Why this ride
From Gembloux it runs 196 km to Gembloux; allow about 3 h 39 of riding. It goes by way of Beffroi de Namur, Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi, Beffroi de Thuin and Bois-du-Luc.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de Gembloux and Bois-du-Luc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 196 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 39
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de Namur.
2. Beffroi de Namur
The belfry of Namur is a stout, round tower with a bulbous slate roof, not at all the slender Gothic spire people imagine when they hear the word. It started life in the fourteenth century as part of the town walls, the Tour Saint-Jacques, and later became the belfry, holding the bell that rang the hours and the curfew. It is one of the many towers in the World Heritage Site of the Belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Beffroi de Namur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Namur comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi.
3. Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
Charleroi has a reputation, unfairly earned or not, as one of the grittiest cities in Belgium, and its belfry is a fine reason to look again. Rising from the town hall on the Place Charles II, the belfry was built in the 1930s in an elegant Art Deco style, replacing an older tower, and it is one of the belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO. Its slender shape, topped with a dome and carillon, is a symbol of the city's pride and resilience, and inside, the town hall has a sumptuous Art Deco interior.
Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi. Next is Beffroi de Thuin.
4. Beffroi de Thuin
Thuin sits on a rocky spur above the Sambre, and from the river it looks like a town that climbed a hill to keep its feet dry. At the top stands the belfry, a tall square tower with an onion-shaped spire that was originally the bell tower of a collegiate church and survived when the church itself did not. Since 1999 it has been part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, a reminder that towns in this region measured their freedom in bells, towers and charters.
Read the complete Beffroi de Thuin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Thuin, about halfway. Next is Bois-du-Luc.
5. Bois-du-Luc
The coal that powered Belgium came from a ribbon of pits across Hainaut, and Bois-du-Luc is where the story is told best. The mining company here, the Societe de Bois-du-Luc, was founded in the late seventeenth century, making it one of the oldest in Europe, and it kept going until the pit closed in 1973. The site is now a museum and heritage centre, and it is listed by UNESCO as one of the Major Mining Sites of Wallonia, together with Grand-Hornu, Bois du Cazier and Blegny-Mine.
Read the complete Bois-du-Luc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bois-du-Luc sits at 106 km, about halfway. Next is back through Beffroi de Thuin.
6. back through Beffroi de Thuin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Thuin 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 Thuin comes up about 122 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi.
7. back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 141 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi. Next is back through Beffroi de Namur.
8. back through Beffroi de Namur
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Namur 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 Namur, late in the day. Next is Beffroi de Gembloux.
9. 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
The route ends here after 196 km.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de Gembloux to Beffroi de Namur
Beffroi de Gembloux → Beffroi de Namur is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Namur to Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
Beffroi de Namur → Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi to Beffroi de Thuin
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi → Beffroi de Thuin is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Thuin to Bois-du-Luc
Beffroi de Thuin → Bois-du-Luc is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bois-du-Luc to back through Beffroi de Thuin
Bois-du-Luc → back through Beffroi de Thuin is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Thuin to back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
back through Beffroi de Thuin → back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi to back through Beffroi de Namur
back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi → back through Beffroi de Namur is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Namur to Beffroi de Gembloux
back through Beffroi de Namur → Beffroi de Gembloux is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.