Any packrafters in Central Europe? I’m currently located in Belgium and haven’t had a whole lot of luck making converts here…
Hi Arturgreen,
I’m a newbie to packrafting located in the central US, but I am also an international flight attendant who spends a lot of time in Brussels. One of the reasons I got a Yak was to bring it on trips with me, to use on layovers.
Are there any good places to raft around Bruxells? Or, say within a couple of hours train ride.
I’ve paddled the canals around Amsterdam. Pretty flat, but fun stopping for beers at any place that looks interesting. And made some friends at the houseboats along the way (everyone wants to look at the Yak) I’ve also had some fun in the canals and locks around Manchester (UK) but have not found any good fast water yet.
Hopefully I can talk some of my co-workers into getting Alpakas, and finding some good water in Europe. Any help would be appreciated.
HG
Hey there highguy, sorry it’s taken me so long to respond, I was in Spain for a few days (sadly with no packraft).
Anyway, there’s not really much fast water anywhere near Brussels since that part of Belgium is quite flat. However the broader range of “couple of hours train ride” I’m sure you could find something more interesting. I’ve only rafted the Semois in Belgium, but the Lesse and Ourthe rivers also look pretty interesting, and they get a reasonable amount of kayak traffic. Still nothing too hardcore, but fun on a nice day. One of these days I’m going to raft through the city of Leuven (15 minutes by train from Brussels) since the river there goes right through the heart of town and rumor has it that there aren’t any spillways in town.
If you’re going to have a layover sometime that corresponds to a weekend, let me know in advance if you’d be interesting in trying something together, since I live fairly near Brussels and have a car. 
I’m back and forth to the Netherlands for the rest of May, but if I can swap one of my trips for Belgium, over a weekend, I’ll let you know.
Luven sounds interesting. If I’m not mistaken, it’s right near Brussels main airport. I think I’ve passed through it. Maybe we could float through it together.
I’ll keep in touch.
HG
Hi guys,
I am from Leipzig/Dresden in Germany. Doing trips around CZ/PL and beyond. Also left Ludd a message in the forums. Drop me a line if you are around. Sven
I live in Östersund, Sweden if anyone has questions or need tips on waters up here. Might even be up for a short trip, who knows 