Why this ride
From Antwerpen it runs 68 km to Antwerpen; allow about 1 h 46 of riding. On the way it passes Stadhuis en Belforttoren, Béguinage de Lier, Flemish Béguinages and Grand Béguinage de Mechelen.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Antwerp afternoon · Grand Béguinage de Mechelen
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 68 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 46
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Antwerp
Antwerp is a city that made its fortune twice and will tell you about both. In the sixteenth century it was the richest trading port in northern Europe, a place of merchants, printers and painters on the Scheldt, until war and the closing of the river sent the money elsewhere. Then the port revived, and today it is the second largest in Europe, a vast maze of docks, cranes and chemical plants running north of the old town, with about four hundred and sixty thousand people living in the city itself.
Read the complete Antwerp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Antwerp is where the day begins. Next is Stadhuis en Belforttoren.
2. Stadhuis en Belforttoren
Lier's Grote Markt is one of those squares that makes you slow down without being asked. In the middle stands an elegant eighteenth-century town hall in pale stone, and grafted onto its side is something much older: a slim Gothic belfry from the fourteenth century, its four corner turrets giving it the look of a castle chess piece. Together they belong to the group of Belgian and French belfries listed by UNESCO, symbols of the moment when medieval towns won their freedoms and built towers to prove it.
Read the complete Stadhuis en Belforttoren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis en Belforttoren comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Lier.
3. Béguinage de Lier
Through a gateway off a busy street in Lier, you step into another world. The béguinage is a small walled neighbourhood of narrow cobbled lanes, whitewashed brick houses and a baroque church, where for centuries communities of beguines lived. These were religious women who chose a life of prayer, work and service without taking the permanent vows of nuns, living independently in their own houses but sharing a communal life. The béguinages of Flanders, about a dozen of them, were listed by UNESCO in 1998, and the one in Lier, with its quiet lanes and doorways topped with statues of saints, is one of the most charming.
Read the complete Béguinage de Lier write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 20 km into the recorded legs you reach Béguinage de Lier. Next is Flemish Béguinages.
4. Flemish Béguinages
In the thirteenth century, a remarkable movement spread across the Low Countries. Women, often unmarried or widowed, chose to live together in communities devoted to prayer and work, without taking the permanent vows of nuns, keeping their property and the freedom to leave. They were called béguines, and their walled settlements, the béguinages, became towns within towns. The Groot Begijnhof of Mechelen, the great béguinage, is one of thirteen in Flanders listed by UNESCO, and at its height it housed well over a thousand women, making it one of the largest communities of its kind.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Flemish Béguinages, about halfway. Next is Grand Béguinage de Mechelen.
5. Grand Béguinage de Mechelen
Mechelen's Grand Beguinage is a small town inside a town, and the first thing that hits you on walking through its gate is the silence. Behind the walls are cobbled lanes lined with small gabled houses, a quiet church, a green square and a canal arm of the Dijle river. For centuries this was the home of the beguines, women who lived a religious life without taking formal vows, supporting themselves by weaving, lace-making, nursing and teaching. The movement began in the Low Countries in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and at its height there were hundreds of beguinages. Mechelen's was one of the largest, and most of what stands today dates from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was listed by UNESCO in 1998 as part of the group of Flemish beguinages.
Read the complete Grand Béguinage de Mechelen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grand Béguinage de Mechelen sits at 39 km, about halfway. Next is back through Flemish Béguinages.
6. back through Flemish Béguinages
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Flemish Béguinages comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Béguinage de Lier.
7. back through Béguinage de Lier
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Lier write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Béguinage de Lier. Next is back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren.
8. back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadhuis en Belforttoren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren, late in the day. Next is Antwerp.
9. Antwerp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Antwerp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 68 km.
Leg by leg
Antwerp to Stadhuis en Belforttoren
Antwerp → Stadhuis en Belforttoren is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Lier to Flemish Béguinages
Béguinage de Lier → Flemish Béguinages is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Flemish Béguinages to back through Béguinage de Lier
back through Flemish Béguinages → back through Béguinage de Lier is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren to Antwerp
back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren → Antwerp is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.