Why this ride
A 98 km round trip from Dunkerque - roughly 1 h 38 in the saddle. The stops in between: Beffroi de Gravelines, Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais and back through Beffroi de Gravelines. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque and Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 98 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 38
- 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 l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque
The belfry of Saint-Éloi stands alone, which is odd for a church tower. It was originally attached to the church, but after fires and rebuilding in earlier centuries, a street was cut between them, and the tower became a separate landmark. Today it is one of the belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO, and its carillon plays tunes across the centre of Dunkirk, including a local song. You can climb to the top for views over the port, the city and the North Sea.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de Gravelines.
2. Beffroi de Gravelines
Gravelines sits right where the river Aa meets the Channel, between Calais and Dunkirk, and it still wears its walls. The town is wrapped in Vauban-era fortifications, a star of brick ramparts, bastions and water-filled moats that you can walk or ride around, and in the middle of it rises the belfry, one of the towers listed by UNESCO among the belfries of northern France and Belgium. It is a solid, sober tower rather than a showpiece, built to watch, warn and ring the hours for a frontier town that changed hands more than once.
Read the complete Beffroi de Gravelines write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Gravelines comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais.
3. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais
Most riders know Calais as the place where the ferry or the tunnel train spits them out onto French tarmac, and they head south without a backward glance. Spare it an hour. The town hall is a surprise, a grand building in Flemish Renaissance style finished in the early twentieth century, and its belfry, one of the tallest in the region, rises well above the rooftops as a landmark you can see from the port. It forms part of the UNESCO list of belfries in Belgium and France, alongside towers that are centuries older.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais. Next is back through Beffroi de Gravelines.
4. back through Beffroi de Gravelines
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Gravelines 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 Gravelines, late in the day. Next is Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque.
5. Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque to Beffroi de Gravelines
Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque → Beffroi de Gravelines is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Gravelines to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais
Beffroi de Gravelines → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais to back through Beffroi de Gravelines
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Calais → back through Beffroi de Gravelines is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Gravelines to Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque
back through Beffroi de Gravelines → Beffroi de l’église St-Eloi de Dunkerque is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.