Saint Rumbold's Tower dominates the skyline of Mechelen like a very tall stone cliff. It is the bell tower of the cathedral, and it rises to about ninety-seven metres. It was begun in the fourteenth century and was meant to go higher, with a spire that would have made it among the tallest in Europe, but the money ran out and the tower was left with a flat top in the sixteenth century. That unfinished stump is somehow more memorable than a completed spire would have been. It is part of the UNESCO list of belfries of Belgium and France, and a ring of bells hangs inside, including two carillons, one of which is played by hand from a keyboard of wooden batons.
Mechelen was once the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands, under Margaret of Austria, who governed from here in the early sixteenth century, and the town still has the elegant palaces, guildhouses and quays of a place that used to matter. Climbing the tower is a stiff trial, with more than five hundred steps, but the view across the Flemish plain, with Brussels and Antwerp on the horizon, repays the effort. In the evening the carillon concerts drift down over the square.
Riding in the area is flat and easy. The roads between Brussels, Antwerp and Mechelen are dense with traffic, with ring roads, roundabouts and the usual Belgian cobbles on older streets, which are slippery in rain. For a gentler ride, head out along the Dyle or Nete rivers, or toward Leuven, on quiet lanes through market gardens, poplars and brick villages. The weather is changeable, with rain at any time of year, so a waterproof layer is not optional. Spring and early autumn are the pleasant seasons.
Mechelen is a city of nearly eighty thousand, and you will find fuel stations, cafés, brasseries and bike shops without trouble. It is known for the Mechelse koekoek, a famous chicken, and for the local beer of the Gouden Carolus brewery, whose name comes from a coin. Parking is easy in the underground garages near the centre. A Belgian speed camera is rarely far away, and city centres often have low-emission zone rules, so check before you enter a large city with a foreign-registered vehicle.