Why this ride
From Gembloux it runs 298 km to Gembloux; allow about 4 h 48 of riding. The stops in between: Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict, Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort, Béguinage de Diest and Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de Gembloux and Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 298 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 48
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Béguinage de Diest → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
35 km on Béguinage de Diest → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 35 km
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 Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict.
2. Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict
The beeches in the Sonian Forest grow so tall and straight that people call it the cathedral forest, and once you stand under them on a misty autumn morning the name stops sounding like tourist talk. This great woodland on the southeastern edge of Brussels covers thousands of hectares, and most of the famous columns of grey trunks were planted in the late eighteenth century, when the Austrian Habsburgs ruled these lands and their foresters reshaped the old wood. A few patches, including the Tict reserve near La Hulpe and Waterloo, are left to grow wild with no felling at all, and they form part of the UNESCO listing for the ancient and primeval beech forests of Europe, a chain of reserves stretching across the continent.
Read the complete Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict comes up about 42 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.
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
about 84 km into the recorded legs you reach Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort. Next is Béguinage de Diest.
4. Béguinage de Diest
Diest has one of the largest béguinages in Flanders, a walled town within the town, with its own streets, gates, church and some ninety houses. The béguines were laywomen who lived a religious life without taking permanent vows, earning their own living and sharing a community, and their béguinages flourished in the Low Countries from the thirteenth century onward. The Flemish béguinages are listed together by UNESCO. In Diest, the béguinage has been restored with care, and its cobbled streets, whitewashed houses and quiet gardens feel worlds away from the traffic outside.
Read the complete Béguinage de Diest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Diest, about halfway. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
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 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Béguinage de Diest.
6. back through Béguinage de Diest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Diest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Béguinage de Diest comes up about 187 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.
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 222 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort. Next is back through Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict.
8. back through Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict, 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 298 km.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de Gembloux to Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict
Beffroi de Gembloux → Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict to Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort
Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict → Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort to Béguinage de Diest
Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort → Béguinage de Diest is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Diest to Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Béguinage de Diest → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to back through Béguinage de Diest
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → back through Béguinage de Diest is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Diest to back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort
back through Béguinage de Diest → back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort to back through Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict
back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort → back through Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict to Beffroi de Gembloux
back through Sonian Forest - Réserve forestière du Tict → Beffroi de Gembloux is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.