Why this ride
A 318 km round trip from Brugge - roughly 4 h 43 in the saddle. It goes by way of Stadhuis, Stadhuis met Belfort, Stadshal met Belfort and Belfort. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bruges day out · Belfort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 318 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 43
- 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.
2. 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 comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.
3. 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
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Stadhuis met Belfort. Next is Stadshal met Belfort.
4. Stadshal met Belfort
Nieuwpoort's cloth hall and belfry look medieval, and in a sense they are: they follow the design of the thirteenth-century originals. But almost everything you see was rebuilt after the First World War, when the town was reduced to rubble. Nieuwpoort lay at the northern end of the Western Front, where the River Yser reaches the sea, and in October 1914 the Belgians made a decision that changed the course of the war. By opening the sluices of the canals and the river at high tide, they flooded the low-lying land between Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, creating a barrier of water that stopped the German advance. The front line stayed there for four years, and the town was shelled into ruins. The belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Stadshal met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadshal met Belfort, about halfway. Next is Belfort.
5. Belfort
Ghent has three towers standing in a row, and the middle one is the belfry, rising over the old centre between St Bavo's Cathedral and St Nicholas' Church. Begun in the fourteenth century, it was the town's watchtower, bell tower and strongroom, where the charters granting the city its privileges were locked away. On its spire sits a gilded dragon, the city's mascot, keeping an eye on things. The belfry, with the cloth hall attached to its base, is part of the UNESCO list of belfries of Belgium and France, and you can climb it, partly by lift, for one of the best views over the rooftops, canals and spires.
Read the complete Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Belfort sits at 179 km, about halfway. Next is back through Stadshal met Belfort.
6. back through Stadshal met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadshal 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 Stadshal met Belfort comes up about 243 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Stadhuis met Belfort.
7. 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
about 259 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Stadhuis met Belfort. Next is back through Stadhuis.
8. 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, 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 318 km.
Leg by leg
Bruges to Stadhuis
Bruges → Stadhuis is 38 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 Stadshal met Belfort
Stadhuis met Belfort → Stadshal met Belfort is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadshal met Belfort to Belfort
Stadshal met Belfort → Belfort is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Belfort to back through Stadshal met Belfort
Belfort → back through Stadshal met Belfort is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Stadshal met Belfort to back through Stadhuis met Belfort
back through Stadshal met Belfort → back through Stadhuis met Belfort is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis met Belfort to back through Stadhuis
back through 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 Bruges
back through Stadhuis → Bruges is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.