normally don't have a problem finding one. Only
problems in the past have been the Ascension and Pentecost (end May)
holidays in France.

Quoted message said:

Could any Belgians out there (or Belgium scholars) advise me whether
Ascension Day expands to become a holiday weekend? i.e. could be busy
hotel-wise when I'm going.

It normally is a long weekend in The Netherlands and a lot of them travel
to the Ardennes...

Roos

Quoted message said:

I'm doing a long weekend ride in the Ardennes 18th-22nd May. Thurs
17th is Ascension Day, a public holiday in Belgium. I never book
hotels in advance and normally don't have a problem finding one. Only
problems in the past have been the Ascension and Pentecost (end May)
holidays in France.

Dunno about Belgium. Here in France, Ascension, which always happens on
a Thursday, typically seeds a long weekend or "pont", with so many
people taking the Friday off that a number of businesses actually close.

Pentecost Monday, by the way, is no longer a holiday in France. However,
the 1st and 8th of May are bank holidays and since both fall on Tuesdays
this year, there will probably be a lot of long-weekenders in the first
three weeks of May.

I myself will be off between April 30th and May 21st - running together
a series of bank holidays, RTTs and congés payés.

So it might be safer to book...

EFR
Ile de France