Why this ride
A 206 km round trip from Brugge - roughly 4 h 08 in the saddle. The stops in between: Stadhuis met Belfort, \Halletoren\ ou Belfort, Stadhuis and back through Stadhuis.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bruges afternoon · Stadhuis met Belfort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 206 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 08
- 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. Bruges
Bruges was rich before it was pretty. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it was one of the great trading ports of northern Europe, a place where merchants from Italy, Spain, the Hanseatic towns and England bought wool, cloth, spices and silver, and where the first stock-exchange-like dealings took place in a square named after a family called Van der Beurse. Then the channel to the sea silted up, trade moved to Antwerp, and the city went into a long sleep that preserved its medieval centre almost intact. A Belgian writer called it the dead city, and the label stuck for a century.
Read the complete Bruges write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bruges is where the day begins. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.
2. Stadhuis met Belfort
Eeklo is the capital of the Meetjesland, the flat, green region of East Flanders between Ghent and Bruges, close to the Dutch border, and its town hall with a belfry, the Stadhuis met Belfort, stands on the market square as the symbol of the town. It is one of the belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO, a group of civic towers that embodied the freedom and power of the medieval towns of Flanders. Eeklo's belfry is modest compared with those of Bruges and Ghent, but it has its own charm, rising above a town that most visitors pass through without stopping.
Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis met Belfort comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is \Halletoren\ ou Belfort.
3. \Halletoren\ ou Belfort
Tielt is a working town in the heart of West Flanders, a place of farmers' markets, textile history and flat roads, and its belfry rises above the market square like a stubborn finger pointing at the clouds. The Halletoren, the hall tower, stands on top of the old cloth hall, the building where merchants once inspected and traded woollen cloth, the source of Flanders' wealth in the Middle Ages. The belfry is one of the group of Belgian and French belfries that UNESCO listed together, symbols of the civic freedom that the cities of Flanders won from their lords, where the town charters were kept and the bells rang to call citizens to arms or to work.
Read the complete \Halletoren\ ou Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 62 km into the recorded legs you reach \Halletoren\ ou Belfort. Next is Stadhuis.
4. Stadhuis
Bruges is half an hour north, and the two make a good pairing, but Roeselare deserves to be taken on its own terms: a working town of some fifty-six thousand people, built on textiles, food processing and trade, with a town hall on its market square that anchors the centre. Like most Flemish towns, Roeselare grew around a market and a civic building that announced the burghers' independence from lords and bishops, and the tradition of the town hall as the symbol of local self-government is still very much alive here.
Read the complete Stadhuis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis, about halfway. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.
5. Stadhuis met Belfort
Diksmuide was almost wiped from the map in the First World War. The town stood right on the front line along the Yser, and from 1914 to 1918 it was pounded into rubble, along with its town hall, belfry and church. In October 1914, the Belgian army halted the German advance by opening the sluices at Nieuwpoort and flooding the low-lying plain, creating a watery barrier that held for four years. After the war, the town was rebuilt in the old style, with the town hall and belfry carefully reconstructed on the market square, and the belfry is now part of the UNESCO listing of the belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis met Belfort sits at 118 km, about halfway. Next is back through Stadhuis.
6. back through Stadhuis
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadhuis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stadhuis comes up about 128 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort.
7. back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete \Halletoren\ ou Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 145 km into the recorded legs you reach back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort. Next is back through Stadhuis met Belfort.
8. back through Stadhuis met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stadhuis met Belfort, late in the day. Next is Bruges.
9. Bruges
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bruges 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 206 km.
Leg by leg
Bruges to Stadhuis met Belfort
Bruges → Stadhuis met Belfort is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis met Belfort to \Halletoren\ ou Belfort
Stadhuis met Belfort → \Halletoren\ ou Belfort is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
\Halletoren\ ou Belfort to Stadhuis
\Halletoren\ ou Belfort → Stadhuis is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis to Stadhuis met Belfort
Stadhuis → Stadhuis met Belfort is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis met Belfort to back through Stadhuis
Stadhuis met Belfort → back through Stadhuis is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis to back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort
back through Stadhuis → back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort to back through Stadhuis met Belfort
back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort → back through Stadhuis met Belfort is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis met Belfort to Bruges
back through Stadhuis met Belfort → Bruges is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.