Liege long day · Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Liege

   Liège is a hard-working Walloon city on the Meuse, where steelworks once glowed along the river and the people have a reputation for warmth and bluntness. It has none of the polished prettiness of Bruges, and that is part of its appeal. The old centre is a tangle of lanes and courtyards under the hill called the Citadelle, with the grand Palace of the Prince-Bishops standing on a vast square, a reminder that this was an independent church state for nearly eight centuries.

   Read the complete Liege write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Liege is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de Gembloux.

2. 2. Beffroi de Gembloux

   Gembloux grew up around a Benedictine abbey founded in the tenth century, and for most of its history the monks ran the show. The abbey buildings, rebuilt in a grand classical style in the eighteenth century, now house a university faculty of agricultural sciences, fitting for a town surrounded by some of the richest farmland in Belgium. The belfry, a solid tower that was once part of a church and later became the town's civic symbol, stands in the centre and is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France. Climbing it gives views over the rooftops and across the open fields of the Hesbaye.

   Read the complete Beffroi de Gembloux write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Beffroi de Gembloux comes up about 73 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.

3. 3. Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort

   Leuven is a university town through and through. Its university, founded in 1425, is the oldest in the Low Countries, and its students fill the streets, cafés and squares, giving the city a youthful energy. At its heart is the Grote Markt, dominated by two buildings: the Town Hall, a Gothic masterpiece covered in hundreds of statues, and opposite it, the Church of St Peter, a great Gothic church whose tower was never finished but which is part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France.

   Read the complete Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   At least about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort. Next is Grand Béguinage of Leuven.

4. 4. Grand Béguinage of Leuven

   Step through the gate of the Groot Begijnhof in Leuven and the city noise drops away. Cobbled lanes, small brick houses with white window frames and stepped gables, little bridges over the arms of the river Dijle, and a Gothic church in the middle: this is one of the largest béguinages in the Low Countries, part of the Flemish Béguinages group listed by UNESCO in 1998.

   Read the complete Grand Béguinage of Leuven write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Grand Béguinage of Leuven, about halfway. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.

5. 5. Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal

   Rik Van Looy, one of the great Belgian cyclists of the 1950s and 1960s, was known as the Emperor of Herentals, which tells you something about the priorities of this town in the Kempen. Herentals lies on the flat heathland of the province of Antwerp, and in the middle of its market square stands the old town hall, built in the fourteenth century as a cloth hall, a lakenhal, when the town grew rich on wool and weaving. Its belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, a symbol of civic pride and of the freedoms that merchants bought from their lords.

   Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal sits at 181 km, about halfway. Next is back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven.

6. 6. back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Grand Béguinage of Leuven write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven comes up about 220 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.

7. 7. back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 226 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort. Next is back through Beffroi de Gembloux.

8. 8. back through Beffroi de Gembloux

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Beffroi de Gembloux write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Beffroi de Gembloux, late in the day. Next is Liege.

9. 9. Liege

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Liege 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 352 km.